Jond,
You DAC-3 measured poorly back in 1995 as would a current DAC-3. It doesn’t matter. Audio Note DACs are among the most natural sounding DACs around. I really like them a lot.
Am I alone in the world using a 1997 high end pro sampler as a DAC?
Samplers are essentially a ADC/DAC on steroids.
I have blind tested it against some 2025 DAC units over £1500 retail, and this beast came out on top.