Are "vintage" DAC's worthwhile, or is this a tech that does not age well

Very nice thread, indeed! I'm learning a lot!

So, high end vintage dac can sound as good as contemporary equally or mid priced ones.

But... how would compare a mid-fi vintage dac to one of the cheap nowadays?

Being (very) specific: I'm using a Sony blue ray player (BDP S480) to play redbook CDs to my system. Found a guy selling a new old stock MSB Link DAC III (plain, with the wall mart e no Nelson upgrades, not like @wturkey) for the same price as a new SMLS m3.

Not considering the usb port on SMLS m3, which would/could improve the sound quality? Vintage MSB Link DAC III, contemporary SMSL M3, or the built in DAC on the blue ray player?

Thank you for the shared knowledge and opinions! Greetings from Brazil ;)

"All competently-designed DACs will sound alike"".

DACS come in many sonic flavors. . . some may not hear the differences,
though. 

I don't think you can hear a difference...I think they more or less all sound the same....but true Audiophiles will tell me ,I know nothing....stop listening with ur mind....listen with your ears and enjoy...

If there ha been progress in DAC technology in the last few years, it hs been in the quality of clocking and the implementation of I2s or USB ports. The basic chips or ladder designs are maature. That said, significant progress in these 2 areas has material benefits. A well designed asynchronous USB port with high quality clocking (whether OCXO or Rubidium) through the slaving of the server/player is clearly superior to synchronous implementations of yore.