Rpi 4 into avr question

[CoppolaVH]

I'm wanting to stream locally, I'd like to setup mo0de to stream from smb to my Denon avr. My question is since the avr has a decent dat, what are my options to go from the rpi4 into the avr without buying another dat?
After of our reading it seems like HDMI audio output is sketchy at best so I am looking at a dac of some sort, now P to find a decently priced the dac, Whether it be a hat design or USb external.

I am running rpi4 and found no way to get better than 16 bit output via the HDMI.  I posted on github and tried many settings and never solved this issue.  So, what I did do was buy a Justboom Digi Hat (https://shop.justboom.co/products/justboom-digi-hat).  This allows me to achieve 24-192 output directly into my avr dac.  I am using an OnkyoTXNR474 and it's DAC can output up to 24-192.