Remember when the ES9018 came out only a few years ago? The audiophile community went nuts. We’d never seen specs like 132db dynamic range before, and not only that, it was a 32-bit, 8-channel chip. It pretty much turned the audiophile DAC scene on it’s head and it’s still one of the most coveted chips on the market.

Well, at CES 2016, ESS decided to top themselves and release a whole new line of DAC chips as well as headphone amps, low noise voltage regulator chips, and even a whole audio SoC for the big box electronics manufacturer market (Product list). The real takeaway here is the ES9038PRO chip, though. It takes over where the ES9018 left off and gets those specs up to a higher level than before, overtaking any competitors in the flagship segment. 140db dynamic range and 0.00008% total harmonic distortion when run in mono (combining all 8 channels) — incredible. I’d imagine reaching these specifications requires an absolutely flawless PCB layout and perfect power supplies, but we’ll just have to wait until the ES9038PRO gets into the hands of manufacturers and hobbyists to validate these claims!

Either way, ESS is on top of the DAC game again, and I am chomping at the bit to hear a dual-mono ES9038PRO config.

The ES9038PRO product brief is HERE

Also of note is the very cool ES9311 dual low-noise, LDO regulator chip — could be useful in any audio project requiring 3.3v — product brief HERE