Why not combine streamer, roon core,endpoint, server and cd ripper together??

Endpoint is used when speaking of using Roon.  All players aren’t endpoints.

So looking at the antipodes dx and seems this is a very good device.   A basic nice looking box, but not flashy. 
I am going back and forth between standalone server device and player device.  Soooo much overlap.  
Maybe I will get a nucleus and a separate player.

what the heck does ‘endpoint’ mean??  It mostly refers to the player device I guess.  Just say player.  Very very confusing marketing spiel.

All these threads seems like audiophile intellectual masturbation...

As I predicted, you will complain Innuos is too expensive 😂😂.

Fyi, you picked the second most expensive in Innuos line, the Zenith. The least expensive is ZEN Mini. Then the ZEN, then the ZENith.

Here are the prices: http://www.innuos.com/en/catalog/go/music-servers-mk3

OP,

Are you having an argument with yourself?

It is a very expensive box, innuos zenith mk3.

i am thinkIng about assembling the pieces separately, and may do a lot better this way. Could get a nucleus and briscasti m5 network player, and an ssd - all for about the same price. Seems this would offer a lot more quality and don’t have to get tortured assembling a nucleus from a nuc. Plus if something goes wrong with the mk3 combined unit, I am not out 4500.

Yes! All Innuos devices are like that. Server, streamer, storage, CD ripper all in one box. Now... you will still complain they are expensive. That’s OK.

Here it is.

https://www.innuos.com/en/catalog/go/zenmini-mk3-1tb-hdd

I didn’t realize that your all in one combo player also included a digital crystal ball.

I think techno risk for obsolescence is minimal given this area of the audio signal foodchain.  Improvements will be made and hoping firmware updates will mitigate this.  Can see a dozen yrs of use for this basic equipment.

Less shelf space, less cabling, less compatibility issues; I get it. But, IME, digital tech changes faster, last less longer, depreciates faster, and is harder to repair than other components. If one of those combined things fails; the whole thing might end up in the trash.

Maxwell, Tesla and Faraday suggest that all things transmit and receive...  Therefore stuffing too many electronic gizmos into a single box becomes problematic...  Noise ingress and egress...  And all noise is additive...

Power management is key and for innuos, this is a big part of why it works so well so they say.   
Crazy not to consolidate all this stuff.  Going upstream with amps, dacs, preamps, it will likely remain separate due to size.  But all the heavily related streamer stuff should be consolidated. Hearing differences in separating this stuff seems abit rich to believe.  By managing power supply and separating internal circuits, it should work out fine.

They did that and called it Antipodes DX.
Some believed servers sound better with the ripper mechanism removed and others believed separating the core and endpoint improve the sound of Roon so they developed the CX/EX solution.  
They admirably offered updates to the DX as technology improved (I updated twice) but then eventually discontinued it as well as the CX/EX.
They now have a whole new line-up at new/higher prices.  I have no idea how the newer stuff sounds but I can say my upgraded DX is still sounding very nice and it is in fact convenient to have everything in one place although I am using a separate Roon endpoint and not the endpoint in the DX.

Main Unit Star pay up.
Or just rip CDs but perfect on the computer like most of us and play them on a streamer.
They are available under $1K including a remote drive(s) to play the files that are also Room ready.