Many thousands of $$$ are required to get very good sound. A cheap dac say < $4900 will not have better sq as the better more expensive dacs. This goes the same for an analog setup. I had $15,000 invested in a tt setup and I know I could have done much better.
The OP did exactly what a lot of analog reviewers do or people that are analog biased. Fremer is a prime example, he compares his multi-hundred thousands of $$$ worth of analog setup to a $5k-$10k dac. How fair is that? I’ve seen other people get a $200 dac and compare this setup to their $10k tt setup.
It gets old listening to these guys