High resolution digital is dead. The best DAC's killed it.

I think both stories are true. There are a lot of remasters people don't realize as well as better DACs.

The frequency response, compression, and channel separation of vinyl, CD's and SACD have been shown to be explicitly different.

SOME SACD transfers were shown to actually be remasters. CD's when they first came out were compressed in amplitude and L to R separation.

HOWEVER!! It is also very true that this generation of DAC's plays 44/16 MUCH better than before, and I can't tell you why.

I had an ARC DAC 8, and it was a prime example of this. It played high resolution files beautifully, as well as upsampled files, but 44/16 was pretty mediocre.

I upgraded to the Mytek I use now, and that difference vanished. It played all formats better than the DAC 8, but also, it no longer depended on the resolution. I've heard this same effect with a couple of other DACs so I have to believe it is now more wide spread.

If I was forced to use older DACs today, I'd be pretty stuck on getting high resolution files or SACD. That's gone now. I'm happy with high res, but I'm also much happier with 44/16

Look for a silver disc revival like we have seen in vinyl. There will be the dollar bins and there will be the ones that fetch big bucks. Meanwhile, if you got 'em, spin 'em and enjoy !

BTW, I own a few CD's but I never spin them. All my listening now is via USB and either internet radio or my flash drive.
A perfect example of how good 44/16 is, listen to KCSM on line via your DAC if you can. It can be pretty amazing.

My Audio Note 3.1 is the best I have heard and it does not upsample at all.

Someone said the Mytek is "not bad" ... if you are referring to the Manhattan, that's selling it way short.  It's a great DAC.   Same for the Bricasti M1SE.  Lesser DAs are surely coming up as the OP says but it's not my expertise.

Bottom line with playback ... is knowing the mastering source sample rate.  There is no advantage to upsamping and MQA adds distortion.  Just the 24 or yes the 16 of the real deal file is great.

Older DA needed the higher rates, great DA never have needed it.

There is no audio perfection, and that quest is costly and pointless.