Have you got any of those Martin?

Some interesting views on the convergence of the current crop of Chinese DACs.

I agree about the homogenization of ChiDAC's and also this out-measuring each other trend instead of improving features such as the preamp side of DAC's. Still we should be grateful that for relatively small outlay you can get a decent DAC.

As for the 'sub' brand, as far as I know SMSL=Loxije and Denafrips=Musician but not aware of others ...

No innovation? The Chinese are overtaking the Japanese in that regard. Small enthusiast companies like LKS and Gustard continue to work improvements into their generations. Implementation is where they score and, yes, they care about specs but only because too many people think specs are king (bad ASR influence) without listening to them.

They all sound different!

Watching movies and hearing the sound track in 5.1 or 7.1 channel surround sound.

The Ladder Schumann DAC.

Much obliged m'lud.

Don't let my view take away from your enthusiasm about new products but I find the whole Dac market very uninspiring, confusing and boring. I am no expert by any means and when I come to purchase one I will not be pouring through the specs to make my decision. I just want something that works, is reliable , will last a very long time and last but nof least doesn't sound 'wrong'.

There must be plenty of others like me who would call themselves music lovers and appreciate sound reproduction equipment but at the same time could not give a flying fook what dac chip is inside, how many power supply regulators it has or whether it does mqa or not etc etc

I feel like I am drowning in marketing bullshit mixed up with review based agenda, general bias and the usual habit of trying to squeeze as much money out of a consumer as possible.

As you were gents. Just ignore my ranting outburst. 

The DAC forms the core of any digital system, so it is important even if most of them look uninspiring. The specs won't help much and measurements won't help at all when choosing a DAC. What's inside is important, how it is implemented even more important. Try to hear your shortlisted ones if at all possible, which can be difficult. Otherwise, you're relying on reviews and that requires you to understand the reviewer a little if you're to follow that person's advice. The other way, of course, is to ask a forum member with the same equipment if you could have a listen.