Hi there. I like a raspberry pi based streamer from pi2 aes. They make a solution in a box but for about $250 you can buy their raspberry pi hat. I installed free Volumio software on the device and it works like a charm with roon. I used to use an Intona for galvanic isolation and rely on reclocking by my DAC. Using the pi2 aes made a big difference - beautiful dark background and big reduction in sibilance. Surprised me as as I was a skeptic. 3D effects clearly enhanced as well. . Go with the pi2 aes 2.0, which can use an external 5V power supply ( rather than 24V). Several good reviews on YouTube.
Looking for High Quality Streamer Only Options (NO DAC)?
I'm looking to find a dedicated streamer, ideally <$2k. Here are the objectives:
1. Must be Roon Ready
2. No internal DAC
3. USB, Optical or Digital Coax input
4. Great quality to feed an outboard DAC.
The idea here is to hopefully avoid paying for an internal DAC and just by a stable streamer, giving the manufacturer the ability to dump all the parts and labor costs into the streaming side only. In other words, why pay for an internal DAC I won't use.
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