I still have a Zen Stream. A Neo Stream also as I just picked one up on the cheap. I've tried a lot the budget types outside of the Halo Red. Though that one is well over $1k now. I personally liked the Zen over the MXN10 & CXN2..as well as the WiiM Ultra. I've never used a DDC before so that might be all one needs to better the SQ of the low priced Zen Stream. I have always used a Sbooster of IFI Elite for power supply though. Which both are very similar.
I've had the ZEN twice. First one I sold due to connection issues. Someone gave me a tip to run it with its own phone (old unused phone) & that's what I did with my 2nd Zen Stream. Pretty flawless after that. Well not flawless..sometimes when I start the first track direct from Tidal it wants to start it in the middle of the track. But after that it's flawless lol. I wonder if it has to do with my regular phone getting constant notifications, texts, emails, phone calls that it throws off the connection. I've had no issues with the Neo Stream.
I felt that the Primare Prisma NP5 was comparable in sound quality to the Zen. Slightly different presentation but still very good compared to the other cheapies. Little more spacious, airy compared to Zen. Not as bassy or thick as the Zen. The Prisma is very limited in outputs..no USB even. It's about as basic as one can get.
I really liked the WiiM Ultra. Loved everything about it & really wanted to keep it longer than I did. I should have tried a DDC. It wasn't even on my radar though. I'd like to know what's all involved with incorporating something like Jriver or other upsampling software into the signal.
After many years of only analog I'm basically streaming all the time now & really need to learn/figure out how to get the best from digital streaming.