The DAC is the boundary between the digital and analog domains. The digital side has continued to change rapidly because they can generate measurable "improvements" by increasing bit depth or sampling rate. They can math out novel methods of resolution enhancement like HDCD and MQA. Whether or not these result in audible improvements to the listener, they may need to upgrade if their method of music software acquisition delivers new file formats that their DAC cannot process.
The analog side is traditional audio ground - gain stages, power supply quality, impedance matching, grounding - the stuff where ARC figures to be aces. Lastly, the DAC has to manage the interaction between these 2 e-streams.
The analog side is traditional audio ground - gain stages, power supply quality, impedance matching, grounding - the stuff where ARC figures to be aces. Lastly, the DAC has to manage the interaction between these 2 e-streams.