The Best Budget Streamer with Built-in DAC

Of the list… I’d go Hi-FI Rose or Bluesound Node if you want really inexpensive. 
 

Definitle Aurender or Lumin if you can afford them and the rest of your system is or will be up to it.

Budget streamer/DACs are fine value propositions for many people. Especially those wanting a "clean" minimalist system.

Re: Take a skinny girl to a restaurant and give her a decent steak and she’ll be happy. 

And the question the OP asked is a good one.

But in the context of this forum, I would expect 90% would consider an external DAC of their own choosing instead of using the "convenience DAC" included with the streamer. 

That makes is harder to know without having real world experience. 

For instance, A British Audiophile mentioned that the Node Nano was the best sounding sub-$1000 streamer/DAC he had heard, but that when paired with an external DAC via USB, it was "so-so" sounding, so he used one of the SPDIF connections instead to an external DAC for better sound. 

Just means that you can’t replace real world experience with just specs. 

I have a budget WiiM Ultra and for the price, it sounds pretty good. But I’ll get a Schiit BiFrost 2/64 or a Denafrips Enyo 15th eventually to pair with it (and probably a DDC, since the clock in the WiiM devices is their weak point).  Would like to have tried a Node Icon "standalone". Maybe an external DAC and DDC wouldn’t have to be eventual upgrades then and ultimately been less expensive. 

On a side note, Schiit has upgraded most of their DACs recently to use Forkbeard. Some reviewers (if you can believe them) say the $299 Mimir DAC, which replaced the Modi Multibit, sounds better than the $829 BiFrost 2/64.

Hopefully Schiit will revisit the BiFrost next year and give it the Forkbeard treatment and upgrade its sound to be clearly above the Mimir. 

All I can recommend to the OP is to try auditioning a few "budget" streamer/DACs and let your ears decide. Or keep saving and buy something upmarket, new or used. 

@gkelly. Innuos’ new products are anything but "budget". Their new "low end" streamer, the Stream1 starts out bare bones at $3100 but by the time you add in enough options to be reasonably satisfied it is $6800. 

For that price it SHOULD sound better than a $1000 Node Icon. 

But if someone’s entire system is < $25,000 does spending $7K (or more with more options) on a streamer make any economic sense? 

Every time I read this forum when someone asks about "budget" items someone will always throw out the idea that "anything less than what I have is trash" and by the same token, when someone is asking about upmarket items, there will be at least one person saying, "Just use your 12-year-old iPAD instead". It gets comical. 
 

Think sub-$1000 well-reviewed option: PRO-JECT STREAMBOX S2ULTRA

https://youtu.be/7CX-pZRhbtI?si=F97D0udjiIsBIu1h

https://pro-jectusa.com/product/stream-box-s2-ultra/

https://youtu.be/drtDpR2huNY?si=YFH27WnULeSPdlOH