George, really who cares? You put waaayyy too much stock in the importance of the dac chip in the overall sound a dac produces. Vitus Audio compared all the best dac chips, including the BB PCM-1704k and TDA-1541A double crown and found the AD1955 chip no better or worse that the others. It was a slight shade vs night/day difference & VA went with the dac chips that best suited their needs.
Now you may question my knowledge which is fair enough as i'm not an Audio Engineer. But this came straight from Hans Ole Vitus during the Copenhagen High End show - "Overall the dac gives very little to the complete sound. Even digital part in total I rate gives not more than about 15% or so to complete sound. PSU and analog stage combined with pcb layout matters more".
I return to what I said before, a dac is more than a dac chip. It depends on the skill of the designer, the overall quality of the dac & ultimately on implementation (how the dacs are used in the overall circuit design).
I commented earlier which vaunted dacs the Vitus accounted for. It deserves its place amongst the best single box dacs in the world...using AD1955 dac chips. Have a good day.
Now you may question my knowledge which is fair enough as i'm not an Audio Engineer. But this came straight from Hans Ole Vitus during the Copenhagen High End show - "Overall the dac gives very little to the complete sound. Even digital part in total I rate gives not more than about 15% or so to complete sound. PSU and analog stage combined with pcb layout matters more".
I return to what I said before, a dac is more than a dac chip. It depends on the skill of the designer, the overall quality of the dac & ultimately on implementation (how the dacs are used in the overall circuit design).
I commented earlier which vaunted dacs the Vitus accounted for. It deserves its place amongst the best single box dacs in the world...using AD1955 dac chips. Have a good day.