Dac: Old vs New

Many older DACs are great sounding but lack certain features or abilities to play some hi-rez files. I see that as more of the issue to upgrade a dac rather than just sound alone.  

For me a DAC can have no noise emitting LED lights or they must be switchable. Prefer R2R. 

The phrase "significant improvement in sound" is too general.

What sorts of improvements are you looking for?

The next question is, How can you get those improvements most readily? A different DAC is not necessarily the answer.

The most significant changes in sound come from room acoustics, then speakers and speaker/amplification synergy.

It's interesting how many people will simply weigh in on your DAC issue without knowing these other variables. It's like saying "How do I get there?" without letting anyone know where you want to go, or why. It seems people are more interested in saying anything than answering the question you are asking.

a SIGNIFICANT improvement in sound

Benchmark DAC 1 (in stock form)

$500 mark

Empirical Audio Synchro-Mesh ($600, last recall)

Very difficult question. This is very budget oriented equipment… so with limited design time and part choices based mostly on cost. So, if you want a significant improvement in sound quality, I recommend save up,twice as much and buy a used unit a few years old for around half price. This would put you in the used $2K range.