Bargain Basement, Giant Killing DACs for PC Audio

The price range is pretty wide so I'm not sure which "Giant" you might want to slay. If you can find one, I really like the Audio-GD Ref. 8 DAC. The Ref. 7. is supposed to be a bit more revealing, albeit very similar otherwise. I have no direct experience with the latter (7). They both use 8 PCM 1704 chips, which I personally find quite musical and natural sounding when well implemented, as in these DACs (though my experience is with the RE8 which I use in my office system). The DAC in my main system also uses the same chip. The Audio GD have a rather large footprint and are quite heavy, so if that is an issue look elsewhere. If you have objections to Chinese-built components look elsewhere. The current usual suspects that come to mind are the Zodiac+, the Wyred4Sound DAC2 and the PS Audio Perfect Wave, as far as peak performance erring on the more revealing side. Seems to me the push-pull direction in DACs these days seems to be the ultra-revealing vs the more musical. My preferences seem to be in the realms of the latter.

I don't know about the V-dac "not living up to its hype". I find it to be altogether excellent. Source is a Gen 1 Apple TV. I really really like it.

Well you are most likely NOT going to find a sub $500 DAC that beats a full dcs stack but I took the OP to mean that he wanted something that gave him enjoyable sound from a computer based system while the technology continues to evolve. If I misunderstood, I stand corrected. I have the MusicStreamer II+ driving NHT M00/S00 set up in my home office and I find it always enjoyable. Inexpensive, small, no external power supply needed. Hook that sucker up to a netbook, a Ray Samuels portable HP amp and some Etys and you have great (maybe not SOTA, but damn good) sound in a package you can almost tuck in your pocket.

I've tried a few inexpensive USB DAC's in my office system, the Nuforce uDAC, the Valab, the Beresford 7520 with the opamp upgrade and now the Aune Mini. The Aune is as good as the Beresford at half the price and way better than the Valab or the Nuforce. At $160 shipped its a real bargain. It's beautifully made, can be used as a preamp and has a pretty good headphone amp built in.

Hello,
I recently acquired a Aune Headphone amp/DAC with upgraded caps factory direct from China via fleabay for $165 shipped. Very happy with it considering money spent. Has USB too