I have been researching the last few years, and auditioning many brands.
I believe in dual or multiple channel dac’s, and after that, it is a particular OEM’s ’mixed salad’ you are listening to rather than just the DAC’s technology, i.e. upscale, over-clock, anti-jitter, sound shaping, optional filters ....
Have return option, keep going until you land on one you prefer. I think 'prefer' to 'better'. Try to keep 'prefer' in mind when reading reviews.
These involve SACD/CD players with Internal DAC’s, but many streaming and separate DAC’s comments are included
specific for Sony SCD-XA5400ES
prior ’Better CD’