The sound quality from DACs - is it all the same?

Is your cousin @jasonbourne52?

In particular, he says an inexpensive DAC from any Chinese company will do better than the expensive stuff. He says fancy audio gear is a waste of money because the data is already bit-perfect.  All DAC chips sound the same. Am I being mislead? 

He also said that any DAC over $400 is a waste of money. Convincing marketing is at play here, he says.

He currently owns a Topping L30 headphone amplifier and D30 Pro DAC. He uses Sennheiser HD 569 headphones to listen to music.  I'm not sure what to think of them. I will report my findings after listening one day! (likely soon, once I get some free time)

If that were the case one of the most prolific DACs would have never gone to market, The Border Patrol SE. On paper (measurements) it is awful. Listen to one and you will love the sound.

The folks at ASR are sheep. Not saying measurements are not part of the equation they absolutely are in mechanical engineering and it is how we validate. In audio not so much.