Has any inexpensive Asian DAC manufacturer harnessed the ESS Sabre ES9038PRO Chip?

DAC3B uses the ES9028PRO chip, not the newer ES9038PRO chip. 

Both of these units use the mobile version,  ESS Sabre ES9038Q2M. The pro audio version this ESS Sabre DAC chip is ES9038PRO. Audio Science Review have reviewed a couple inexpensive Asian DAC’s that include the pro audio version of the chip, which met with terrible measurement results.

From what I’ve read, the Asian designers of inexpensive DAC’s having the ES9038PRO chip aren’t implementing it correctly, resulting in lousy measurements.  

Lol, +1 ☝🏻

Abasia, 

Inexpensive means $500 or less for this discussion.

The SMSL VMV D1 DAC has 2 ES9038PRO chips. Each chip has 8 channels that can be combined together. 

Regarding the above DAC (SMSL VMV D1), it got a favorable review from Audio Science Review. Amirm recommended it for balanced output use only.

See: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/review-and-measurements-of-smsl-vmv-d1-da...

☝🏻☝🏻 Agreed with respect to the defective board being identified, the replacement of which gave better results on unbalanced outputs. As for other measurements, the SMSL VMV D1 DAC still had the ESS hump in the IMD-volume plot regardless of the board replacement. But even at $900 on discount sites, it’s a bit more than most sub-$500 DAC’s having that chip.