R2R next? Don't like ESS

I think ESS chips get a bad rap because they are used in a lot of inexpensive dacs. 

I had a SMSL VMV D1SE dac with ESS chips. A nice dac for $700. I went to a more expensive r2r dac and it was better.  I went to an even more expensive dac with ESS chips and it's notably better.  With it, my system sounds better than ever.  If you look at the design of my current dac, the chips are important, but as others have said, it's the overall implementation. 

DACs seem to be a balance of detail vs. musicality which are both attributes which can be good or bad. I personally haven't been able to tolerate the ESS chip based DACs I've heard so far as the detail gets edgy and digital. High sounds actually hurt my ears even if I can't distinguish the top edge. It isn't just ESS chip based DACs that cause problems for me. 

Right now, I'm using a PS Audio Directstream mk1 DAC which was modified in a couple of ways to sound close to the mk2. This is a FPGA based DAC which converts all incoming files to DSD. So far it is the perfect blend of significantly more detail than my previous DAC without edgy or bright sound. 

My Integrated Amp has the ESS9038 chip and digital  sources sound great through it.  Firm believer that it is the implementation of the DAC chip, but more importantly the analog stage.   

My dac has four ESS9039SPRO chips and it's not at all edgy. I absolutely hate bright, harsh, and edgy sounds. My tinnitus probably doesn't help. It replaced an r2r dac which are typically warmer and less bright. 

One of the things that I like about my current setup is that recordings that I had written off as sibilant, etc no longer are. With my previous gear, I wouldn't play some of my favorite music because the sibilance or edgy sound drove me nuts.  My system is very clear and detailed. I didn't get rid of the sibilance by rounding off the upper frequencies. That doesn't really work, anyway. 

Nothing worse than sibilance.  Makes me want to turn it off.  My amp sounds sweet , has great detail and has great bass .   Not thin sounding at all , great mid bass .  I sold my RME DAC  (akm), not that it wasn't a very good DAC it was, but the internal DAC just sounded better to me.