Thanks for all the helpful responses, it has been interesting but also very confusing reading about DACs in general having no context for them. I am not really sure at all of what to get so I might just wait for something interesting to show up used for cheap.
I mostly use the SR325, audioquest nighthawk and faaeal rosemary.
Really have no idea how much it is worth spending just to use with this amp.
Unfortunately that is the way most of this hobby works.
Forums will essentially just confuse you since, just as happened here, you will get opinions and observations that literally extend from one end of the spectrum to the other and everyone giving their feedback is absolutely convinced they are right because that is their reality, me included.
You really need to try things for yourself and see what works for you.
I am firmly in the camp that believes far too much is made about the impact of the DAC. Others, as you have seen, believe they are hugely important. We are all 100% correct in our own mind because our comments are based on our own reality and I guess, like me, people struggle to understand how some others have such polar opposite experiences to them.
In this conversation it is DACs but we could just as easily be talking about cables or amplifiers or power supplies or just about any part of the gear that connects us to the music.
You have read several versions of people’s reality on this matter, regardless of how much you read you are never going to know your reality unless you try for yourself and understand your own position in respect of your budget, preferences and willingness to invest to get an improvement that to you is a worthwhile return.
I would just urge you to consider that this hobby is one of massively diminishing returns. You don’t actually need to spend a great deal of money to get a very good sound and that regardless of all the discussion about the merits of this amp or that, various types of DACs and various specific DACs etc etc it is the headphones that have the biggest impact on what you hear.
I have messed with this stuff very keenly for the last couple of years and, based on reading reviews and forums, have bought into the notion that amps, DACs etc are hugely important to enjoying the experience of listening to your preferred music through good headphones.
I have spent, some would say wasted, a bunch of money chasing something with gear that I feel I have overstated the merits of based on how people talk about the benefits of amps, DACs etc.
If I had a crystal ball I would certainly do it differently but I have enjoyed learning something about this hobby and I guess that is like most hobbies, you have to experience things for yourself to understand where you place within the hobby lies.
Where my experiences have lead me are to a position where I am downsizing my gear, selling off several amps, DACs etc, keeping a few simple but decent items and putting the money into a few nice IEMs to complement my small headphone collection and that can be run off the gear I already have.
There are people involved in this hobby from all levels of the financial spectrum and some are willing to spend seemingly whatever it takes to get a small improvement. I have seen pictures of a rack of amps and DACs purely for headphone listening where the collection of gear is worth something like $150,000 and goodness knows what other money is tied up in gear that isn’t shown. These are some of the people that share opinions about what different equipment does and what benefits you will get from investing more in that equipment.
Assess for yourself what your financial situation is and what you feel you want out of this hobby and figure out a way forward that is most likely to get you to where you want to be without wasting a pile of money to get there.
