Denafrips, hmmm. Don’t they use the soekris architecture in general? I found their 1421 a bit to thin. Not harsh or cold but not as rich and full-bodied as I wanted.
I think Alvin from Vineshine replied a while back that the Denafrips DACs are unrelated to Soekris and use a proprietary R2R architecture.
I am thrilled with my Denafrips Terminator, but this is above your price range. From what I understand, the models down the line have a very similar sonic signature, with a little less detail and refinement. My Terminator sounds fairly neutral with a presentation fairly similar to my Schitt Yggdrasil A2, but with a bit more energy in the bass.
Very easy to listen to for long periods. Since I have my home office in my listening room, I've enjoyed listening to it for 8 hours or more a day almost every day for the past several months.
Previous DACS included Krell Reference 64 (that was a while back), Mark Levinson No 39 (used as both a player and DAC), W4S DAC2, and Yggy.
The Yggdrasil is a great DAC with excellent detail and soundstage, but it can start to sound a bit congested on lesser quality recordings. I've found I'm enjoying more of my older classic rock recordings with the Terminator than I did with the Yggy.