Not saying you didn't hear what you did as we all hear differently and like different devices, but you really caught me off guard when you used the word edgy.
As I've said above, most DAC's are highly dependent on the quality of what they are fed (just like everything else, right). I once was in an audition of a few DAC's and the music they were using was pop/rock and highly compressed. Almost like AM radio, lol. The tube gear we listened to made the music sound it's best as it rolled off a bit on the upper octaves, however when you put on well recorded music, it was the other DAC's that sounded best. We also played with the cables and found that the overall best cables were the TotalDac cable and the AQ Diamond (we only used USB this day). I have loved both of those cables in my system. AQ being the most neutral of the two and the Totaldac is just a tad more open, but not quite as neutral in the mids where is gives a bit of a creamier texture. It was cool going back and forth between the two.
I realize that we don't all have perfect recordings, lol. Things always depend on what you listen to and how you listen.
The other major thing IRT digital and new DAC's is how will you set them up? How will you feed them? I have found that personally, I like the ethernet connection best. I am slowly putting together an optical wire converter to network and feed my Ayre via it's ethernet connection. I've heard it this way a few times and to my ears it had beaten every DAC I've had in the system that was USB only. Many of us have or are doing this and feel the same way. There are a few threads detailing these connections on Audiogon and other sites as well.
I've never heard any DAC sound great when run without a true preamp. Even at the lower price points, you really need a good preamp to get the most out of your components. That's one of the few things IRT audio that most agree on.
The other thing is that most of the DAC's being discussed in this thread are outstanding and leaps and bounds better than anything we could get just a few years ago. I assume that the DAC's will keep getting better and better as the newer chips become available.