Best DAC-chip out there?

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I would classify this as a DIY related question, so bare with me.
I am looking for a new DAC/preamp, and it has come to my attention that a lot of the DACs out there are using the same DAC-chip. So part one of my question is, what is the best DAC-chip out there?

I can see that quite a few manufactures are using the ESS SABRE series, especially the ES9018 and the ES9038PRO. But which of these two are the better version?

Part two of the question is not really DIY related, can anyone recommend a pre/DAC of high quality, with at least one analog input and volume control? The DAC section is of the most importance in my setup. So far I have looked at:
OPPO Soniac DAC
Lyngdorf TDA2200/TDAI2170
Benchmark DAC3
Quad Artera Play
 
I know that my comment may sound rather silly, but there is no "best" DAC chip, it is what you expect from it.
Further a high quality pre/DAC is what? Made of solid aluminium, aesthetically pleasing? Again this is a very open ended question.
In my humble opinion most modern DACs will be capable of the job it was designed for. Secondly, pick a pre/DAC that you like and looks pleasing has a brand that you can relate to a costs as much as you willing to spend. It will be good.
 
I know its an open question, and that is also the purpose, as I would like to hear your experiences with the different chips. But when I say best/good I mean in regard to the most common parameters such as noise, distortion, frequency response, tonality and sound.

When I say a quality DAC Im simply just trying to say that budget is a minor concern in this case. I would rather pay a little more and get something better, than missing out. But of cause a $1000 DAC does not necessarily sound better than a $500 DAC, even if the expensive one is made from carbon fiber and diamond.
 
am certain there are members here that would give you their definitive answer. I would not want to do this as it would be like telling you in which stocks to invest to get rich.

In my opinion look at some threads in this domain and you may find a lot of interesting comments. I think for you asking someone to give a plain answer is the wrong way to go.

You would be hard pushed to find a modern DAC that does not live up to expectations, that reveals terrible distortion or frequency response is highly unlikely. Whether some imagine that they can hear differences is very debatable and probably totally unfounded.

Do yourself the favor - read some of the applicable threads, familiarize yourself with how biased people are and then decide which one you will buy based on advertising, looks, brand, perceived quality but most unlikely someone writing you how it sounds.
 
I use a DIY DAC that has no DAC chip in it, so I have no recommendation for a DAC chip or for a commercial DAC. Regarding specification points:

I would certainly recommend a DAC with enough headroom to handle overshoots of its interpolation and/or reconstruction filters. DACs with inadequate headroom may get driven into clipping 3.7 times per second when you play the wrong track, see:

Audio Application Notes tagged "Inter-Sample Overs" - Benchmark Media Systems, Inc.

When the DAC includes linear-phase FIR filters, their passband ripples should be very small because of pre-echoes. If you have access to AES preprints, you can read all about this in R. Lagadec and T. G. Stockham, "Dispersive models for A-to-D and D-to-A conversion systems", Audio Engineering Society preprint 2097, presented at the 75th convention, March 1984.

Regarding dynamic range, DACs with spectacular dynamic range numbers usually sell better than those with less spectacular dynamic range numbers, but anything over 80 dB(A) means you don't hear any noise under normal domestic listening conditions.
 
Best DAC chip for me is the one delivering most bang for the buck. PCM63 and PCM1702 are very good performers but rather expensive and a bit tricky to DIY, I spend my money on TDA1387. Its only a 16bit chip but then the vast majority of digital music is 16bit. Its super-easy to DIY and its very, very cheap.

What makes more of a difference than the chip itself in terms of SQ is the analog stage following the DAC.
 
My DAC is based on PCM63P-K2, OPA861 I/V, Sparko Lab's discrete OP, Ian's FIFO and Andrea's SC-cut oscillator. I thought it's pretty good already. Yesterday, I listened to JenH's RTX6001 (based on AK4497) and amazed by the performance of this equipment. I did a AB test on these 2 DACs and they sound almost equally good. I synchronized 2 DACs on Daphile and I can switch the input through the preamp, so that they can be evaluated very quickly. All I can say is that new delta-sigma DAC chips does show their strength over the old technology.
 
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Based on my research and experience I would recommend a Benchmark DAC-3. Hard to go wrong, Stereophile rates it as state of the art, it's used by many mastering and recording engineers as a reference standard. and so on. That being said, I haven't heard the other DACs you mentioned or most of the DACs other people have mentioned so far. Most of them probably haven't heard DAC-3 either. So, basically what you have is a bunch of people telling you what they think is satisfactory to them. If it helps you at all to know, I have compared the DAC-3 with my old DAC-1, with a Lynx-2 soundcard, with a Crane Song HEDD DAC, a DAC Magic Plus, and a few others. Of the DACs with which I am familiar, DAC-3 is the best in terms of jitter rejection, low noise, low distortion, and extremely fine and accurate detail. If that's what you want, you should be quite happy with one.

On the other hand if you want to DIY, that would be something totally different. Benchmark does a few tricks to get the most of of the chip they use. Incoming digital audio is upsampled to 211 kHz with a TI ASRC before going into the DAC chip and so on. It's not a straightforward design, and its possibly to get rather bad performance using the same chip they use in a different design.
 
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You are presenting this as if it were a brilliant idea and not just a horrible cheap-skate solution :p

It simply is what it is. It measures well and sounds good, however they do it.

My point was that while many DACs use the same DAC chips, they don't all come out sounding the same for a variety of reasons. One shouldn't think the whole story is in the DAC chip itself and the all rest is secondary.
 
IMHO, your second question is the most important. While most DAC's today are fine, outstanding can be achieved but everything counts. The Chip is important but also the power supplies, output stage, clock, clock isolation, PCB layout, grounding, USB cable, USB isolation (better still no USB), and vibration dampening. I think if I were buying a commercial DAC, I would read some articles on shoot outs as sometimes something very good pops out hitting above it's price point. Likely, I would buy Lampizator and be happy.
 
As I explained, you would get a recommendation from everyone. No-one can explain in words why their choice is so good, but each would obviously recommend what he has.

What I said earlier is go and look at the equipment then choose one that would fit nicely among the rest of your equipment. It should be aesthetically pleasing in the way that it would impress your neighbors.

It does not really matter what it sounds like, you would not really know what sounds best anyway, at least it looks great and you could always mention the price or even leave the price on so friends don't have to doubt that it must sound among the best.
 
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My DAC is based on PCM63P-K2, OPA861 I/V, Sparko Lab's discrete OP, Ian's FIFO and Andrea's SC-cut oscillator. I thought it's pretty good already. Yesterday, I listened to JenH's RTX6001 (based on AK4497) and amazed by the performance of this equipment. I did a AB test on these 2 DACs and they sound almost equally good. I synchronized 2 DACs on Daphile and I can switch the input through the preamp, so that they can be evaluated very quickly. All I can say is that new delta-sigma DAC chips does show their strength over the old technology.

Dear Canvas!
Very interesting observation.. (and beautiful features on your pcm63 dac..)

I suppose you compared using upsampling (of Daphile)
I imagine that in PCM upsampling mode..
Did you try to run the 4490 dac in DSD mode?
Then you could forget alltogether about comparisons..
I mean a further step up for the modern technology..
 
I would classify this as a DIY related question, so bare with me.
I am looking for a new DAC/preamp, and it has come to my attention that a lot of the DACs out there are using the same DAC-chip. So part one of my question is, what is the best DAC-chip out there?

I can see that quite a few manufactures are using the ESS SABRE series, especially the ES9018 and the ES9038PRO. But which of these two are the better version?

Part two of the question is not really DIY related, can anyone recommend a pre/DAC of high quality, with at least one analog input and volume control? The DAC section is of the most importance in my setup. So far I have looked at:
OPPO Soniac DAC
Lyngdorf TDA2200/TDAI2170
Benchmark DAC3
Quad Artera Play

Objectively, the best measuring DAC ICs are the ES9038, ES9028, and AK4497.

I am not entirely familiar with the others on your list, but the Benchmark is well designed.
 
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