How does 10+ year old technology compare to modern: Musical Fidelity M1 DAC

Looking at the DAC market as a whole and the progression of the digital pathway with streaming & DAC units: option of buying a decent used price DAC of the last 8 yrs...say a Berkley Audio Alpha 3 2018 (not the Reference) or a Mola Mola compared to the newer Schiit or one of the other newer builds of the past 1-2 years....thoughts? Or, going with a newer lower price-point DAC and waiting say 5 years to upgrade then? Several of the "extreme" price-point systems ( MSB, Bartok, and others ) are coming out with trickle-down tech but even their entry level systems are very pricey. Is DAC progression still early; will it benefit from newer tech coming? How much emphasis goes toward...software/algorithm vs chip/chips vs shielding/electronics? Is one side reaching build limits?

jl35 no so much 'older' or 'personal preference' but rather non audiophile cost constraint (I just don't want to spend crazy, ehem I mean 'auidophile' money).

Judging the Oppo 103 as transport, SACD and DAC: name alternatives in the below $400 market. 

Ditto for 

Shiit Modi 3+ (under say $150)

Musical Fidelity M1 (under say $250)

Matching TRANSPORT for above external DAC (say under $250)

As always: Bang for Buck rules!

Transport I like, and use, Cambridge CXC...CD Players I like Marantz CD6006(7) and Rotel CD11 Tribute - I own both, just sold the Oppo...I liked the Schiit Modius DAC better than the Modi...these are simply my preferences, all within your cost parameters, based on owning all equipment I mentioned...lots of people love the Oppo stuff...

@boltapuresource

An audiophile DAC goes well beyond just getting the major sounds right. It is highly refined. So the thsss of a drumstick hitting a cymbal sounds like brass. the highly complex sound of a trumpet or sax has the full complexity for a brass instrument not just a cartoonish impression. The human voice becomes fully fleshed out. Very often on budget equipment, Schiit being a good example, the voice is recognizable but thin and a bit week... heard through a really good DAC it has real serious midrange weight.. I am not a fan of Tony Bennett and Frank Sinatra.... but the difference through a great DAC (with appropriate associated equipment) is simply astonishing... the power and depth of their voices. While, they are not my cup of tea... on a great system with a great DAC you can’t help but understand why they are so famous.

Some examples of Audiophile DACs would be Berkely Alpha Reference 3, Audio Research Reference 9, dCS Bartok (although I find this a bit thin... polite as it often referred to), MSB.

Within a given DAC budget (say, ~$5k) I'd go with a used ref. model - even if it's quite a few years old - rather than a new "mid-level" ditto. From my chair the DAC chip evolution, with a few exceptions, has if not stagnated then moved very slowly over some years now. The real culprit is its implementation, the quality of the analogue output stage, PSU and overall construction. Some recent DAC chips, like the dual-board chip from Hypex, provide for a staggering resolution and transparency, but I find it comes at the expense of tonal authenticity - i.e.: it robs tonal richness to my ears, even if it possibly cuts away what's considered excessive "fat" and which then that calls for substantial re-tweaking of acoustics (less absorption), speaker placement, etc.