I am replying in general to all of the previous posts. First I can't believe that there is such a differential in the dependence upon written, machine measured specifications.... most of which the human ear could never hear. Any DAC of the same model and manufacturer will sound exactly the same unless it has some kind of defect in the manufacturing process. In general... ESS is more bright and sounds more digital like - the sound that tube lovers and vinyl listeners try to avoid. Burr Brown and Cirrus Logic in general have a softer sound. AKM seem to hold the place of top dog currently in that they are smoother with extended high end giving good detail and depth without the digital harshness... thus resulting in that accurate analogue sound... what we are all really looking for. Afterall, our hearing system and mental processing is still more analogue than digital. What causes these different pieces of equipment and models to sound different are the components (op-amps, type of capacitors, type of resistors, internal signal routing, noise suppression, etc. But there are caveats to all of these.... usually the use of good op-amps helps to offer a cleaner signal with less noise. Most of the time, the better rated DAC's have more op-amps but there is a point of no return. I would think that anything over 11 is overkill and non beneficial. Yet one of the better DAC's out there, the Topping E70 Velvet, has no op-amps.... hmmmm... what's up with that?
Specs should be used as guide, a road map to compare the DAC's in your budget, then there are the features you want... the display, the knob, inputs/outputs, etc. I would definately NOT want anytype of DSP EQ going on and would rather see the cost put into the implementation of the DAC and its circuitry. Any equalization should be done outside of the DAC in an analogue fashion. The only exception to this would be some of the Filter and Sound Color settings... all of which can be defeated and are usually a feature of the actual DAC chip rather than adding another DSP circuit. By experimenting with the various filters and slope settings you can taylor the detail, punch and detail and then "soften it a bit by sitting one of the "tube" emulations which usually will allow you to dial in the perfect sound for YOUR system, YOUR room enviroment and most importantly YOUR ears. Once you learn this procedure... with a little patience... you can match the performance of DAC's costing 2x or 3x that are sitting in "audiophile" systems with all the tone controls bypassed and all settings at neutral....because their systems are "flat". Yuk!... and yeah, I have perfect 20-20K hearing and a room that has no standing waves and no parallel surfaces and perfect sound distribution from my perfectly balanced speakers with perfect dispersion as I set in the perfect listening position....in my dreams!
The point of this rant.... quit looking for and paying for things (specs) you can't hear. Quit listening to the equipment and listen to YOUR music.
Enjoy the music!