DAC experiences?

The ESS ES9039pro DAC chip is probably one of the best DAC chips available.

I have owned and lived with a few DAC's that used that chip.  Very good sounding at first however over time it just doesn't have that "Real" sound and can become fatiguing. That said, out of all the chip DACs, that would be my go-to if I wanted a chip DAC. 

There is no going back when you hear a good non-chip DAC.  That is if your system is up to par.  On a budget system an ESS ES9039pro DAC would be a good match. An older SMSL SU8 DAC would be a good choice at under $300.  I remember A/Bing this DAC in our system and was very impressed at how good it sounded against all the chip DAC's we compared. We did not use the noisy USB input.  We used the Denafrips Hermes DDC's outputs (2x i2s, 2x Balanced AES/EBU, Coax and optical all output simultaneously) to compare all the DACs. The SMSL SU8 Optical/coaxial sampling rate was: 32–192 kHz, DSD64 (DoP).

Then we moved on to the big boy's. :)

I would also look to see what is going on with MKII prices now that PS Audio is making something new.

The MKII is a wonderful sounding DAC with upgraded audio transformers. We have both the upgraded MK1 and the Upgraded MKII.

Them cheap stock Edcore XS4400 iron core transformers in the MKII are not very good and the Edcore 150-150 in the MK1 are even worse.

With the upgrades it’s going to be hard to beat at any price.

I have the APS Audio PS Audio MK 1 Limited Edition Signature Series Plus and agree it is the best sounding DAC I have owned. Previously, I have owned Chord, Mark Levinson, Weiss. I have no association with APS, besides being a very satisfied customer (and saving a lot of money)