@milpai Much of the general chatter about DACs is based on the Emperor's New Clothes.
Virtually every DAC out there is made as either an ESS 9038 Pro based DAC or a R2R Ladder DAC.
There was a very interesting discussion on WBF a little while back which maintained the point, what could you possibly do to turn a Wadax into a $240k DAC? Even a MBF R2R DAC into a $100k DAC?
They all use the same resistors, maybe they are closer matched? Certainly better power management but you're still dealing with the same core.
If you've got a good (real good) front end most DACs are going to sound excellent.
A recent fallacy is it's all down to the DAC. This is preposterous. Trash in, trash out. A DAC cannot reconfigure the signal it gets unless oversampling and up-sampling are employed, but it gets boring and lifeless after a while. It's like looking at your Rolex and knowing it's a fake.
Personally I prefer ESS DACs, I've had AKM and they sound muddy to me.
R2R can sound excellent but at the end of they day, maybe not this day, processing power will remain supreme.
Any digital based system needs a master clock more than a high priced DAC.