We used to have exactly the same setup - 272/XPSDR/250DR.
It was hearing the ND5XS2/282 (then NDX2) at a dealers which started our upgrade journey. The sound was just more open!
The 272 is a great box and the DAC performs well with the external PSU connected. At demo we found the pre section (with PSU) was somewhere below a 282/HCDR.
However we found the NDX2/282 setup just provided more of everything. With a PSU on the NDX2 we found the gap quite wide from 272, especially on internet radio/Tidal. We tried a demo with 272/555PSDR and whilst this improved 272 further it did not bridge the gap.
During our upgrade journey we also tried
NDX2 into 272 (DAC/pre)
NDX2 into 272 (pre)
iPad into nDAC into 272 (pre)
All 3 options above improved the sound available via 272 (NDX2 doing both streaming/DAC better than just as a transport into 272). The gen1 streaming board seemed particularly weak with internet based services.
If you’re using the IFI then you’re bypassing the streaming board on 272, using only DAC/pre which are likely the better parts.
I think you might find further improvement available by using an external DAC, but of course at that point you have a 272/XPSDR just as a pre which is a bit of a waste, and it would be time to investigate a dedicated preamp.
There are no bad options here really - the 272/250DR is a very enjoyable combo and you could stick where you are.