Is there a DAC ranking list?

@smer319 

The CH Precision Factory certified $29K dac is a bargain with a HD streamer board. 

A fine example of the kind of comment that only a high end dealer living in their high end world might come out with.

I bet even Stereopile would baulk at uttering such obvious drivel.

"The CH Precision Factory certified $29K dac is a bargain with a HD streamer board. "

I just ordered three, one for each one of my homes.  I got a 10% discount because i am a senior citizen. hahaha

The first question to ask yourself is what problem you're trying to solve. For example, when I bought a small-format desktop computer its sound output was awful because it used the minimal sound support on the motherboard and because there was so much electronic noise inside the box. I realized that this was a use case for the Griffin iMic I'd had in a drawer for years. Moving the D->A conversion outside the computer made a huge improvement even with a low-end, decades-old chip.

I took the same approach in the living room. My TV set is the hub for all the digital inputs, so I fed the TV's TOSlink optical digital output to an entry-level Schiit DAC and now hear a big improvement because the outboard DAC is so much better than what's in the TV.

So, how good is the DAC circuitry in the devices that are now in your system's signal chain? Adding a better DAC is a cost-effective way to improve the sound if what you have is marginal, just as choosing a better cartridge is the most cost-effective way to improve the sound you hear from your LPs.

There are many DACs out there, ranking is almost impossible, we would never agree on criteria. In the dollar range suggested by the the OP, something like the RME ADI-2 DAC would be a contender, very well regarded. Brands like Schitt, Denafrips and Holo Audio are also in the mix. Chi-fi options from Topping etc definitely worth considering as well.
Now if you want to add streaming, well that opens a whole new can of worms, Bluesound Node is a contender at an entry level, from there you might look at Matrix Audio, Lumin, Auralic Altair G1 is a bit of a Swiss Army knife and worth considering for a few more bucks. My DAC of choice atm is an Auralic Vega G2.1, a great DAC with streaming capability, a bit more cost but not drug money.

@worldwidewholesales   Can you explain / expand upon this recommendation in more detail? Thanks.

I recommend that everybody buys their server/streamer first and then focuses on the DAC.