Need DAC recommendations for my old Denon 1500 DVD player

[jcarys]

I generally agree with this. However, my experience with budget items that have tested well- though they sound great, I haven’t been happy with their longevity or glitchyness/bugs. I’ve been told ‘better’ DACs have better output sections, and I would assume more expensive DACs simply have more expensive(and hopefully more durable) components to build the output sections.

OK - "you've been told better DACs have better output sections". Is that teller an audio sales person or an Internet influencer? If so, they are just trying to upsell you. If there is some sonic improvement in the output it would show in the testing that Amir or others do on digital devices.

It's good that you realize that "more expensive DACs simply have more expensive ...components" is an assumption. When you look at actual teardowns, that's not really true. But even more important, spending more on artisanal op-amps doesn't equate to better sound. 20 or 30 years ago that might have been true, but no longer. Components that reproduce audio far beyond the capability of the human ear are cheap now.

In terms of durabiltity, I can recommend Topping. I've been using a DAC and headphone amp with my computer desktop and stereo setup just about every day for over 5 years with no problems. Most the bug complaints are about new EQ features, so avoid that if you like. But even if it does stop working after 3 or 5 years, at this price you just replace it with the latest and greatest for $100.