Best Bang for your Buck DAC ?

@ngiordano at your price point I'd recommend the following options in addition to what others have suggested. Some are over $1000 but you may be able to find them below $1000 used. They all sound different from each other, so it will come down to personal preference.

• Soekris 1421 or 2541 (R2R design)
• RME ADI-2 (AKM-based, DSP)
• Prism Sound Callia (CS4398-based)
• Neko Audio D100 Mk2 (transformer-coupled passive output)
• miniDSP SHD Studio (AKM-based, DSP + Dirac)
• Benchmark DAC2 or DAC3 (ESS-based)

The Soekris 2541 has balanced XLR outputs.

op

$800-1000 is a good cost range to spend for getting very very nice sound from a dac

it is good spot to be on the ’value curve’ for those seeking to maximize performance for $ outlay imho

going up from there further sound improvement certainly exists but becomes rather subtle and nuanced, and would best be appreciated on fairly expensive systems playing its output

don’t forget to get a good streamer too, don’t just run the digital feed out of a computer

George
I know you love Soekris but the only forum member I know of that auditioned one vs the RME returned Soekris to Mod House.

Well you need to read these reviews also, (and there are more) and it's not the top Soekris model, which gives these well respected dacs a real giddy up👌
  
https://www.theabsolutesound.com/articles/soekris-dac1421-dac

https://audioaddictsforum.com/thread/1643/soekris-1421-dac-review?page=1

Cheers George

Love my RME , sounds great.....  its at that perfect price point where you get a lot for the money, great sound, etc....to better it will cost double. Nothing out there has its feature set.    Detail retrieval is excellent,  it has great bass, dead quiet, dynamic....works with any digital product.   Plug my iPhone into its,USB and it instantly recognizes it as a 768k/32 bit device.... same with my tablets, and PC.    Truly plug and play.

I view digital gear as " consumables" for lack of a better word.   Digital is  constantly evolving ,  I don't think I have the system to warrant a $4000 or $6000 DAC.... who knows, maybe something like the Bricasti DAC or dcs would elevate  my system to the next level. But  I doubt I have the associated gear to flesh out the differences.   Would be fun to try something high end in my modest system.

I think your instinct to go with Schiit is good. I helped a friend get his first high end DAC. It was a Yggi. In the process I bought a Gungnir multibit (for my office system). I highly recommend the Gungnir Multibit... it gets you close to the Yggi... all of which are simply screaming deals in high end audio. You would have to pay twice as much for another brand to equal the sonic performance. Check out the reviews.
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Just a word about really inexpensive DACs... you get what you pay for. Many years ago I poked around with a Dragonfly and a couple others... it was a complete waste of money for me. I finally bought a $4K DAC... holy cow... different experience completely. I made fun of Schiit a long time. Who would name a company that? But after extensive research and buying a couple... this stuff is the way to get into the high end.
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I recommend doing the multibit, in the long run stretching the extra $ is worth it. But if you can’t then the Gungnir is within your budget. It takes more than 200 (400) hours to break in... so it will sound good right away but not as natural and a bit flat until you get hours on... run music through it for the first month non-stopped and it will be broken in.