I think the unsharp mask option should stay - it’s a different process and a different result, which I think is good for certain things. I don’t think it should be mandatory to use something newer just because it’s technically better. (just my opinion!) BTW diffuse and sharpen is my default option, I have a couple of customized presets which I use a lot as well as the popular AA demosaicing and local conrast presets.
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Thank u for the insightful discussion here.
I agree with this sentiment. Also the Diffuse or sharpen module is very resource intensive so some machines would struggle with this new module. Previously with the sharpen module and denoise (profile) I would run these at the start of the image editing with little problem. However, now I use the diffuse or sharpen module I make this my last processing step usually as it really impacts performance.
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I have still never even tried the D&S module. I like the results I get from Contrast Equalizer. Old habits die hard. But I will try D&S now, just to compare.
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An interesting discussion. My experience is quite different: In all my attempts, I find that RT is the very best at sharpening. The capture sharpening alone is better than anything I can find in dt or ART.
If that’s not enough, I can add a little “Sharpening - Unshart Mask” to RT, and even “Contrast by Detail Levels”.
The result is unsurpassed for me.
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Well, it’s certainly easier to get quick results with Diffuse and Sharpen, but it’s also too easy to over sharpen.
I suppose I never spent the necessary time (years for me LOL) to get my head fully wrapped around exactly what D&S is doing from a technical viewpoint – and the resulting visual effects it has on the image, particularly when multiple sliders are involved. At least not to a point where I could start from flat neutral / ground zero and just dial up whatever appropriate effect that was needed. I always had to start with a preset and then try to adjust / tame it from there. As a result I didn’t use it much.
Guess I need to be smarter. 
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So true!
Since Capture Sharpening was introduced, I almost never use USM or RLD sharpening.
I recall an old thread when someone presented a practical use case for sharpening and RT’s capture sharpening came the big winner on this case and myself and others had hard time trying to match the result in DT …
Then again D&S wasn’t here yet but I can’t say much about as it’s far too resource intensive for my computer… and as @Tim mentioned doing, I too stick to contrast equalizer, one of the module that made me love DT 
PS unfortunately I can’t find the old thread
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I am not going to offer any ignorant comment about the RT sharpening because I am a DT user because of the masking options in most modules including the sharpening and denoising modules. But for me the D&S module is incredible. The maths and AP’s description of it leave me a little overwhelmed, but the presets work great. For most images I apply sharpen demosaicing (AA filter) pre-set. I see no artefacts from this and for many images it is sufficient sharpening. With a noisy image I can limit the sharpening with the details threshold slider found in the masking options.
For images that I want even more sharpening I create a new instance and defer to the lens deblur pre-sets. Soft is usually sufficient but the hard option can help with slightly soft focused subjects.
I also love the local contrast and contrast equalizer modules for the contribution they can bring to an image.
While I am not a regular RT user anymore because the DT masking options won me over to DT as my #1 editor I have great respect for RT and its ability to tackle troublesome noise. There was a very challenging image I worked on for 16 hours for a friend to resolve noise problems to produce an image that could be printed for gallery sales. On that occasion RT saved the day. But this was more than three years ago, so much has evolved in both RT and DT since then. Both great programs and the price is right due to the generous and passionate developers.
The current DT meets all my sharpening and denoising needs.
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I was liking the dehaze preset just as is in D&S but now I am favouring the no AA preset and dialing in one or two more iterations… Same with local contrast …the default is nice but I have taken it up to 20… the results of the module are amazing when you hit your sweet spot and it can be easy to be underwhelmed perhaps at first but then you compare it to the contrast eq or your other preferred method and you might see them as if hitting the image with a sledge hammer and the results of the D&S… are really clean… I rarely bother with any of my own adjustments I just have tweaks of the presets… they cover a lot of bases…
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With the local contrast preset I sometimes lower the top two sliders (forgotten what they’re called - radius and something else - not got dt running right now) substantially, and also swap their relative settings. Gives a different kind of local contrast…
The default settings of the module are precisely that — all sliders at 0, nothing is done to your image.
Maybe this one?
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Yes, but I’ve not reached a “point of grok” where I can start from there. I need the assistance of presets.
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Yes, I am basically in the same boat. I wish I had time to dig into the math, the connection between speed and anisotropy for various orders is not something I understand at the moment. Cf
I’m even less… I don’t have the math background to even understand it. 
@nwinspeare Nicolas did a really nice job and he had a nice example image where he demonstrated the tweak on image detail… Having said that as I mentioned earlier 95% of the time is use a modified preset… I find the no AA preset does a good job and then you can dial up slowly or or two or maybe at most 3 iterations in IMO… I know everyone’s opinion of good sharpness varies… You also really have to check the result at 100% I find the DT preview is often very misleading for noise and sharpening … it might look fine full screen but if you zoom its cooked or you have introduced a lot of grain that just seems to get lost when the image is scaled to give the full screen preview.
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Thus very one thread, thanks
Hope it’s still an interesting read and not too outdated
I’m testing the last DeepPRIME XD model from DXO which has lens deblurring option, and somehow it’s less sharp than the original file I produced with RT. Turns out it’s because RT can’t apply capture sharpening to the DNG DXO produces. Capture sharpening’s pretty good.