Do I Need a New DAC?

Hi audiotroy....thank you for your information.  I never attempt to connect the dvd player to the Monarchy DAC.  I am going to do some research on this.  Worst come to worst, I am not going to play the SACDs at all until I can find a way to play them.  In fact, many of the SACDs are unopened and gathering dust on the CD rack for over 10 years.

Hi Carlsbad...Yes.  I need to get a better CD transport / player for sure.  It is likely a purchase I will plan to make next year.  Again, my budget is limited to about $1-1.5K the most. 

I probably listen to 3 or 4 CDs in a week (mostly on weekends) on a good week.  I actually haven't powered on my system for about 3 weeks now which it why I keep delaying the upgrade plan until now.  I probably will put the SACD listening on hold if the Sony DVD player will not send audio signal to a DAC.  

Hi pmm.....thank you very much for your suggestion.  I just had a quick look on the Ayre Codex and Cord Quetest; it seems like the Schiit Yggdrasil + is more appealing to me and I am willing to spend $500 more for it.  Of course, I need to save a bit longer in order to get it; I will also consider used ones.  I will do more research on the Chord and Ayre before making the decision.

BTW....is Benchmark DAC3 a good DAC to consider?  When I search for DACs, I keep seeing DAC3 discussions on different sites. 

Thank you so much again everyone for your comment and recommendations; I sincerely appreciate it.

Seems like there are many DAC options out there for the price range of up to $2K.  I have not heard of the Sony TAZH1ES and I will take a look at it.  I don't use headphone at all except when I exercise; I guess it doesn't harm to have the headphone amp function in a good DAC. 

I will do more research on the Gustard R26, Chord Quetest, Benchmark DAC3, Schiit Yggdrasil+ and the Topping DAC.  I have no clue about the Topping and the Chord; I read reviews about the other 3 and it is pretty much it.  I haven't heard of their sound at all.  The last decent audio equipment I purchased was the VT100 M3 power amp and the SOTA turntable which is over 10 years ago; I know I have a lot of catch up to do. 

Upgrade my CD player is on my to-do-list but the purchase will likely be next week with a budget of $1K to $1.5K max.  I saw an article about the Denon CD / SACD player as suggested by pedroeb.  I think it may be a good option for me. 

It did not occur to me that I have to consider things mentioned by mahler123 and boomerbillone about SACD play back.  I have a simple 2-channel stereo setup; I do have a cheap 7.2 channels AV receiver from Costco, but I don't plan to use it for music playback.  If it is the case, maybe I should forget about SACD playback at all like soix indicated as I just have a tiny collection.  I probably just play them as regular CDs. 

mahler123...I believe my Sony player is a universal player as it can play multiple media formats including SACD.  It has a HDMI out for audio; I guess I can connect it with a modern DAC that equip with IIS like the Gustard R26.

I have never thought about music streaming either with my own music collection or with a subscription service.  The reason is that I have not listened to all my CDs at least once.  My wife keeps telling me that with my current speed of listening to my music, I won't finish listening to all my CDs in 10 years.  I have to admit that it is true.  I start buying CDs in the late 80s when I was young.  I brought them with me when I came here to study in the early 90s.  After all these years, I still haven't listened to all the discs I brought to this country years ago, and I keep buying 10 to 20 discs a year.  Maybe I should take a look at streaming as suggested by mahler123 and mlsstl.  How much will be the initial investment in streaming?  

wturkey....I know how to do simple soldering; I need to check the part number and do the repair myself!  This will give me 1 more input selection though I still plan to get a better DAC.

Tim to sleep....Cheers!

Thank you @robshaw blackbag20, @mlsstl ​​​​@rockrider and @blackbag20 for the information.

@robshaw...I definitely will check out the Audiolab CDT transport + the Benchmark DAC3 combo; review said the DAC3 HGC version is even better as recommended by @audphile1 above.  I am willing to spend up to $2500 or a bit more for the DAC as it will be a device to keep for the foreseeable future.

@mlsstl .....just browse the WiiMPro on Amazon; seems like a good investment to get into streaming.  Will do some homework on streaming setup and such.

After getting all the feedback for you folks, I have some idea on the DAC purchase but I need to research more on it before pulling the trigger.  Streaming sounds simple enough that I am willing to spend $150 to test the water.