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Comparison of latest DAC chips

I own a Bluesound Node 2i which greatly improved sound after I added the Cat 6 cable.  I do not own a separate DAC but am told it would be the next step improvement.  I have done enough reading that it appears the two latest chips are the Sabre or ESS ES9038PRO and the AK4499.  The brands I have looked at are Sabaj d5($469) and a Topping D90($699).  I saw a great review on Audiocircle of the Sabaj D5 which is now a year old.  The Topping D90 is newer and I hear the build quality of the Topping as well as customer service are both better.   Other brands cost more and most don't use these new chips. 

Is there a difference in how these chips sound?  I would appreciate any comments. 
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cal3713's avatar
cal3713
1,421 posts
 
@mtdining It's hard to take stuff posted by people who take extreme black and white positions seriously.  
georgehifi's avatar
georgehifi
10,312 posts
 


Just search read and educate at the way PCM is converted in the best possible way.
Cheers George
rossb
185 posts
 
With bandwidth and sampling limitations, ringing and aliasing artifacts, all digital is only a facsimile of the original. R2R is no better than delta sigma in this respect, and has technical limitations of its own. 
djones51
4,947 posts
 
Since most studios use Delta Sigma ADC's to create  PCM I'll guess the best way to convert it back is with Delta Sigma DAC's. The process used whether R2R, Delta Sigma,  Proprietary doesn't matter as much as how well the DAC is at getting a nice quiet accurate signal at the analog output. 
kalali's avatar
kalali
1,977 posts
 
"It's hard to take stuff posted by people who take extreme black and white positions seriously."

Amen. Well said.
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