Difference between ESS Sabre Burr Brown Wolfson DACs

There is more to the quality of a DAC than just the chip.  Power supply, for one.  So the answer to your question is a bit more complicated..

Hard to say what is best , it seems ESS and AK chips are used a lot now. Wolfson is now made by Cirrus Logic. I would try to listen to a few different DAC's and see what I like. 

I agree with mahler123.   Judge the entire implementation, not just the chip.

For example, the ESS chips are produced in great quantity and are therefore less expensive than some others.  Its basic technology is used in DACs costing $100 and others justifiably costing several thousands of dollars.

#4: AKM Asahi Kasei Microsystems.

Implementation is everything.

A smart designer goes far beyond the spec design in the tech manual, manual that specifies the given build out of the chip's implementation.

That manual spec, makes the chip work and work well for a long time. It says nothing about sound quality, in the vast number of cases.

It is there so that people can implement the chip properly and it is also there so that if the chips fail often in the given finished design, that the chip maker can justifiably point to the 'proper' implementation rules not being followed.

99% or more of consumer gear follows these rules (to the letter!)  laid out in the tech manuals for all the chips in gear.

That's a notable part of why mainstream audio gear sucks.