DAC upgrade?

Ok, given you sit and listen I’d have to say I think you’d appreciate a better DAC in large part because your system is revealing enough to clearly show the improvements IMHO. Deciding between the A18 and the D90 is a tough one as they only seem to differ slightly sonically with the Gustard being a touch more detailed up top while the Topping may posses a tad more warmth in the mids, so I’d make my decision based on which slight bias would match better with your system and tastes. Looks like you can return the A18 if you buy from Apos, and if you can also return the Topping I’d try to demo them both if you can do it as then you’ll know for sure.  Frankly, they both seem so good I don’t think you can make a wrong choice.

For streaming quality I’ve found the Qobuz 16/44 tracks overall to be comparable to spinning my CDs and their hi-res, not surprisingly, to be better. Put it this way — I haven’t spun a CD in over a year since getting Qobuz, and I’ve had more fun finding worlds of new music than I ever had listening to my CDs. Not sure that answers your question, but that’s my experience FWIW.

On my opinion, Gustard A22 is much better DAC upgrade option for audiophile, vs A18. A22 has much better power supply, solid heavy enclosure, dual AK4499 DAC, and NO OP-AMPS in sound path, using discrete class A driving stage instead. It works well for me, and most of the time it drives amp directly. 

Sounds like I have some further research to do; although suspect either the Gustard or Topping will provide better sound quality than what I have.
I suspect I could open up a whole can of worms when asking about Tidal vs. Qobuz. The consensus seems to be Qobuz for sound quality, Tidal for content?

@downingp

1. in terms of sound quality, qobuz hi-res > tidal masters but both are very very good, and the difference is relatively small

2. your rotel and totems produce a clean crisp extended somewhat lean sound with good bass -- do you want a warmer richer fuller sound? if so, there are dacs worth trying, but you should disclose your budget

3. the d-to-a conversion chips used in dacs matter, but only about 25-40% of the overall sq produced... other factors matters a lot, especially power supply, jitter management, output stage and tuning of the sound profile by the maker

I have been playing around with the settings within Audirvana and am currently up sampling to frequencies around 384 kHz. In a sense, is that producing a better sound?