a quick story -
when I was looking to upgrade from my old Bel Canto DAC, I got two DACs for a home audition - Chord Qutest and Mytek Brooklyn II. I chose Qutest. It sounded more natural and had a less forward presentation than the the Brooklyn II. I had two of my audio buddies hear my system with both DACs independently and both picked Qutest as a winner without me telling them what I liked.
My system at the time was Rogue RP1, Rogue ST100, Martin Logan Montis. Source was old Mac Mini via USB.
Doesn’t mean you would like the Qutest but it’s in your price range.

