I'm that I'm resuscitating this old thread, But I think it behooves me to make a point. I have a D2, in my McIntosh C53. The DA2 has a 32bit ESS DAC. That chip is considered the latest and greatest by all measures. I was previously using a Cambridge Audio 851N which is equipped with 24 bit AD 1955. As expected the ESS is techically superior in all measures, better SN, THD and even higher sampling rates. That said, both DAC's sound 100% the same. They both sound equally superb. The reason is very, very simple. All those improvements are way, way, below the threshold of hearing! The same goes for any sampling rate above 96khz. There is no more, "soundstage", channel separation, transparency or anything else. They both sound exactly the same because the 24 bit chips specs were already below the level of any human's (or bat) level of hearing. The 32 bit chip sets now also include HDMI whic allow the audio compnent to use ARC. However, HDMI is limited to 24/95. If you want to use newer higher sampling rates above 384 requires using the USB rather HDMI connector.
So there you have it. If you have a DAC with a 24 bit DAC, unless you must have ARC control over HDMI, there is absolutely no audio fidelity reason to feel the urge to upgrade! Be assured that no DAC possible can improce on the fidelity you already have. If you are swapping your component for any other reason, rest assured the latest and greatest chip will already be there. FYI, The best DAC chips in the market cost around 100 bucks. Anyone selling you a stand alone DAC for more than 500 bucks should make you just chuckle and look elsewhere.