I've been an Audiophile for over 50 years...
But, rather than me tell you what I've heard regarding cheap DACs vs. Expensive DACS. You would nitpick my impressions and we would get nowhere.
Don't ignore the fun factor. Only 50 years an audiophile Grasshopper? I was building Heathkit amps while you were wearing diapers. But whose counting? Not me (that would be scary). Nice system BTW.
These days blind or double blind DAC evaluations just don't work for me unless I have weeks. At first listen I find DACs sound almost identical to each other. It's the almost part that costs me money.
I like to listen to new electronics for a week, sometimes in the background, sometimes critically and then switch, that is when the differences really reveal themselves. An exciting DAC can get fatiguing, a laid back relaxing sound can get boring. Imaging, depth of soundfield, deep tight bass and micro details like echos is where the better designed DAC's excel, not all systems can do that. My old stereos never imaged or had depth and the bass sucked but the wall of sound kept me happy for years. My tastes changed, now I want it all.
I'm off the DAC bandwagon. I now use a HoloAudio May KTE with a music server and upsample all music to DSD256 using HQPlayer. PCM doesn't do it for me anymore, too sharp sounding. The talk about what chip set is used is only half of the equation, the other half is the algorithms programed into the chipset. Almost all chipsets oversample, it's a better way and easier to filter out distortion than the original brick wall filter. There are as many filters as designers so that is what you are listening to: the filters. The more advanced filters need a lot of horsepower, ie: bigger transformers and regulated power supplies and a higher price.
Want to have some fun? Read a basic description of the filters available in HQPlayer in a very early post by Jussi Laako, the developer. The filter selection has increased and has been refined but this is a good primer. By selecting a filter and noise shaper I can mimic the sound of any DAC made with less distortion.
https://audiophilestyle.com/forums/topic/13071-hqplayer-resampling-filter-setup-guide-for-ordinary-person/#comment-175928My advise to the OP is to buy what fits into your budget, don't overthink it.
