Is there any such thing as a bad sounding DAC these days?

I use a modified and expanded Yamaha A3000 sampler I bought in 1997 as a DAC because it is simply the best sounding piece digital conversion kit I have ever heard... A sampler is after all; a DAC on steroids. 

There are some great resources that map subjective sound claims and terminology to specific frequency response characteristics:

It's worth considering that a low noise and distortion DAC with a flat response can always be DSPed to achieve the kind of distortions that are appealing to the listener. Badly measuring DACs are only appealing to a select few.

@markwd 

Interesting chart. Thank you.

Charts like that are invaluable to help understand what we hear in music better and use tools like DSP to adjust the sound to personal preference.

Agree starting with a high quality neutral sounding DAC then tweak to one’s heart content from there is a very practical way to go.

The original premise here was that all DAC's these days are "good".  Yes tech has come a long way to get much more bang for the buck on the low end of DAC's.  However, I still feel there are differences up the food chain.  For instance, I personally prefer a R2R type DAC than ones all using the SABRE chip.  Also, like "warmer" than more analytical.   I also wonder if all DAC's are benefiting by being fed with better streamer devices etc.  Back in the day, I fed my DAC off a lousy noisy laptop.