The DAC Scam - Almost everyone believes the hype

I found that synchronizing my clock with the DAC, transport, and DDC took my digital sound to a new level

This can be interesting. Could you be more specific on which kind of improvements you noticed with either the clock synchronization or your DDC, which particular synchronizer and DDC are you using?

After a quite long time experience with DACs of different categories and prices I'm convinced that they make minor changes in overall sound reproduction and quality. I suggest all of them use similar kind the conversion methods, whereas the hardware perhaps doesn't matter so much. I  cannot explain more technically why this happens but I am convinced about the outcomes. 

@stuartk    We are talking about the importance of a DAC compared to the other components of a system, comparing the impact of a descent DAC on a system. An impact of an amplifier or a speaker on the SQ of the system is drastic . All modern decent  DACs reproduce the digital recording more or less in a similar fashion. The  quality  of a particular recording affects the overall SQ much more than a particular DAC: Take a well recorded CD and paly it on an inexpensive DAC (with cost < $1K), and take then a little worse recording and play it an a $15k DAC. The first option will give you a better SQ. Of course, if you  "invest" your money on an expensive DAC you should be convinced that you made a good investment. 

@stuartk , My point of view is that we all depend too much on the quality of recordings we are listening to. Even on a poorly recorded music, the amps and speakers make huge difference, whereas the differences between DACs are much less. I do not count really bad DACs which do exist (some time I was using Blue note Node 2i but just which is not bad as a streamer,  but its DAC is really bad). At the same time,  I still use a $130 ifi zen DAC for  streaming from my lap in my studio system, and I have a T&A $7000 DAC with a Melco streamer in my main system. I still prefer the latter combination, but I do enjoy streaming in my studio system as well, the SQ is not really bad. I do hear more distortion there, but all recordings and audio gear have some degree of distortion. When I am completely dedicated and concentrated to the music I am listening to, I do enjoy more clear and clean sound in my main system, but this does not demotivate me to listen to my other audio system. 

You mentioned about the differences in "musicality and tonality". What differences in tonality or musicality you can hear listening to Led Zeppelin I-VI with different DACs or to Miles Davis Kind of Blue (which is one of the best recorded early albums of Miles Davis)?  Can you be more specific on differences in "musicality and tonality" that you note, on which kind of music? How you perceive the "musicality and tonality"  in Jimi Hendrix albums, or take much better quality recordings on  ECM or more recently on ACT jazz, or on the classical music (which was always recorded much better than the Rock and perhaps also the jazz)? 

@stuartk  We all may perceive the sound differently. I just like tube sound and prefer my tube DAC over all other ones. I am just now comparing two class D amps. One has  a notably less distortion than the other, while the second one has much wider upper mids and highs, as you like. I still prefer the first amp, but it's really difficult to choose. Different DACs may sound differently, it is a matter of a taste who likes what. And not necessarily a more expensive one dominates a cheaper DAC in all aspects, in fact, I did not have a DAC that dominates in all aspects other DACs that I have/had (the $130 ifi DAC has very notably wider high mids and highs than much more expensive Chord, though the latter one gives less distortion (so you may lake the ifi more than the Chord). Take two women, both beautiful in a different way. Some people would choose one of them and some other another one. Overall, the differences between two decent DACs would not be so notable than the differences between different amps and speakers. One may spend the difference in the cost of two DACs for a better amp or a better speaker. Of course, one with an unlimited resources may spend his money on a most expensive DAC (which, still may not be dominant in all aspects).  

I've come to the conclusion whomever believes most things ASR says doesn't have a very resolving system. Midfi at best. It's not the dac chip mainly it's the overall implementation. I've owned several dacs over the years and you get what you pay for typicallyrights.

You have all rights to justify your dac investments with any arguments that you like. At the same time, try to avoid public statements on how good or bad are equipment and ears of others.