Maybe it IS all in the DAC chips

I had a couple Audio GD (mid-level ChiFi) DACs that used the PCM1704s, but never managed to hear them in any other DACs. AGD having a distinctive voicing/house sound, I’m not sure whether I heard the chips or the implementation.

Since then I went on a NOS DAC spree; currently have 4 of them, 3 of which (MHDT Labs Orchid; Lab12DAC1Reference and Mojo Audio Mystique X SE) use vintage chips. The best of the 4 are the Lab12 and Mystique, but they illustrate careful/creative implementation as much or more than just using vintage chips:

Lab12DAC1Reference: This DAC uses 8 paralleled Philips TDA1453s. It also has a pair of matched 6922s in the output section. Hard to know which contributes more to the sound, but this is my best DAC. It has a lovely sound, partly due to the tube output (tonally & spatially), but also partly due ot the paralleled NOS chips (low distortion, idea sound at any volume, great dynamics). And of course, I can readily change the sound by tube rolling.

Mystique X SE: This DAC uses a pair of 20-bit Analog Devices AD1862 chips, and the sound is very fine. But that’s also at least partly due to the unusually robust and complex power supply, which is heavy and over-built. The Mystique comes in a close 2nd to the Lab12, but comparing them is almost unfair: they use rather different designs and design objectives to sound as good as they do.

I am wondering why the conversation avoids the implantation of FPGA. More and more companies are programing their own proprietary software and not relying on a commercial DAC chip. Some use the back half of the chip, and program the FPGA for the points they consider important. This implementation is becoming more and more common with higher performance digital components. 

IMO, all avr’s are terrible for audio, good for HT. I’ve owned many of the so called best and I would never say they sounded good for audio.

All dac chips in cd players/dvd players are 2nd rate at best.

Most dacs in preamps/integrated amps are a compromise at best. I owned in the past the best Hegel/Mcintosh and other preamps and integrateds with dacs in them and never used them, always used my external dac.

I have owned external dacs for decades and the early 1’s I would never purchase again. Even the compromised dacs in current preamps or integrateds sound better than dacs made decades ago, at least the audio research and other older dacs I have owned

Well I can’t speak to all, but I can’ say that the Theta Casanova was an EXCELLENT 2-channel preamp and DAC.  Getting the same sound quality with modern features in a package I can afford has been a very long road for me. 

@audioman58 

land will be upgrading it to the Dac 2  that has 2 BB 1994A chips used in monolithic design , these chips 30% is a R2R chip the other 70% Delta Sigma ,

all price point Merason dacs have a natural quality to them and very welll received 

especially in Europe 

I just picked up a used DAC1 MK2. I’m curious about this upgrade you mention. Who or what is "land" ?