Which mini Windows PC do you have Henry?
Over at ComputerAudiophile, some claim they are achieving āmassiveā results with an Intel NUC fed by an Uptone LPS1.2 power supply, and using AudioLinux (and Roonbridge) : https://www.computeraudiophile.com/forums/topic/30376-a-novel-way-to-massively-improve-the-sq-of-computer-audio-streaming/?do=findComment&comment=892714
There is a good chance one can waste a lot of time and money with all these different solutions, as no one really understands how and why any of this really impacts sonic quality.
Better invest money in a good DAC!
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I have the Pipo X9S. Intel chipset, 4gb RAM, 64gb on board memory. The screen is below the threshold size for charging for Windows. When you move to the ten inch model the price jumps up but you get battery operation. If all you are doing is running Roon then it is OK to disable the little fan inside. CPU usage is normally single figures.
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Is it possible to use multiple hats? For example the Allo DigiOne (signature) icm with the USBridge?
I have many Pis as endpoints (using Ropieee) in two locations. Theyāre great and virtually maintenance-free. Iāve tried PCs and notebooks as endpoints. Theyāre not so great, and definitely not maintenance-free. And, of course, the cost differential is enormous for anyone thing of buying new.
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I donāt really like the RPās sharing of controller for ethernet and USB. Thatās why I have opted for Odroid C2ās for USB endpoints. The Odroid C2 has a proper gigabit ethernet port and independent USB ports (albeit USB2, not USB3).
I run dietpi on them. dietpi has a preconfigured Roon Bridge installer that takes care of installing and configuring the bridge. The bridge software comes from Roon themselves and is maintained and updated by Roon.
So far everything has been working fine (about a year) with minimal tinkering.
I have settled on the Chord Qutest as a DAC, so for my main listening room I am going to build a silent Windows PC and run Roon core on it, hook it up to the Qutest and on into my Rega Elicit-R amp. That should allow DSD512 output. No network problems, no driver restriction. (Wish i could use ROCK on a self build machine or Nucleus+ but alas no driver support for the Qutest native dsd capabilities).
For my other endpoints i am going down the RPi route with DAC hat.
Do you intend to upsample to DSD512? I ask because my experience of the Chord 2Qute is that is sounds best with no upsampling. BTW, my 2Qute is paired with the Allo DigiOne.
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I believe the chord DACs upsample internally so advice is to feed it the default signal.
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Thanks for this - it lead me read up for the last couple of hrs on what the Chord is doing. Good advice. It appears that not many send upscaled sources into Chord DACs. I think I will still need to use Windows though to send native DSD to the Chord (default signal)
Youāll be able to use DSD over PCM (DoP) on an RPiāthe resulting DSD data stream is completely unchangedāand possibly direct DSD via USB (needs ALSA support for the Qutest in the kernel.)
Decisions, decisions. 
From my original post my planned set up has changed slightly. I am going to move the core to the main listening area and connect it directly to the DAC to avoid network to the āmainā endpoint. RPi everywhere else running Roon Bridge.
I am ordering the Qutest this weekend and will then either go down the Nucleus, ROCK built or fanless mini-itx W10 route for the core.
Lovely DAC, possibly the best DAC available today pound for pound. 
I suggest you get the DAC home, enjoy it, and decide what setup is best for you before changing anything else. Use your listening experience to determine if you need a Linux or Windows Core and/ or endpoint. Thereās no rush!
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Agreed. No rush at all.
I might be getting too hung up on the native DSD anyway - at some point, I expect that ROCK will be developed to include native DSD support for more DACs.
Iām sure too. Check the following thread re. DSD and RPi and Ropieee support.
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This is a common rookie mistake. Unless you have a terrible, terrible network, you definitely donāt want to do this. One of the things that makes Roon unique is that all of the āheavy liftingā is done by the core. It then streams to endpoints which basically only have to pass the signal on to the DACs. The core has to be fairly robust and does a lot of intensive processing, while roon bridge will run flawlessly on an RPi in low power mode. This results in a lot of electrical noise being generated by the core. This noise is not transmitted over the network, but does noticeably affect DACs that are connected directly to the core. The endpoints, on the other hand, can be run in low power mode to reduce processor noise and power supply noise, translating into a much cleaner signal to the DAC.
That said, there are some limitations to the network bandwidth of Raspberry Pi 3 devices that can cause problems with USB DACs, but the only time I have experienced this was trying to run two USB DACs off the same RPi (roon volume leveling and DSP to both 
). This might also be an issue if you are sending a 512DSD signal, so if you want to run a high resolution USB DAC (via wired network) you could get an Allo Sparky and put DietPi on it. Same price as a Raspberry Pi, but no USB/Ethernet bus bandwidth issues.
If you are in the mood to tinker and you already have a mini-PC in hand, try running the PC version of DietPi and Roon bridge on it. It would likely be much quieter than Windows.
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Hi @Andy_Spinks
I am a fan of the Odroid C2. Unlike the RP3, it has separate controllers for ethernet and USB. dietpi / Roon Bridge runs on it.
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Good to hear! When I bought my Sparky, I was was also considering the Odroid. At that time, I could get any consensus about which was better. (Both have separate USB & Ethernet busses.) I might have to try out the Odroid for my next endpoint!
Itās generally only possible to run one HAT (they physically donāt stack), but on Raspberry Pi it is possible to run a HAT and one (or more) USB DACs. I have a Pi3b that has a Boss HAT (for my living room) and two Dragonfly-type USB DACs for two outside zones). However, I donāt really play them all at once.
I should also note that the Sparky will only support one USB DAC at a time.
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Thanks.
No major decisions made yet on the Core, just on the Qutest for my main listening room DAC and additional DAC for one of my secondary zones.
What you are saying might explain why the current DAC connected to the Core upstairs has a hard time doing upsampling when in exclusive modeā¦ lots of pops.
As for Windows vs RPi, I had an old PC lying around (laptop) and loaded Roon Bridge on it, then hooked up to a DAC that was bought for the study (a Topping D50). I just managed to get native DSD64 playing - converted from a FLAC 16/44.1 Tidal stream. It sounds incredible. I am blown away. My network bugs out at DSD128 or PCM176.4, but DSD64 sounds so good, I am not sure I will bother switching from powerline to wiring ethernet.
EDIT: Managed to get DSD128 streaming natively, which is about 12Mbps bandwidth. My powerline is getting c70Mbps but was dipping from time to time to around 35Mbpsā¦ interestingly on song changes (manual skip) and album changes, there is a big jump to 35ish Mbps for streaming, which is why I think Roon was losing connection for DSD128. Managed to improve the powerline to handle the spikes, it seems.
Just loving the sound.
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