Not sure what recent upsampling DACs Steve is skeptical about, but IME the relatively new ESS 9018 Sabre chip(when implemented in dual mono with well-executed discrete dc regulation) is an advance over any commercial offer that I've heard. Detailed, smooth, delivering a payload of life-like energy without fatigue. Unfortunately any DAC chip is no better than the sum of its surrounding clock, PS, and analog stage, so YMMV.
