You can go cheaper if you only want to use it as a RoonReady Endpoint.
Take a RaspBerry Pi and one of the IQAudIO boards that suit your needs.
You’ll be ready to go for <$100.
It is officially supported (as they are a Roon Partner) and works ‘out-of-the-box’.
More details can be found in this thread:
https://community.roonlabs.com/t/raspbery-pi-and-iqaudio-boards/6347