To specifically address your issue, I suggest you pay close attention to what Tvad and Buconero117 said in their posts.
Vinyl and digital will, probably, never sound the same.
And one person's silk purse is, always, going to be another person's sow's ear.
As far as getting the best sound you can from digital sources, I can only suggest what has worked for me.
First, optical drives seem to all suck. Always play music right off your hard drive--even if that means loading the CD's content, first, off of it on to your hard drive before playing it.
Secondly, to know if you have the right computer set-up, it will be one where the volume controls of your computer don't work--but the player's (like Foobar) does.
Thirdly, I suggest using a sepearte component solely for converting the USB signal to S/pdif before sending it to your DAC.
And this component should have a huge power supply. Don't use what comes with the converter, supplant it with a big computer power supply (I use an HP 6203B) set to match the AC voltage needs of your converter--effectively matching its "wall wart".
Fourthly, the output impedance of the converter and input impedance of the DAC seem to effect things. So, you'll need to try different digital cables to get a good match.
Fifthly, there seems to be a "sweet spot" in your music player's output level. Find it (by ear). Set it. Forget it. And just use your preamp's volume pot.
And, in conclusion, as far as what DAC to use, IF you're looking to get that "vinyl sound" out of it, use one with a tubed output.
Disclaimer: I have no idea why any of the above matters. I discovered it through lots of trial and lots of error.
I could go on. But, I just finished my second martini and can no longer type.
Vinyl and digital will, probably, never sound the same.
And one person's silk purse is, always, going to be another person's sow's ear.
As far as getting the best sound you can from digital sources, I can only suggest what has worked for me.
First, optical drives seem to all suck. Always play music right off your hard drive--even if that means loading the CD's content, first, off of it on to your hard drive before playing it.
Secondly, to know if you have the right computer set-up, it will be one where the volume controls of your computer don't work--but the player's (like Foobar) does.
Thirdly, I suggest using a sepearte component solely for converting the USB signal to S/pdif before sending it to your DAC.
And this component should have a huge power supply. Don't use what comes with the converter, supplant it with a big computer power supply (I use an HP 6203B) set to match the AC voltage needs of your converter--effectively matching its "wall wart".
Fourthly, the output impedance of the converter and input impedance of the DAC seem to effect things. So, you'll need to try different digital cables to get a good match.
Fifthly, there seems to be a "sweet spot" in your music player's output level. Find it (by ear). Set it. Forget it. And just use your preamp's volume pot.
And, in conclusion, as far as what DAC to use, IF you're looking to get that "vinyl sound" out of it, use one with a tubed output.
Disclaimer: I have no idea why any of the above matters. I discovered it through lots of trial and lots of error.
I could go on. But, I just finished my second martini and can no longer type.