Thank you all for your suggestions! Definitely food for thought on compatibility, etc. Fwiw, the Laiv uDac doesn't have RCA outs and it was suggested to use XLR to RCA cables by one of the posters on Laiv's comment section - that was my only frame of reference. Appreciate the deeper insight on what specs to check on.
I've had very good experience with BJC, Anti & DH Labs - damn, now I have choices to make!