I ended up getting the Denafrips Ares II. Amazon had it through a retailer and I paid 825 shipped. It came in yesterday. Very satisfied with it so far. Much more detailed than my previous SMSL 6th anny dac. I can follow an instrument through the entire song without it getting lost. Really great separation. Picking up things I haven’t noticed before in a few tracks. Overall I’m pretty impressed. Bass is also much different. I have always ran 2 subs, but they never filled the room like this, until now. I did have "muddy" bass every now and then, and to be fair I haven’t had enough time to know if I’ll still get this effect, but its certainly tighter and more impactful, if that’s the right descriptor.
Tube amp > Dac > and I stream with the m1 mac mini (also new) on Apple Music Lossless (brand new to this).
I previously streamed on a 2010 mbp on Qobuz/Tidal/Amazon, it died, then I moved to a Windows machine on Tidal. I prefer using my Mac day to day so I ended up picking up the Mac Mini. Not sure if it’s because it’s new to me, but Apple music lossless sounds better than Tidal.
Just being clear as to all the changes made. There could be a case for new hardware making a difference. Coming from a 2010 MBP to something at current year is a pretty big leap. All in all very satisfied with the Denafrips at this price point. It’s a huge leap from a $90 dac.