So many choices. Which DAC is my best fit.

[sdouglas1952]

Buying a DAC and there are to many choices. I have kind of put together my own music streamer. I have Direct TV on fiber and have the C71KW-400 box, I believe it's an Android device.
I can not find any specs as to what's inside chip wise. I have two outputs Digital Audio and HDMI. This then goes to my Sony STR-DH520 AV receiver. When I listen to music a use the Tidal App on my Direct TV service. Is HDMI or Digital Audio the better format? I like the DAC's with displays, as I can see the input numbers. I want to stay under $150, but could go a little higher. I am 72 years old and want the full, mellow sound I remember from my vinyl.
Thank you for your time.

 

[DVinylfan]

This might be of interest to you. I have not used this DAC personally, but it is within your budget, has a display, and has received positive reviews on this forum.
Good luck on your search.

Topping E30 II DAC Review

This is review and detailed measurements of the Topping E30 II DAC. It was sent to me by the company and costs US $149. The single "SEL" button powers on the unit (touch sensitive) and selects input. Some combination of power cycling and that button lets you change menu settings but bets to...

audiosciencereview.com

 

[Chazz6]

According to a review, the C71KW box is from AT&T and works with its TV offering (and was previously offered with Direct TV).
The digital output is optical audio.
The review is at https://blog.solidsignal.com/reviews/solid-signals-hands-on-review-att-tv-c71kw/

Optical audio should be better than HDMI.

If you are satisfied with the selection of music you can get through this setup, there are lots of compatible, cheap DACs of acceptable quality. The optical jack looks like Toslink (has a door flap), so you would want a DAC with Toslink input, then get a Toslink male-to-male cable of appropriate length.

 

[DVDdoug]

The DAC built-into your AV receiver should be fine.

Personally, I don't own a stand-alone DAC. I never heard anything "wrong" the DAC built-into my 1st CD player that i bought in 1985. The only time I've heard a difference or defect from a "DAC" it was a noisy soundcard that made noise when the hard drive was accessed.

I am 72 years old and want the full, mellow sound I remember from my vinyl.

EQ or tone controls. One thing that most modern AVRs are "missing" is a "loudness switch" that boosts the bass at low listening levels. For some reason it's gone out of style. Loudness compensation helps to compensate for the fact that when we reduce the volume it sounds like we've reduced the bass even more.

I can not find any specs as to what's inside chip wise.

That won't tell you much about how the final product performs. But most DACs are better than human hearing anyway.