Thank you, this is what I wanted to know. It sounds like Roon has the ability to connect to the network bridge directly over the lan so I could keep my computer elsewhere if I use Roon. I'm trying to decide how much I don't want a computer in the same room as my stereo.
The network bridge costs $899, which happens to be the price of a new MacBook Air so for the same money I could buy a usb cable and a new Mac to dedicate to nothing but playing music, plus I would have the advantage of having a spare computer. Additionally, usb is more reliable than a lan, requires less configuration, has a lower cost and I wouldn't be locked into using Roon, which while I hear it is good, is very expensive compared to bitperfect and possibly other future choices.
If the network bridge cost $300 instead of $899, this would be an easy choice but as it is there are advantages to going either way.
The network bridge costs $899, which happens to be the price of a new MacBook Air so for the same money I could buy a usb cable and a new Mac to dedicate to nothing but playing music, plus I would have the advantage of having a spare computer. Additionally, usb is more reliable than a lan, requires less configuration, has a lower cost and I wouldn't be locked into using Roon, which while I hear it is good, is very expensive compared to bitperfect and possibly other future choices.
If the network bridge cost $300 instead of $899, this would be an easy choice but as it is there are advantages to going either way.