Streamer question

The most recommended connection for the Holo May is the USB between The DAC and a streamer. I know you said you wanted to get rid of USB connection, but maybe there is another way to do what you want and keep the USB. I use the Lumin U1 to the Holo May via USB and it sounds fantastic.

@chrisg1000 you say 

Roon core is on an SSD plugged into the NAS

how is that possible? Roon provides requirements for the Core to run correctly. You need an OS to install Roon, you need CPU and memory to run it. What you’re saying here with your Room core being on SSD plugged into NAS makes less sense than your statement about getting rid of USB. 
 

So what are you talking about?

I've run Roon in this configuration for probably seven years with no issues. The issues have started as I've passed 10k albums. And more specifically most of my issues are with artists I have more than 1,000 albums for. If I only have a few albums from a particular artist it works fine.

A simple google search for, "can you run Roon core on an SSD attached to a NAS" will answer your question. It won't let me copy and paste here.

"ROON is flakey" maybe a result of ROON updates and the CORE not being rebooted. Are you able to reboot the CORE? This is not as much of an issue these days as in the distant past.

I use a $500 DELL under my bed without a keyboard, mouse, or monitor attached. I just RDP into the machine in the rare times I need to reboot. Does your SSD have an OS?

My DELL is setup to start at 7AM and shutdown at 2:30AM every day. I have 3 of the Sonore OpticalRendu streamers hooked up to my DACs via USB. I use USB because they are the best connection on the 3 DACs I use. 

This setup also uses PowerLine adapters to send the bits to various rooms in the house. System works flawlessly for about a decade now. I used to do some very complex ROON streaming with Convolution Filters, speaker balance adjustment, etc. I use a simpler system now but that complex setup ran fine on my super cheap and low powered DELL. 

I can get away with using a noisy and cheap DELL because I use fibre just before the DAC with the OpticalRendu's. An ideal setup would be to have fibre input in the DACs, but the only DAC I owned that supported that was the Lumin X1 (now sold).