DAC Chips

Your answer should be in these link data comparisons
http://www.esstech.com/files/7414/5193/1716/ES9038PRO_Product_brief_121715.pdf

http://www.esstech.com/files/9814/5193/1789/ES9028PRO__ES9026PRO_Product_Brief_121615.pdf

Cheers George

I'm not sure there is a 9038 KTM chip there are Q2M chips. The M means mobile they are mainly for phones, tablets, small DACs etc.. they are also 2 channel the PRO chips are 8 channel. 

When an 8-channel chip is used in a 2-channel application, the chip's extra channels typically are run in parallel. Assuming the noise and distortion are random (noise is; distortion may not be), running 4 channels of DAC in parallel should lower noise and distortion by a factor of 2.

Thank you all very much. Great info. Didn't know about the 8 vs 2 channel chips. I still have a lot to learn about DACs. The ESS9038KTM does indeed exist although I can not find anything about it on their website. I've emailed them an inquiry. We'll see if I get an answer. The Sabre 9028PRO is used in the Mytek Brooklyn Bridge by the way.

The DAC chip is only a part of the greater whole. In other words, you should look at other factors when doing a comparison because every part of the DAC could in some way, determine the sonic signature of that component. Many people want to say that they prefer one DAC chip over another but what matters is how that chip is implemented. Ten companies could build a DAC with the exact same DAC chip, yet they would all sound different.

Absolutely right Mr goofy foot

Both chips in PRO version are 2x8 channels.  My Benchmark DAC3 sums them by 4 and uses dual differential outputs.  That way they use all 16 channels.  9038PRO according to links provided by George, has dynamic range of 140dB, but it is in mono mode (8 summing?), while for 129dB in 9028PRO mode is not specified.  They differ very little in THD + Noise (-122dB vs -120dB) and that's perhaps why Benchmark chose cheaper 9028PRO for DAC3.  

My Ayre uses an ESS DAC chip also.

I also think that what @goofyfoot said is an important point. It is as silly to judge a DAC by its chipset as by the thickness of the front panel.

The 9038 Pro chips can be ran in a high current mode.  This allows higher output voltage/current from the DAC chip itself.  The downside is heat (which requires heatsinks on the DAC chips themselves) as well as an I/V stage that is capable of the higher voltage swings.  I know of only two manufacturers that support the "high current" mode (LKS and Audio-GD).  If you see the 9038/9028 in equipment without heatsinks or using normal op amps for I/V, then they are running them in standard mode, which isn't really any different from the previous 9018 generation DAC chips.