Looking for best streamer without DAC under $3500

I don’t think anyone mentioned the SoTM SMS200 Ultra Neo with an outboard power supply. That’s what I use into a Chord Qutest via USB.
It’s not too expensive ($1200), works and sounds great and is Roon Ready plus a large number of other connection options included.
Unlike Lumin or Auraiic it doesn’t come with a player software, just ways to connect to all the favorite kinds of players over the network.

It’s basically a small, silent Linux computer optimized for audio that becomes part of a wired Ethernet network and outputs clean USB with a solid clock. The OS is on an SD card but you don’t really have to do much but select which player software you want to use.

@creativepart  Have you ever had the firmware corrupt on you requiring you to burn a new microsd and put it on? I find that a bit annoying.

Actually, one time. I originally had the SMS200 before getting the SMS200 Ultra. I don't remember exactly what I did, but I was messing around with the SD card and a reboot button on the rear of the unit and it corrupted the SD card. I didn't need to buy a new one. I copied a safety copy to my computer and downloaded a new disk image. After I applied the image to the SD everything worked normally. This was back at version 4.2 of the firmware. I was only down for half a day while I figured out what I needed to do. SoTM support (May) was responsive and helpful.
I never had any other similar events and I went on to upgrade to the Ultra version of the SMS200. I've not had any issues with it at all. It's just plug and play.