I purchased an Audio Mirror Toubadour V DAC built for me by Vladimir in Minnesota. I had the opportunity to put it up against a friend’s Chord Dave and also a Denafrips Pontus II and we both agreed the Toubadour had that tube sound that the Dave and Pontus couldn’t match. We both preferred the Toubadour sound, although I would have been happy with either the Dave or Pontus as well.
My friend did not have an M-scaler to go with the Dave.
in my own system, I added a Gaia DDC which immediately improved the soundstage of the Toubadour V. I also recently acquired an Okta DAC8 that I intend to put up against the Toubadour V but I haven't done that yet. I bought the Okta DAC8 solely on the excellent reviews on ASR, and also because it is quite affordable that I can experiment with it.
I believe the Toubadour V may be in your price range. Also do consider one of the denafrips DDCs regardless of what DAC you get.