Affordable "audiophile" network player?

Looks like we have some Squeezbox fans here... please help me understand why everyone loves these so much. I'm with Rbstehno on this: don't you still need a computer and a DAC?

$500 will buy you an Oppo 93, which will do what you want (disclaimer, the music library management functionality is extremely limited - basically you work from your directory structure. You need a DLNA server on your network). However, for this $500 you also get a SOTA blu ray player, netflix streaming, you can stream not only music, but also your pictures and video clips.

Squeezebox touch still needs a computer to access the stored music since the computer runs the software and most likely a dac too that betters the touch's inboard dac.

"on't you still need a computer and a DAC?

Computer is needed for your own music server but not for web/internet sources.

Touch has a decent DAC built in so you only need a separate one if you want or need to tweak from there.

Why I really like the SB Touch requires another thread to really explain clearly. Suffice it to say it is not expensive by audiphile terms yet can be a top notch digital music source and provides a lot of other nice usability features. Sound quality can be top notch today with right DAC. Features are very good but not perfect and still in the evolutionary stage as is computer audio in general.

I own an SBT and a Marantz NA 7004. The Marantz sounds better but has major reliability issues , and it costs more than twice your budget. In your range the SBT is the only option. I don't think that a TV is necessary
SBT has a large touchscreen that can be viewed from a distance and you can use a tablet or pc to operate it as well.
I actually get the best sound running my MacBook with Decibel via USB into a musical fidelity v link and then an optical out to my Dac. These audiophile streamers really are not necessary.