ESS Sabre 9018Q2C DAC/AMP - High-quality audio for the masses?

[seanwee]

At CES 2015 in Las Vegas,ESS announced the arrival of a new SoC (System On Chip) that integrates an audio DAC and a built-in amp ,it has low power consumption and is specially designed for mobile devices such as smartphones ,tablets and portable music players .
 
The new Sabre 9018Q2C is a D/A converter with support up to 384 KHz / 32 bit (DXD) and DSD up to 11.2 MHz / 1 bit . And it has a signal / noise ratio of 121dB and a harmonic distortion of just -115dB (2Vrms to 600 ohms). The headphone amplifier delivers an output of 49mW (32Ohms).

 
 
This new ESS audio SoC consumes only 3.3V and is also tiny, with dimensions of 5mm x 5mm. It also features jitter reduction HyperStream developed by ESS.
 
As far as i know, its going to be used in the Seiun Pro/Pro X player.
 
So what do you guys think? Im looking forward to how it compares with the Sabre 9018K2M.
 
A few links:
 
http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20150107005190/en/ESS-Technology-Introduces-SABRE9018Q2C-CES-2015--
 
http://www.unlockpwd.com/ess-technology-presents-a-new-soc-for-audio-mobile-device/

 

[Mython]

ES9038 looks interesting, too:
 
www.head-fi.org/t/791531/what-will-the-new-dx200-look-like-dec-23-new-images-on-page-1/150#post_12296679
 
.

 

[Mython]

This is also quite an interesting take on the Sabre product-line (ES9028C2M, in this instance), by LG's smartphone division, in collaboration with Bang & Olufsen:
 
 
http://www.whathifi.com/news/lg-launches-g5-modular-phone-hi-fi-plus-dac
http://www.whathifi.com/lg/hi-fi-plus/review
https://asia.cnet.com/uk/products/lg-hi-fi-plus-g5/
http://www.lg.com/ae/mobile-accessories/lg-Hi-Fi-Plus-with-B
http://www.lgnewsroom.com/mwc2016/images-mwc2016/lg-hifi-plus/
http://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/lg-g5-hi-fi-plus-modular-hi-res-dac/

 

[Mython]

and:
 
 

  Some details of the DX200:
 
1. RK3368 CPU (the latest)
2. 2GB LPDDR
3. The DAC chip is the ES9028pro
4. Dual micro SD card slots (not enough room to use 2 SD cards and the price of micro cards is falling fast).
5. WIFI
6. Blue Tooth