Any decent DAC should be up to the task.
One thing I have found does particularly well with vocals in my system is DNM Reson ICs from DAC to pre-amp (and from pre to power amp as well if applicable). I can easily understand most all vocals in any recording with these whereas not so much always with other more conventional and less coherent sounding ICs. They are reasonably affordable and might be worth a try with current DAC or analog feed from any digital source for that matter.
BTW, I think any good system should deliver clear and clean, understandable vocals and that mid-range/vocals in general are very good for testing and tuning a system initially.
If you cannot understand what is being said more often than not, there is probably something not right.
Get legible mid-range vocals right first then work on the more extreme frequency ranges from there as needed is a pretty practical way to go about getting to good sound. Most music occurs in the mid-range and vocals make for good test material to determine if the reproduction is accurate or not.
If words are not understandable in more than just a few cases with decent to better quality recordings, chances are something significant is wrong in the playback system.
One thing I have found does particularly well with vocals in my system is DNM Reson ICs from DAC to pre-amp (and from pre to power amp as well if applicable). I can easily understand most all vocals in any recording with these whereas not so much always with other more conventional and less coherent sounding ICs. They are reasonably affordable and might be worth a try with current DAC or analog feed from any digital source for that matter.
BTW, I think any good system should deliver clear and clean, understandable vocals and that mid-range/vocals in general are very good for testing and tuning a system initially.
If you cannot understand what is being said more often than not, there is probably something not right.
Get legible mid-range vocals right first then work on the more extreme frequency ranges from there as needed is a pretty practical way to go about getting to good sound. Most music occurs in the mid-range and vocals make for good test material to determine if the reproduction is accurate or not.
If words are not understandable in more than just a few cases with decent to better quality recordings, chances are something significant is wrong in the playback system.