DAC Question: Delta-Sigma vs R2R

+1 @fuzztone and others above. It’s not the architecture but rather the whole implementation and how it works for your system and tastes.

That said, IN GENERAL and just to give you a VERY basic guideline to go by, Delta-sigma DACs will tend to have a more detailed — some may say “digital” — sound whereas R2R DACs, especially those that don’t oversample (NOS) tend to have a possibly less detailed but more “analog” sound. Please do not take this in any way as doctrine as there are “analog” sounding DS DACs and clinical R2R DACs, but just to give you something to initially grab onto in your search. But, as the other wise people have said above, in the end the ONLY thing that matters is what sounds best to you — architecture be damned.

Thanks for the feedback and some explanation, I do have the same challenge that many have in that I need to drive hundreds of miles and take a day off of work to find an audio store where I can listen to some quality DAC's and even then I am quite limited. An education really helps to not be steered the wrong way by an overzealous sales person.

One other thing I saw today, Border Patrol, good reviews and nice price point (at least my price point being of modest income). They say they use a R2R DAC chip. This seems to be somewhere in the middle, is it a hybrid design?

Being an older guy with Tinnitus, I tend to listen at lower levels and anything I buy cannot have a sharp top-end as it sets off the tinnitus pretty bad and then I am out of business for a day or 2. I know the overall design is what wins the day, but in general would this fact guide me more towards a R2R or a delta-sigma DAC?

Again, thanks for taking the time to educate me. 

It's only a matter of time before someone comes along and vehemently asserts, ad nauseum, that there's no difference in sound quality between "properly implemented" DACs. 

PLEASE do not listen to this. Instead, listen to as many DACs as you can and decide for yourself. 

There will be some instances where the differences between any two given DACs will be minimal. However, there will be other cases where differences may astound you. It's only through listening that you'll learn what YOU like. 

Listening in your room, in your system, is best.  There are various online sellers who offer trial periods with return/refund policies. 

If I were to point you in a direction it would be towards a tubed DAC. Tubed equipment tend (also highly dependent on the implementation) to be more natural sounding, especially in the budget category. The Border Patrol is immediately appealing for that reason and not the R2R thing. If you can find a used Audio Research DAC… also tubed… it would have the character it sounds like you are looking for. What is your other equipment… this makes a huge difference in the ultimate output.