You should have a little talk with yourself about what qualities you really prize in music:
-- Are you thrilled by more and more apparent resolution?
-- Do you want deep, percussive bass?
-- Do you listen to classical music and appreciate the sound of mass strings?
-- What is more important in audio-reproduced sound: excitement, or timbre and tgone that are close to the original instruments/voices?
When you go with a standalone DAC, you can certainly get certain sonic benefits compared to a CD player. But you'll get more bang for the buck if you pursue a type of DAC that suits your tastes.
I was an analog guy from way back. Loved turntables, MM cartridges, and vinyl sound. I wrestled with digital audio for decades, never really satisfied with certain aspects of digital sound--namely the artificially emphasized transients, thin/non--existent harmonics, and notes presented as 2D cardboard cutouts, with little of the roundness of tone and spatial cues I hear in music performed IRL.
Until I found NOS (non-overampling) digital, also the very closely related tech, multibit digital. Both are old digital techniques that were long ago superceded by the most cost effective delta-sigma technology. I'm not an expert in what's under the hood of each, but I can tell you that the first time I heard NOS digital, my entire relationship with digital audio changed. I've had 5-6 DACs total, and now have 3 NOS models of differing cost and features. They all sound more musically realistic and lifelike than any delta-sigma DAC.
