Point of diminishing return for a DAC

Get the Mac out of the audio chain. I use a PC to control a 2TB Buffalo Box NAS drive that has all of my DSD, MP3 and FLAC files connected to a router via Ethernet. The PC is on the same network, so it controls the downloads from sites like HD Tracks and Pro Studio Masters for my downloads that go right to the NAS. I can stream right to a Sony UBP-X800M2 Blu-Ray player that handles the streaming to a Sim Audio Moon 100D DAC. Output from the DAC goes to a Yamaha A-S801 integrated amplifier which drives a pair of KEF Q500 towers. Needless to say, the sound is pristine. I just listened to Herbie Hancock’s “Maiden Voyage” as 192k/24-bit FLAC and I can’t even begin to tell you how deep the soundstage and how warm the playback sounded. In essence, it’s the Moon 100D and the coax cables that make the difference. There’s nothing mechanical in the audio path so the audio chain is unhampered by the physics of moving mass.

Congrats on the new DAC! Recommendation: Try all permutations of gear and cables available to you. Do not be overly discouraged if some of the permutations with the old DAC as good as the new. That is the nature of mixing gear in systems. One simply has to try all permutations to know. 

You have now heard from several people who are telling you that the Mac is an issue, an impediment. Perhaps that should be the next move. 

Usatran yup your right about the Mac however there exists a group in this hobby that will continue to believe others speculation including their own without actually trying out said components or what have you not to mention their poor choice of highly compressed music some seem to prefer while making sound quality judgement calls of components.
Is it any wonder many of them believe any specific components over their set price is a complete waist of money only for fools ?

Well in many cases this is so true however with certainty this isn’t always true something I’ve known for a couple decades.

For the past few years I belong to a small local group of other enthusiasts whom on occasion we share components ect from our own system including dealer borrowed and purchased with return policies just for the curiosity of it and fun and we certainly don’t all agree all the time , tastes ,biases and including system budgets play a big roll and the guy with the deepest pockets in the group I agree with him wholeheartedly that you do not always get what you pay for.

Anyway getting back to the OP question regarding diminishing returns , start with the Mac , the amount of noise is ridiculous masking any attempts at hearing improving sound quality. Hopefully with a better choice you will realize there’s a lot more to your favourite music , the best part of this hobby....

Just my 2c.

I've had the Yggy, Holo 2 KTE, and now the Rockna base model.  I've been able to compare them all back to back and the Rockna is the clear winner.  

From an MSRP standpoint - the Rockna is ~ 2.5x the price of the other two.  Is it 2.5x as good ? No.  So there are definitely diminishing returns at this level.    

That said, the Rockna is objectively better than the other two when you compare each quality/category individually (i.e. bass, staging etc.).  All of the minor % point gains in each category add up to a more complete listening experience in my system. 

More satisfying listening = less listening to the system, more listening to the music. 

So to me - totally worth it.  

As an aside - adding a quality streamer is a more juicy vein to mine relative to moving up from a 2k DAC to 4k+.  

So, a few have commented about the noise from the Mac.  Unsure what you mean...mechanical noise?  It’s dead silent from a mechanical perspective.  The fan very seldom evens spins up.  My mini is the latest iteration with an ssd.  There is nothing on the SSD except OS, Roon Quobuz...I can pause the music at a very loud volume, and again no noise....I don’t hear noise while playing music.  Please elaborate...