If the OP's thread title is anything to go by, then maybe - just maybe - it would be wise to define the source material and source medium before diving into specific DAC recommendations....
The word "strategy" implies a longer-term viewpoint than any immediate action plan that involves buying components.
Many of the smaller, more specialised music labels have released hi-res (24-bit, 192KHz) music files. These can be acquired either via download (lengthy process and bandwidth-hungry) or on DVDs. Depending on who you listen to, this could just be the potential long-term distribution strategy for the music industry at large (unless Sony/Phillips get into another format war).
24-bit/192KHz digital audio has the potential, in terms of sound quality, to surpass all other current media formats.
So, if you accept this as the long-term strategy of those organisations who will be publishing music in the future, then your strategy needs to cater for this. (At my age, I don't think I'll bother with a full-blown strategy, just make sure that any short-term, tactical purchases don't take me into a blind alley.)
Another source of useful intelligence on this subject is to maintain a watching brief on the more innovative of the audio manufacturers to see where they are going. In this way you can leverage their market research and use the information gathered to help build the technology elements of your strategy.
To digress briefly, Paul McGowan - CEO of PS Audio - adopted an interesting approach to designing his latest CDT/DAC combo - he used the company website as a "blog" to gather requirements that he factored into the design. The end result was his Perfect Wave duo of PWT (transport) and PWD (DAC). The PWT uses a computer-style overspeed mechanism to read and re-read a disk and to populate a 64MB FIFO buffer, which then feeds a "digital lens" to minimise jitter, before pushing out a I2S signal via a proprietary implementation of HDMI. The PWD takes this I2S digital datastream and pumps it through a Wolfson DAC chip. The PWD also has an optional "bridge" card with an Ethernet port for connection to a NAS and which also incorporates its own "digital lens" for jitter reduction on the feed from the NAS before pumping the datastream into the same Wolfson DAC chip. Both PWT and PWD have touch screen interfaces and SD card slots. The concept seemed to be a good one, but - from auditions - the execution has not quite delivered. At a guess, the target price-point (originally $2,000 each for the PWT and PWD but was overshot by 50% and the units now sell for around $3,000 each) resulted in a need to shave some costs (R&D must have been high with the software engineering on the UI and the lens development) which has potentially had its impact on SQ. (end of not-quite-so-brief-aside).
The next aspect in formulating your strategy is to firm up two factors:
- What is your horizon for your strategy (in years)
- How much are you prepared to invest in implementing your strategy
Another factor that should be taken into consideration is how your strategy will "tack onto" what you currently have - both in terms of software and hardware (unless your budget is big enough to discard and re-purchase all of your current music collection - not mois!).
This can be important as, should you decide that you will retain all your current music collection (irrespective of media), then your budget may be diluted as you spread it across multiple source components. The alternative is to reduce your number of source components and to discard/replace chunks of your music collection - some of which may just be irreplaceable. (Sound like something of a "Catch-22"?).
Next, start to plot milestones along your strategic timeline and set initial goals to be achieved by each of these milestones - these will need to be re-visited on a cyclic basis to allow the taking into consideration of any changes in internal and external factors to allow mid-course corrections to the strategy. Examples could include: a change in your financial situation; a change in format strategy by the music publishers; etc.
Your "strategic budget" will have an influence on the technological path options open to you - the smaller the budget, the more likely you'll wind up with a platform based on personal computer hardware, with all that goes with it.
Your decision: Do you really want a "strategy" and all that it implies? Or would you be satisfied with a "general direction"?
Me? The "general direction" approach is more appropriate at my age. All I'm doing is ensuring that any hardware purchases I make don't paint me into a corner. Hence the decision to go for the Bryston BDA-1 DAC as a replacement for a defunct Theta unit - Bryston's direction includes a USB-fed digital "player" which has been designed in conjunction with DAC to ensure they will work together... That's good enough for me and my "general direction" approach...
Have fun!