IMO It’s only a half-baked question and resulting half-baked equation …ya don’t hear or process the laser-read 1’s and 0’s digital bits alone, and it needs to be converted into analogue first,
Hence, a careful matching of a transport to its stablemate DAC ( stratified into various pricepoint strata) comparison, is the better question.
Ignoring the Captain Obvious step-up in audio performance from a stepped up build transport mated to a high-end build DAC;
- is a high(er) end transport feeding a cheap(er) budget DAC gonna make you better off comparatively…. or
- is a high-end DAC with a cheap transport system pairing gonna satisfy or improve your satisfaction quotient?