I am happy with my Small Green Computer (SGC) Sonictransporter i5 and MicroRendu streamer. This bundle has the UltraRendu. https://www.smallgreencomputer.com/collections/recommended-solutions/products/premier-server-player-combo-sonictransporter-i5-ultrarendu-7v-linear-power-supply?variant=12400215719970
The Sonictransporter is like the Roon Nucleus+ (my other suggestion) for less money. I plug an external ripping drive in to rip CDs; the ripper doesn’t need to be built in. I have a 2TB internal SSD for storage.
The Wyred4Sound server is the other one I considered. Darko gave it a good review. https://wyred4sound.com/products/music-servers/ms
Both are ROON servers. I’m committed to Roon. Aurenders get good reviews, as so others, but they run their own apps (ie, Conductor, for Aurender) and they are not Roon.
The Wyred would probably go in your rack (and does have more connection options, like I2S), but the SonicT doesn’t need to. I have it placed near my modem/router across the room, and run an ethernet to my DAC, and the Rendu takes the ethernet signal and feeds it to the DAC, https://positive-feedback.com/industry-news/sonore-microrendu-version-1-5/
Darko review of the previous gen Rendu: https://darko.audio/2017/01/classy-sonores-microrendu-takes-digital-audio-higher/
The Sonictransporter is like the Roon Nucleus+ (my other suggestion) for less money. I plug an external ripping drive in to rip CDs; the ripper doesn’t need to be built in. I have a 2TB internal SSD for storage.
The Wyred4Sound server is the other one I considered. Darko gave it a good review. https://wyred4sound.com/products/music-servers/ms
Both are ROON servers. I’m committed to Roon. Aurenders get good reviews, as so others, but they run their own apps (ie, Conductor, for Aurender) and they are not Roon.
The Wyred would probably go in your rack (and does have more connection options, like I2S), but the SonicT doesn’t need to. I have it placed near my modem/router across the room, and run an ethernet to my DAC, and the Rendu takes the ethernet signal and feeds it to the DAC, https://positive-feedback.com/industry-news/sonore-microrendu-version-1-5/
Darko review of the previous gen Rendu: https://darko.audio/2017/01/classy-sonores-microrendu-takes-digital-audio-higher/