I’ve had an Allo USBridge for a couple of years now. The original unit developed a fault on the HAT, and that board was replaced (at no charge) by Allo. It’s on 24/7. Very occasionally (like once in 4 - 6 months) it loses connection with my DAC, but a power reboot fixes that…
If you hadn’t got powered speakers, my suggestion for a one-box Roon Ready solution would have been to take a look at the Arcam Solo Uno…
I just received a Topping D90 (MQA Version). It’s a great DAC for the money. I use my laptop and the Topping.
I have a Mytek Brooklyn Bridge that should do it in one small piece @ ~$2,500. I am very happy with it.
Suggest any Windows/Linux box as a streamer. (Considering Roon subscription). With separate DAC you really don’t care about CPU too much. Any i5 works. 300-400 for this.
Better to invest in DAC as this is going to be thing to deliver quality sound.
Chord Qutest can recommend. Same electronics like Hugo 2, but without batteries and all nonsense. If suits desktop usage very well. This is 1300.
For this amount, digital part is near perfect.
(Yes, command ‘streamer’ in this setup via any phone/tablet)
This is exactly what I’m doing with two Orchard Audio PecanPi Streamers. They’re running Ropieee which is as easy to setup as it comes. They are both rock solid and the PecanPi DAC in these is exceptional.
You can find Bluesound Node 2 (not the 2i) for a discount on some sites. The 2 is Roon Ready.
I believe the 2i will get eventually get certified and seems to work for some folks. I simply do not know the current status.
You should look at the Mytek Brooklyn Bridge streamer/DAC/preamp. I have the Brooklyn Dac+ which is the same without the built in streamer. Outstanding in a compact package.
The original USBridge or the Signature?
The original needs two power supplies if you are feeding a DAC that doesn’t have its own PS or the Signature, that only requires one PS.
I have both, the original feeds an Explorer² and the Signature feeds a Meridian Prime headphone set up, both sit there with only the occasional re-boot required. The Sig runs Ropieee.
I would have though the Orchard PecanPi would have been your best bet, I haven’t tried one but I hear good things.
Yes, I’m aware of the Brooklyn Bridge.
It meets all my desires, except price.
But I have a somewhat irrational attitude to pricing.
In my main systems, the ones used for serious listening, I’m am willing to spend for high-end gear.
But for secondary systems, where I often recycle old gear, I try to keep to lower prices.
In the case that is the subject of this thread (not ready yet, awaiting some changes in the house) I am looking to use active speakers I bought in 2003. They have been used regularly, are well and truly depreciated. They were quite good when I got them (Avantgarde Solo Driven by a Meridian box, not to be coy). But technology has moved forward. How much is it reasonable to spend to support them, in a new background application?
Irrational, I know.
For the system that is the subject of this thread, yes, the Orchard PecanPi seems like a good choice.
I’m getting the USBridge Signature+Shanti as a trial ballon, for a system with an SMSL SU-8.
Mostly, I admit, because I have been cautious (nay, suspicious) of RPi world.
I need to learn.
My mistake, I misread your post and thought your budget was between 1k and 4k. Teach me to pay better attention!
My mistake, not yours, I wrote in those terms.
I told you I’m irrational.
I just got the Orchard PecanPi. Perfect, exactly what I wanted.
Ordered it with Roon installed.
Opened the box, plugged in network cable, balanced cable to my powered speaker, power, Roon saw it, enabled it and gave it a name, and it worked.
Thanks.
It’s a funny test configuration, I had a single speaker left over from a three channel movie set up that I no longer want, so I put that single speaker in the kitchen, set up a mono mix in Roon DSP. Worked like a charm. Temporary…
And I have an Allo USBridge on order for a different room.
I’m becoming a Raspberry Pi fan!
Heading down the rabbit hole! 
I just finished a writeup on the various Pi’s that “we” use for audio purposes, published on a swedish high end forum, euphonia-audioforum.se
They really are useful!
And now the Allo Sig arrived.
Opened the box, the Shanti power supply looks like it could power a cabin cruiser.
Etcher-flashed ropieee.
Plugged it in to the Chord stack.
Took a few minutes while it configure itself.
Works great.
I’m a Raspberry Pi fan! (Partially because I got both the Allo and PecanPi in their professional looking aluminum cases.)
(Oh, I forget, it was like removing a veil.)
Until you’ve done RoPieee on a RPi with the 7" display, you haven’t truly experienced Roon on an RPi…
I had huge problems with the Raspberry Pi’s and connecting to my network with wifi. Ended up hard wiring one and have had no problems since. The latest Pi has much better wifi and I have had no problems getting on and staying on my network or streaming. This might also be that I changed to a mesh network (orbi), but I think the latest pi has a better wifi.
Still a few NT-505 in US on line but has been discontinued in US. No word if it will be replaced by new model.
Dang it.
This made for an interesting read - with you looking for a box without the clutter turning IP into audio. I assume you are Swedish - if you ever did try the Primare NP5 as a streaming box (and it’s a Swedish make) I fully recommend it for sound quality alone as a transport (I now own one). No usb audio out - but no need for that - just stick to spdif for simplicity and support for older high quality DACs.
I would also have recommended Marantz - they already have high quality power supplies built in (I own and use a Marantz NA7004 too on occasion which is a very high quality transport but streaming software is not good in this old unit). Perhaps the NA6006 would have made a great modern alternative high quality Marantz transport with HEOS - I might give it a try sometime.
