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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. 
128x128daledeee1
georgehifi's avatar
georgehifi
10,312 posts
 
I just read a review of an owner who had a Denafrips Term and a D90 and liked both of them. "Why can't we all just get along"  
Sorry but it's because this is the title of this thread, and if it bugs you, you shouldn't even click on it.

  "Comparison of latest DAC chips"

Cheers George  
larry5729's avatar
larry5729
1,008 posts
 
I have a Bluesound Node 2i and purchased a ProJect S2 DAC and added it to my system and found I liked the Bluesound played better by itself.  I stream Tidal and when I connected the DAC to my Bluesound using Audioquest Carbon digital coax, it does not allow MQA to unfold completely.  There is something about MQA that is difficult to explain, but for some reason I hear something different when I listen to MQA,  I ended up selling the ProJect DAC and the digital coax cable on Audiogon for half the price I paid for it.  
daledeee1's avatar
daledeee1 OP
557 posts
 
Yes, George.  I started the thread.  The comment I made referred to discussions getting personal.  I don't understand that I guess.  I asked for differences between the two brands of chips.  It is ok that we talk about R2R also. I have learned much in the last couple months about DACs.  I bought the D90 for numerous reasons:  in stock, good reviews, cost vs benefit.  The Denafrips would have been good except it is out of stock for 10 weeks.  Most of the DAC mentioned, which I am sure are good, are simply not in my budget. Thanks for the help on me understanding this topic.  Not as simple as a turntable, receiver and speakers. 
georgehifi's avatar
georgehifi
10,312 posts
 
daledeee1 OP
The Denafrips would have been good except it is out of stock for 10 weeks.

The Denafrips Terminator and the Holo Spring Level 2 or 3 are very close, the Holo can also be switched to NOS (none upsampling) which I preferred, and it can do DSD if you ever need to listen to it.
https://www.stereophile.com/content/holoaudio-spring-kitsun%C3%A9-tuned-edition-level-3-da-processor

https://kitsunehifi.com/product/holo-audio-spring2-dac-kitsune-tuned-edition/
Holo now have the "even better" May Dac   https://kitsunehifi.com/product/holo-audio-may-dac/

This is a good paragraph from the Stereophile review to give an insight to it’s sound.

The Schiit, Mytek, and HoloAudio are all elite, music-friendly DACs. I enjoy each in its own way, but my comparisons suggest that staunch audio objectivists—those who already favor DACs with newfangled sigma-delta chips (like the ESS ES9028Pro will undoubtedly prefer the Mytek products.

Meanwhile, old-school audio reactionaries—those who favor the purity of single-ended triode amps and the musicality of all those discontinued R-2R DACs—will find the chipless Spring a refreshingly clear and unusually natural-sounding alternative to both sigma-delta and all those discontinued and "obsolete" DAC chips.

What most separated the HoloAudio from the Schiit and Mytek DACs was the Spring’s astonishing transparency, which seemed to reach deeper into the digital quiet—especially with DSD recordings.



Cheers George
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creditingkarma
101 posts
 
Sorry, but this is complete rubbish.

Some of the best dacs out there use ESS chips - Ayre, Brinkmann, Lumin, Mytek.

I've owned a "good" R2R dac - a Metrum Pavane - and the Ayre QX5, Mytek Manhattan II and Lumin X1 with their ESS chips walk all over it. And, yes, I've owned all of them.

The idea that R2R dacs have "unmatched bounce" or are more detailed is just ridiculous. The current generation of ESS chips are outstanding which is why they are used in many
very high end dacs
.
I am really sorry but I would have to say that you might be off on some points. I used to own a metrum onyx and then the Hugo TT2. The TT2 did sound better than the metrum. The metrum is a great dac. I have also hear the mytek and ayre that you were talking about. They are good but they are not some of the beat dacs out there by any means. The MSB line up are R2R based dacs and blow the mytek and ayre out of the water by a good margain.

I recently bought the dCS Bartok and imo it is head and shoulders above the dacs that you mention as well. It is not a traditional r2r but a version of on developed by dCS. They call it the ring dac which is fed by FPGAS. 
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