I'd like to comment on this "sound of DACs". ESS DAC chips have a sound. Everything does. However, it is not what is normally talked about. What you are hearing when you hear any DAC is the whole shebang. You are not hearing an ESS or Wolfson or AKM or TI or R2R or whatever.....you are hearing the entire implementation of literally thousands of things that can change and effect the sound. I am not exaggerating. I have been modding players/DACs and manufacturing DACs since the first Philips CD player came out (mid 80s). The game is infinite.
Above, Nekoaudio says the ESS DACs are distorted. No, they are not. The Oppos are distorted because they have no idea how to make something sound great....hence my modding them......every Oppo sounds not good stock no matter what DAC chip is in them. But I can fix it. Mahler123 says his Manhattan DAC (uses last generation ESS DAC chip) sounds much better than his Bryston DAC (uses AKM chips). This is completely contradictory to what Nekoaudio stated. There are several people who have A/Bed the stock and modded Gustard (ESS based) with the Yggy (R2R based) and the modded one kills the Yggy and the stock one is in the same league. What? It is all in the implementation.....really!
However, DAC chips are getting better. The new ESS 9028/9038s are a whole nuther world more informative on every level than the old 9018s. Way less noise and distortion. Does that mean the new Oppo Sonica will sound good? No...it is still an Oppo. It won't sound that great.....the Bryston would kill it. However, modded the Oppo will probably kill the Bryston. There is a new Manhattan II. It has a bunch of enhancements including the new ESS top of the line 9038 DAC. I bet it is way, way better than the older Manhattan. If I had the old one I would be sending it off the get it upgraded yesterday....overnight! I bet it would blow your mind.
Every DAC system/chip has a limitation. What is it? Certainly buying an Oppo won't show you the limitation of an ESS chip.....you are hearing the limitations of the people who designed it and also the price point they are playing at. It is understandable that people want simple answers to make their purchasing more easy. However, there is nothing simple about audio sound. For instance, discrete circuits are not the cure all. The Bryston has discrete output stages but the Manhattan uses op amps......oh no....another myth gone out the window.
It is everything you do. Every single part and resonance and power supply and solder joint (yes, all brands of solder sound different) has a sound.....everything has a sound. My job, as tweaker, is to lower the distortion and noise of a component by choosing the best parts and implementation.....all by listening. You cannot do it by the book...you have to listen. This game is infinite....just like life, just like Love.