The Topping D90 that I have uses the flagship top of the line AKM4499 DAC chip (and it sounds great!) but my 2015 era ESS based PS Audio NuWave DSD DAC still sounds better.
As I've said many times before, it's not all about the "chip of the month" but how well the overall package is implemented and tuned by the designer in the end product DAC.
