I won't spend more than about $600 for a DAC, and I would have gladly and willing spent less than what I paid for the DACMagic were there other offerings with the same combo of features and quality. Why? In most, if not all systems, the limiting factor after a point (and that point is a lot earlier than $600) are the speakers/monitors. The philosophy that guides my system-building is: Get as little DAC as you can get away with. Get as much speaker/monitor as you can. Placebo effects, obsessive geeking out over DAC dynamics/sound quality and sour grapes aside, I doubt the limiting factor in most people's systems is the DAC. After a point, you are paying for brand bragging rights and features (such as XLR-out and variable line-out). You'll get more clear improvements putting an additional $500 on a pair of monitors than on a fancy-schmancy DAC.
A Spanish audio magazine did a controlled, statistically-significant comparison of DAC, and the conclusions would be a bucket of cold water on those who claim to hear vast differences among DACs. Placebo and expectation bias.
BTW, I am primarily a speaker/monitor listener, and only secondarily by a large margin a headphones listener.