I have an MA8900 with the DA1 module. It’s a good DAC but I purchased a Denafrips Pontus II 12th Anniversary and a Hermes DDC and am quite pleased with the outcome. Those two best the internal DA1 by some good measure in detail, soundstage and imaging.
Better DAC then DA1 module in McIntosh C49 without braking the bank.
I got to the point in my system, when my DA1 DAC module in a McIntosh C49 preamp is the bottleneck.
In comparison to my vinyl, CDs, files and streaming sounds flat and unremarkable.
I have an SMSL SU-9 dac but it's worse than the one in Mac.
My system consists of Legacy Audio Focus HD speakers, McIntosh MC352 amp, McIntosh C49 preamp, McIntosh MB20 Bluetooth transceiver, Rotel RCD-1572, pc as a streamer and file player through Foobar2000. CD player is connected to the DAC too though coax.
DAC need to be able to do DSD, have USB, and connect via balanced.
I like the DAC sound signature to be as natural as possible.