Should I buy a seperate dac?

My experience with outboard DACs goes back to the mid to late ’90s so I don’t know if it would be applicable to the digital of today, but back then I did find that adding digital separates between my $600 Carver CDP and my preamp improved the presentation.

A few years ago I decided it was time to upgrade my ancient front end, so I bought Marantz SA10 because I wanted to do the SACD experience and I also wanted to get away from separate boxes and the cabling that goes with them.

Make sure it’s the BiFrost 2 and not the original Bifrost. The 2 is hands down much much better than the original!

Save your money.

For a first time DAC, I would recommend one above 2K. Any less, one will always want something better up the line, eventually.

Ultimately, yes.

i'd also bet you'd get a significant improvement with the schiit. for less $$ the smsl raw dac 1 is fantastic.