@tparr I have an experience similar to yours I own an older Onkyo CDP that uses the Wolfson 8742 chip and a new Benchmark DAC3B that uses the ESS 9028PRO and I find the Benchmark presets more detail especially in classical and Jazz than my old Onkyo . Some may prefer the sound character of the onboard Wolfson and the Onkyo , I certainly enjoyed it for years until it came time to try something new and noticed what I had not been hearing. In my opinion, if at all possible, it's good to try different implementations of the DAC chip as you said there are no cut and dried answers to which is better it might be more of a which do I prefer question.
