DAC chips

+1 @mahler123
Implementation matters a great deal. Shopping by chip is like shopping purely by spec.

If I was forced to give an answer though, I seem to prefer older Burr Brown and current AK chips.

It's all about how the DAC was designed. Don't get hung up on the chip. You can get a poorly designed DAC w/the flavor of the month DAC chip and put it up against an older cheaper DAC chip that is properly designed and it will win every time. Companies use chips as a selling point. In a well designed DAC if you put in different chips I doubt you could tell the difference.

Are you building your own DAC?  If not then it comes down to how that DAC sounds in your system.  You just cannot go out an buy a DAC based on the chip.  I built a DAC with the Sabre chip.  It will sound nothing like any other DAC with the same chip in it as my DAC has tubes and a 35lb power supply.

Happy Listening.

which ess9038? There are at least three levels I know of.