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

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.  

I don't know .......I have a 12 year mytek dac I run my TV and streamer through. I disconnected the streamer as Youtube sounded just as good to me (use it like a radio). I have an Ayre CD SACD and DVD player (20 years old) sounds pretty good. In my other system I have a Wadia 921/922 with an Esoteric transport. (I've never heard digital better than this) admittedly I will play vinyl most of the time. That t said without the full commitment to the vinyl playback hobby, I think digital is a terrific alternative. I don't own any modern DACS. I'm generally satisfied with what I have. I haven't heard any streaming setups that got my attention yet. That needs be be addressed if anything can compete with what I currently have.