Best DAC / Budget

I believe I saw that your budget was 2k? Thats probably about the most interesting price point that you could have. 

Like many of us I suddenly had a lot of extra time on my hands last year and in my case, I had a brand new unfurnished place to do something with....I tried literally everything I could get my hands on. Naturally I had to try ALL the modern DACs

2K is an interesting price for DACs right now because if buying new you are looking at the the Chord Hugo 2/Brooklyn DAC+ sort of range. If I had to pick something in that general range for you..given that you are streaming tidal, I would choose the matrix MQA sabre Pro. The 9038Pro in that one is an 8 channel chip and it handles those MQA files effortlessly....but ultimately I kept DACs below and over 2k and found 2k to be a good price point when looking for a headphone amp/DAC type deal.

My suggestion would be to not pay that much for that chip and get the Gustard X26 Pro that was mentioned above....was very impressed...super clean with barely any color except when using some of the PCM filters. I thought the 2 best DACs .. and ones I kept were the Holo Audio May KTE and the Hegel HD30...I would wait to get one of those used or buy an earlier model of Hegels. Both of the make me feel like a spoiled scumbag daily......until my girlfriend takes control of the playlist! No DAC can save me then!

Goodluck!

You have already gotten a lot of good recommendations. I really like my Schiit amp and have heard a lot of good things about their dacs. Maybe you can find a used Yggdrasil for less than $2k?

Or go down in price and try Okto.
https://www.stereophile.com/content/okto-dac8-stereo-da-processor

Shitt dacs don’t do MQA.  They’re still great, but you have to weigh that going in. 

I have a very similar analog rig as you. I have an ear 834 p and vpi classic 3. My digital is a chord cutest direct usb from iMac. I stream through tidal. I a/b the exact song from analog to digital and vice versa and the sq is very close. I’d look into the chord cutest. It also has a gain selection. Fantastic dac. Around 1500. 

I've been there.  I had the Modi, Then a $1500 Project, next a $2500 Metrum, now a $6000 Totaldac d1 core, which I love and does complement my vinyl.  Personally, I like R2R, but that kind of limits you to PCM, in my thinking.  Why pay all that for R2R unless you use PCM?  So, what format do you like best and see as staying around - DSD, MQA, PCM?  Then spend your money on the best you can budget for that format.  That's what we do with vinyl - pay a bunch of money for disc with grooves and a RIAA curve.