Differences between models of expensive vs inexpensive DACs

Thanks for the responses. It seems like there may be convergence among many designs as they reach the performance limits of the DAC chips they're based on.
 

No, there’s much more to a DAC’s ultimate sound than the DAC chip — the power supply and analog output stage just to name two major factors. 
 

Since the early 2000s either cheap DACs have gotten better than my ears, or they've gotten better than the rest of my equipment, or both. 

Yup, in general they have gotten much better, and there are meaningful differences if your system (and ears) is up to it as others have mentioned.

@soix I agree there’s more to a DAC than just the DAC chip but won’t the chip ultimately be the limiting factor assuming everything else is executed to perfection? I’m of the understanding that the companies who manufacture high end DACs are not capable of making their own chips. Or perhaps there’s a synergy between the characteristics of the chip and characteristics of the rest of the unit that counteract each other's deficiencies, the whole is greater than the sum of it’s parts.

in my travels through several dozens of dacs since 2020, i would say there is definitely more variation in s.q. among lower priced dacs, as each are making cost-driven tradeoffs in the various elements that affect sonic performance and trading them off against features, ultimate retail selling price etc etc

more expensive dacs (good ones $6-7-8-9 grand and up) tend to converge in sound quality i m e - one exception to this is are some well renowned pricey dacs with vacuum tube output stages and rectification... those can sound notably tubey, an overt design choice...

usual caveats and contextual points apply, your system needs to be revealing enough, you need to have a good clean digital in-feed, etc etc...

and yes, as others have said, all aspects of the dac affect the sound, not just the actual d/a conversion mechanism/chip/ladder what have you... search my old posts on the subject, won’t repeat here

@jjss49 That's what I'd expect - the cheaper dacs would be more colored in various ways while the more expensive dacs would be approaching the same ultimate standard. Years ago I saw a comparison of the exact same studio shot made with two brands of lenses at the same spec. One was much more expensive than the other. The shots looked identical until they were viewed side to side, in which case the higher contrast and deeper black of the more expensive lens became evident. It controlled blooming better. It's really hard to notice that when not viewed directly against each other because our eyes adjust contrast.

OP,

How you use the DAC chip… how many… power supply etc… determines the sonic output. So, while the DAC chop as limiting factor, it is not… just one of a myriad of factors. Which is why long strings centered on R2R or ESS chips really just detract from the real issue. Even inside a DAC component… it is a system and making it sound correctly, it is a matter of all the components together.