I don’t really understand why there is this perception that FPGA = Good, while dac chips such as ESS, AKM, Burr Brown etc = Bad.
Most FPGA designs are from one man operations with one idea and a limited budget, while the chips are generally designed by expert teams with larger budgets. Of course, either can be good or bad, depending on the implementation. Some of the most highly regarded high end DACs available use the current ESS or AKM chips, for example. Personally, I prefer the Lumin X1 and Mytek Manhattan II with their ESS chips to the Chord Dave I owned, despite its FGPA. In other words, don’t pre-judge the DAC merely because it uses a particular architecture. It is the implementation that is more important.
And you should definitely involve your wife. If she hates the M Scaler, it sounds like she has good taste and better hearing than most reviewers out there.
Most FPGA designs are from one man operations with one idea and a limited budget, while the chips are generally designed by expert teams with larger budgets. Of course, either can be good or bad, depending on the implementation. Some of the most highly regarded high end DACs available use the current ESS or AKM chips, for example. Personally, I prefer the Lumin X1 and Mytek Manhattan II with their ESS chips to the Chord Dave I owned, despite its FGPA. In other words, don’t pre-judge the DAC merely because it uses a particular architecture. It is the implementation that is more important.
And you should definitely involve your wife. If she hates the M Scaler, it sounds like she has good taste and better hearing than most reviewers out there.