ESS or Burr-Brown DAC's, which is better?

[jessearias]

What is a better DAC?  ESS SABER 9022 or Burr-Brown PCM1798 ? 

Same? About equal? 

[richidoo]

Blonde or brunette? Chocolate or vanilla?   

In my opinion, the DA chip is less of a factor in the sound of a DAC than the clock quality, USB input processing, and the analog stages. All modern DA chips have extreme performance, so it's really the overall DAC design and execution that offers the opportunities to stand out. Parts choice is less important. A good designer will of course choose adequate parts quality. But a lesser designer might choose extreme audiophile parts quality and still not sound as good. Let your ears be your guide!

I've heard my diy 9018 chip sound very good and not so good at all depending on i/o, power, source, etc.

What specific DACs are you looking at with those chips?

[jimbones]

I have a Burson Conductor and originally purchased it with the ESS chip. I lived with it for 2 years. I then purchased another board with a different chipset and I could not believe how much difference it made. It was probably bigger than any component change that I have made to my system. I can not go back to the ESS because the new board is so much more relaxed and musical with better sound stage. It is better in every respect. The ESS may have a bit more detail to a fault as it is "hard" sounding. That said, it is possible that Burson may not have done a good job in implementing the ESS.

[HAL]

Did not see any data sheet for the 9022, but the TI PCM1798 (they bought Burr-Brown) is a 13 year old DAC chip. 

I would suggest listening to a Wolfson Micro WM8741/WM8742, AKM AK4490EQ or AK4495 based DAC for something with the minimum phase filter as a comparison.  The PCM1798 has a slow roll-off filter that might be a minimum phase style, but hard to tell from the data sheet.

Just getting a DIY version AK4490EQ board with the Amanero USB working and it should support PCM up to 32bit/384KHz DXD files.  The PCM1798 is limited to 24bit/192KHz, which is not bad, just not the full range folks seem to want now.

Good luck with your DAC choice.

[jessearias]

The Burr Brown is the chip in the P5, I know not the best chip in the world, but that's what it has.

I also have a Peachtree DAC-ITX with the ESS chip in it. Again, not the best DAC on the block, but it has gotten some pretty decent reviews from Stereophile and Audiophile.

I was leaning towards using the DAC-it and not the built in DAC in the P5. From the comments I hear, it seems the DAC-it would be the way to go for now. Eventually, I will get a better DAC.    That's why we go to work everyday.    To buy better stereo gear.  

Thanks  

[P.I.]

The Burr Brown is the chip in the P5, I know not the best chip in the world, but that's what it has.

I also have a Peachtree DAC-ITX with the ESS chip in it. Again, not the best DAC on the block, but it has gotten some pretty decent reviews from Stereophile and Audiophile.

I was leaning towards using the DAC-it and not the built in DAC in the P5. From the comments I hear, it seems the DAC-it would be the way to go for now. Eventually, I will get a better DAC.    That's why we go to work everyday.    To buy better stereo gear.  

Thanks  

Rich nailed it, except he left out redheads and those raven tressed beauties.   

I have never heard a DAC implementing the ESS chip that I would consider owning.

The qualifier here is that choice factor again.  The ESS family of chips is squeaky clean, extremely clear and absolutely boring after a while to me old ears.  It has no character and is just to analytical to my admittedly old ears. I want to listen to music, not a pristine rendition of data, which the ESS DACs do very well.

I couldn't dare the least about the latest and greatest format, especially when I have 2 -2TB of music in rebook.everythig I want to listen to is available in Redbook - not so SACD, DSD, DAD, PCM 9billion or LSMFT.

That is why I'm still a NOS guy.  My DAC makes music, not not a converted data stream.

[richidoo]

I found this blog post very interesting, thanks to Maty on AC: http://archimago.blogspot.com/2016/07/musings-digital-interpolation-filters.html

Some cool, modern designs of NOS type DACs (for DIY) each with a fanatical following:
http://www.dddac.com/
http://soekris.com/products/audio-products/dam1021/dam1121-02.html

[KLH007]

The AKM 4490 DACs I've listened to, Rich's DIY, NuPrime DAC-9, TEAC, have a relaxed, no edge detailing ability that keeps less than perfect recordings in the listening que, and don't sound lean or bleached, and most are bargains to boot. The NuPrime DAC-9 took down a respected DAC 4 times it's cost in a recent comparison, and Rich's DIY is an unbelievable bargain for those who want to build a nice DAC.