Oldfogey here, and I'm deaf in one ear below 200hz, or at least that's what the learned ones at St Lukes tell me. What does that have to do with transports and DACs? Probably something, but I'm not obsessive anyway.
I will say that in my system, and to my tin ears, nothing has ever worked as well as a belt-drive transport and a non-oversampling DAC. OK, ok, ok, for Led Zep, The Who, and Black Sabbath fans, this combo may not be the one, but I listen mostly to different stuff anyway.
I value purity in the mids above all. If Billie Holiday can't make me cry, or Monk set my toes tapping, or Bill Evans bring back a bittersweet moment, it ain't working. Tone, timbre, decay, and harmonic richness do it for me.