Well...I would have given you the same advice 6 months ago - buy the best single dac unit you can afford. But, now that I've completed my own digital front-end upgrade, I would recommend buying the best DAC you can afford AND add a reclocker.
In my case, I bought two DAC's to compare side-by-side. I sold the Gustard x26 Pro and kept a cheaper AliExpress DC500 (dual AKM4499EQ's) because it sounded better. And then the fun started. I upgraded two MUSES03 opamps with discrete opamps: https://www.ebay.com/itm/253836156827. I bought an AF200 reclocker with CCHD-957 Crystek oscillators: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32984221035.html?spm=a2g0o.store_pc_allProduct.8148356.2.2ec7157d9cysMu. I bought linear power supply for the AF200 reclocker: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005001786989766.html?spm=a2g0o.order_list.0.0.21ef1802ZGWgdz. I'm using a high quality AES/EBU cable between the DC500 DAC and the AF200 reclocker. I kept my usb cable short & removed ferrite rings. The results were astonishing - there's no way a $900.00 Chinese DAC should sound this good - but it does (after spending an additional $450.00 on the upgrades). One last thing - do not use any digital attenuation on your DAC!