Do you recall "instant improvement" from your first stand-alone DAC ?

1+ Mahler123 I use spdif as well

OP

just to add more to my post above, my first DAC was a Chord Mojo, then tried SMSL, then Chord Qu test, then went up the Denafrips food chain Ares and finally Venus. All these aforementioned DACS presented music on its own way. 

Some say most DAC sound the same. True if your gear's synergy will not at par. But if you had the correct synergy, you would hear differences. A friend of mine who has the Lamp Atlantic TRP wanted to hear if his TRP would make a difference in my gear and so we did a shootout between his TRP versus my Venus. YUP hands down the TRP is a league of its own. music details and nuisances are presents even on streaming media and Vocals are so surreal that I realize I have a long way to go just on my DACs alone. But DSD recorded data stored on my Eversolo dmp-A6 was the true source to beat. Unfortunately, i could not afford the TRP. and so I am back to my trusty friend

I have had 4 DACS and each one has been upgraded at least once.  Early on with a modest system and DAC the differences were not as night and day.  Of course resolution and detail and less digital glare were what I first noticed.  As the DAC's improved the space, airyness ( is that a word?) and instrument definition/locations was better.  After that the low frequency presence and clarity was what jumped out. Getting the low frequency cleaned up removed a muddy veil that I had not previously noticed. Then with my last DAC, the background blackness and height and depth of the soundstage and holographic nature stood out and with the upgrade to that DAC it was more Bass note distinction and punch, note decay/timbre, softness and resolution to the higher notes and more background blackness where the music just seems to swell and recede with proper rhythm.

My DACs were a Wyred4Sound DSD DAC2 SE then Schitt Yggdrasil ( I liked the W4S better) then Terminator and Terminator Plus which was better than the W4S ( much better Bass like the W4S had much better Bass than the Yggy, but there was something about it that never sounded right to me and finally a used Lampizator GoldenGate1 that I upgraded to GG3 status several years ago.  I am fully satisfied with the GG3 and plan to run it until it fails.

In this thread, it’s interesting to read many first-hand accounts about how moving up the DAC ladder yielded improved SQ.   Digital playback is not just 1’s & 0’s.  Nor is it just the type of chip.  A quality DAC incorporates everything in its implementation - the hardware, the digital circuitry, the analog circuitry, the power supply and all else.   The same is true with a quality streamer.    

My experience had been utter disappointment with standalone DACs until getting the Chord Qutest in 2018. 
 

then after trying multiple other standalone DACs I settled for the Soekris 1421 DAC as the best sounding in the under $2k DAC category. 
 

Finally found a DAC (the Soekris 1421) that with modern digital recordings sounded pleasing. This on my analogue optimized setup with a VPI classic turntable with linear tracking tone arm and dynavector cartridge. 

Finally!!

Post 2015 DACs and digital recordings are pleasing to listen to.