The full form of DAC is Digital to Analog Convertor or Data Acquisition and Control.
As a beginner, one should initially invest more in speakers and then finally DAC. My Gear - Genelec 8020C speakers + Steinberg UR22C to Laptop (Tidal source). Steinberg acts as DAC as well as a preamplifier and delivers to my Genelec Powered Monitor speakers. I simply love it
Learn more on https://primesound.org/best-dac/ . Pretty informative!