So....I bought THIS tonight.........

Thank you Amir.
Even Though it has the ess hump I'm going to try it anyway. No one has definitely said the could hear it. No one!
Beave

 

@The Beave I imagine you're good for now, but I noticed this LKS MH-DA004 DAC that is currently available on Drop for $825 has dual 9038PRO chips. So I thought I'd point it out since you liked the PRO. However I'm not personally familiar with it and have not read up on it either.

Drop: LKS MH-DA004 DUAL ES9038PRO DAC

 

Oh dude you would soooo do this!
Oh this is some serious kit!
And I’m not joking!
More later.
Beave

 

I’m gonna have to buy it!
Thank you for this!
Beave

 

It has the Q2M low power version of the ESS 9038, and not the high performance 9038PRO.

 

Looks like there wasn't any restoration work done. Pretty cool that it survived at all, though.

 

Amir, I had no idea you were a member here. Welcome!

 

Well I did cancel the Soncoz and bought the LKS DAC last night. That's a true Reference Kit and a league above the ones I was looking at!
Thanks again adamos for bringing that to my attention!
You made my Christmas!!!!!
Beave

 

Next thing you know, you’ll be buying a Purifi-based amplifier!

 

Just so you know ....there's always something better and more expensive out there

 

To the OP, I was within an eyelash of purchasing the Matrix Audio X-Sabre. It incorporates the ES9038PRO chip and has a I2S Input that I was going to pass the signal from a Modded OPPO-203 (that will pass SACD via the I2S Audio Output).

Matrix Audio - X-SABRE Pro (MQA)

It measures very well:

Matrix Audio X-SABRE Pro MQA: Best Audio DAC in the World?

It's not cheap at 2K, but might be worth looking into.

 

I wish Wally would come over and help us out.

 

It’s at the very top of Amir’s list for THD+N measurements. Plus, the designers managed to rectify a midrange IMD issue that seems to plague most ES9038-based DACs.

I’m not sure I’d replace my Oppo Sonica DAC (or Conrad-Johnson HD3, for that matter) but it certainly is tempting!

 

Someone did a terminator v Ares comparison on Youtube. Very difficult to tell any difference but he says it's in soundstage size which Youtube obviously cannot portray. The Pontus interests me more because it has the extra power supply and isolation which I think makes most difference and is just double the Ares cost. Using the Oppo 205 as a DAC only I am finding that it doesn't really do an analogue sound, certainly not with edgy /bright sounding CDs. I can't see other Sabre 9038 models being that much different in character. Think you may end up going round in circles. I just sold a Beresford DAC which was more analogue or at least smooth on the right chip setting, but it smoothed over detail compared to Oppo. You could go in another direction and try the Musical Paradise models with valves. The more expensive model has DAC options including Sabre 9038.

 

You’re welcome, hopefully it turns out to be a good fit.

 

It’ll take a month to get it, so I’ll have it around January 5th. But in all honesty, the Soncoz looks really good, especially for $500, but for $400 more the L.K.S. is really in the top eschilon of ESS dac’s. Am I sorry I didn’t get to try out the Soncoz, yeah, that’s part of the fun, but this deal is too good to let it go.
Beave

 

Thank you. Been a member for a while. When I first showed up, folks wanted to bash my head in so I lay low.

 

Since you are near me, loan me the LKS when you get it so I can measure it. My experience shows that what chip a DAC uses has very little relationship with how good the performance is. Implementation is far, far more important than the core chip.

 

This.

 

yes indeed!
that's why I'm digging on this educational journey, especially the experience with the Denafrips DAC!

And I just didn't think of burning in the different filters on the 9018 ers chip either until last week, and I've already heard a BIG difference on one of the filters after 50+ continued hours of play, he'll I might not even need another DAC if Audiolab continues to mature like this, but we'll see, I just switched to filter 4 this morning so I have three more to go after that.

Then we get to play with the LOW in January.
Beave

 

While I agree with this it is important to remember that the chips capability is center to what a proper implementation COULD achieve! You can’t put a b grade chip into an implementation and expect it to perform in a top tier fashion. The 9038 is a game changing chip, the OPPO 205 and its tests testify to that , along with the testimony from many users how good digital audio sounds with it.

Now OPPO blew it with the Sonics dac, which also used the 9038 chip but wasn’t as refined as the 205 implementation is. But the 9038 chip elevated what could be achieved with digital audio and its popularity is testimony to that!

btw, today is the last day to get in on the Drop LKS DAC for $825, it’s still going for $1500.00 on eBay!
Killer deal and I’m uber excited abough getting this beast,
Beave

 

Hold on! Oppo didn’t “blow” anything. I was involved in testing two different prototypes and the final version of the Sonica DAC over the course of a year (maybe longer). The Sonica DAC used the exact same “implementation” as the 205 stereo channels. Same input circuit. Same analog stages. It’s basically as if Oppo took the 205’s USB DAC and gave it its own power supply and chassis. The SOC and its feature set are different, but that’s about it.

 

AAHHHHHHH!,,,,,

Sorry Billy. I’ve read a few reviews, of the Sonica and one specifically where the test results were not up to the results from the 205. Specifically I believe on measurement had to do with distortion measurements.
I believe it was in Archimagos test results for both the Sonica AND the 205.
But I just read his amended review so my apologies for the misinformation.
So now let’s continue..........

Beave

 

Hey Billy, since the Sonica isn’t available are you gonna hop on the LKS?
Dual 9038 PRO’S and built like an OPPO..........
C’mon down the rabbit hole with me, this might be the only time you might be able to find this kind of implementation under a Grand!
Only got a day left.........
Beave

 

Yeah, Archimago’s original test had a buggy pre-release firmware in it that was quickly replaced. We tested probably a dozen different firmware iterations. Probably more because at some points there were two separate types of firmware that needed to be installed. The software and firmware teams were constantly rolling out changes, responsive to issues we found during testing.