I think I’m more or less done with my new NUC-based audio server. Took a bit of doing, but everything went OK. Built a 6th-gen i3-based NUC–usual problems like no network drivers from the Windows install, so you can’t download drivers. Lots of help from my son. Once everything was running, it took me (mostly my son) a while to get things working bit-perfect into my PS Audio DirectStream DAC. (PS Audio’s driver provides bit-perfect output, but only if you select it in Roon. Took too long to figure that out.)
So, everything is running and sounding great. Way better than my previous configuration where I had to sit too close to the speakers so that my 10-foot USB cable would reach from my laptop.
One caveat: My DirectStream has the Bridge 2, but I’m still using USB because the Bridge 2 is not yet supported in Roon and vice versa. Once I can set things up with Ethernet I’ll try that, but I may still have to keep the server in the listening room because I can’t run wire and I live in a new pre-war apartment with thick walls (hence, poor wifi so far). Working on that. But I’ll keep the computer a few feet away from the system, and with the Bridge 2 as renderer I should get some protection from the computer’s noisy innards.
Thanks to those of you who offered advice.
Best,
Jim