Is there any such thing as a bad sounding DAC these days?

I use one of these portable dongle dac/amps with earphones and gotta say it sounds absolute top notch.

https://www.tempotec.net/products/sonata-bhd-pro-usb-dac?srsltid=AfmBOoq7cfgu5t0PI7n5yMOvbZ6MKKB24Z7nvVeCb6IsMXIuvwQ_Wb9U

Also have an older Chord Mojo that cost a lot more and has a “warmer” sound.

At home currently using a couple Cambridge Audio streamers with integrated DAC and have an older mhdt Constantine NOS DAC that is very “musical”. I like them all.

Have heard many others all the way up to DCS, a company that has always helped to set the benchmark for top notch DACs.

Most likely the OP’s question misses the more important question and reality for us Audiophiles. Couple of things to consider. First, a dac cannot play music in your home all by itself as it is part of a complete audio system. Second, what sounds good is very subjective and influenced by system synergy and personal sonic preferences. I have listened to current production dacs that are well reviewed and priced up to $3000 (Benchmark) that just sounded awful to my ears in my system. At the same time I have heard current $1200 dacs (MHDT Lab) that I felt sounded good to my ears and in my system.
My point is this, not all modern day dacs will sound good to all people in all systems. Too many preferences and variables at play making it just impossible. So a modern dac can indeed sound bad in a given situation. To another person in another system my dac findings may be opposite of his. Crazy reality of this passion/hobby.

was surprised how good my Cambridge CXN V2 streamer sounds with internal DAC, was going to be a temporary, but decided to keep it...

I am not strictly an ASR measurement guy—I value the listening experience much more than the measurements.  However, for an (R2R) DAC that measures as poorly as any I’ve ever seen and yet sounds good in your system, I would say there is no single DAC on the market that sounds bad.

I think I get your point. In comparison to ten or twenty years ago, most DACs sound much better. There were some truly hideous sounding DACs back then.

Now, each level up sounds better... absolutely. Every step in increased price in major DAC lines nets much better sound.

Then there is a question of does the sound characteristics match your tastes. Like for me, a Benchmark or dCS DAC is not even close to a sound I want for music and however Audio Research or Berkely is. But I can’t really say any of them are bad.

I can’t believe there are not some really inexpensive DACs that don’t still sound bad. But I don’t have any now, and can’t think of any reason I would audition any.