Topping D10 £65 shipped local Amazon fulfilled.
Are the new ones still put out 2v RMS?
RCA unbalanced stereo output + optical and coax digital outs.
Nice display to help confirm it's getting the right sample rate/data type.
32 bit PCM 44.1 through 384kHz all multiples of 44.1/48kHz in between.
DSD 64-256 native and DoP supported*.
Khadas Toneboard £82+ ?
No case, bare PCB board.
RCA unbalanced stereo output
Coax digital S/PDIF input.
Sabaj Da3 £90 shipped local Amazon fulfilled.
Portable-ish (power hungry).
3.5mm unbalanced output, 2.5mm balanced output.
Headphone amplifier (1.8 or ~10 ohm? impedance, bettered by standalone amps)
Little OLED display.
PCM and DSD supported.
Possible issues when changing from PCM<>DSD?
Sabaj Da2 (SMSL IDEA) ~£70
Output clipping so gain needs reducing a little.
Power hungry-ish
Portable.
3.5mm unbalanced stereo output
Headphone amplifier (~1 ohm impedance, bettered by standalone amps)
PCM and DSD support.
If you are looking for really cheap, then yeah, I guess the Apple USB-C dongle would be OK. There was a ripoff of the AQ Dragonfly somewhere around too, that was a very cheap USB stick DAC.
Laws of diminishing returns and all that, Realtek onboard audio, especially for desktop computers, has gotten a lot better in the more recent generations. Mobile phones have reasonable DACs too nowadays.
edit: Khadas ToneBoard digital input.