What is most important part of a system?

czarivey,

Alesis Masterlink may be good and the term "close" is subjective but your statement is astounding.
Sorry to say but such complicated $250 Recorder/DAC has it`s budget that only allows the cheapest parts to be used. 
It sure may be extremely well engineered but it has it`s limits because of the budget.

Of course, everyone knows mega price means mega sound. Lots of people drink from that well. Me I trust MY EARS.

joejoe,

Totally agree. I also trust my ears. Newer and more expensive is not equivalent to better sound. In high-end audio industry the prices are horribly inflated and it`s quite common that some older vintage or cheaper gear puts today's mega-dollar machines into shame.
........But it`s impossible to design a top end SOTA equipment for budget of $250 and expect it to sound as good as the best costing 100 or even 10 times as much.
I know that some 20k machines are bettered by 2k machine but not $250. In my view today it`s just not physically possible.

another issue is that DAC design is advancing fairly rapidly, esp. compared to loudspeakers

engineers seem to be focusing on noise in DACs, which can cause jitter - not just alter DR and the noise floor

many are saying that noise is being injected from circuits inside as well as outside the DAC

assuming they are at least partly correct, one is likely to have any DAC purchased be a temporary expedient, so buy accordingly

I'd also check out newly marketed DACs that advertise designs with low noise or high noise immunity

NO affiliations with any manfs., dealers, etc. - maybe a few scientists who study sound perception

So the most important thing, by far, is the power cord. It's got to be long enough to reach the outlet.

Once that's out of the way, I happen to think the room is critical. I moved last year and did not change gear at all. As terrific as my system was in my old place, and it was, I think my room is better now and my system just floors me now even more than it did before. 

After the room, I know it's popular to say it's the source that counts, but I am not really on board with that. I think the source and the speakers are of equal significance. Next comes the preamp and then the amp. 

I'm not going to get into the entire cable debate, though I do believe cables matter. And by that, I mean all cables- power cords, interconnects, speaker cable and digital cable. I am a fan of OCC cables and shielded power cords. YMMV.