One sneaky tip, is to use a Wi Fi extender with an Ethernet port as a sort of aerial then run a cable to the RPi
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Slight correction here, if I may:
OSMC yes - RF
FLIRC no - IR
Stack Audio Link ii
Itās not made anymore 
but I found one on eBay.
Thereās one for sale here : FS - Stack Audio LINK Roon-Ready Streamer (Silver)
Itās very very good.
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I agree Tim, it is very, very good.
Mind you, I would say that. Iām selling one! 
But joking aside, it works faultlessly as a RR USB-out endpoint, and is beautiful to own.
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How about Volumio Rivo? Is Usb out, has wifi and ethernet, is Roon Ready, and runs Volumio software. Happy New Year everyone!
The $15 Raspberry Pi Zero W2 is the cheapest Roon endpoint and a doddle to configure since it is now supported by Ropiee.
Just write the Ropieee image to a micro sd card. Then power up the Pi Zero. Then from the Ropieee manual:
If ethernet is not available or practical (eg using a Zero W 2), it is
possible to setup wireless during the initial boot process.
-
During the initial boot sequence if valid internet is not
detected, after a few minutes RoPieee will create a
wireless Access Point (AP) with a network name similar
to:
RoPieee-AP-[unique_id] -
Using a laptop or mobile device, join to this wireless
network using the password:
goropieee
Considering the $15 entry price and very easy setup, I find it hard to understand why this solution would be ignored in favor of solutions 100x the price?
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I have an RPi4 sitting on my desk, case and accessories should be here tomorrow.
Iāll report back findings.
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If you want something that just plugs in, is Roon Ready, and has no DAC ā and budget is not an issue ā then have a look at the Bryston BDP line. They are very well-made and meet your requirements.
Caveat: Bryston changed hands recently and Iāve had very bad luck with getting their customer service to respond to me in any way at all. A very Roon-like experience.
SOtM SMS-200 with a wifi dongle could be a solution as well. 
So I got my new RPi4 and Flirc case up and running last night with essentially zero drama.
Only hangup was that after changing the name and time zone I couldnāt find it through the web portal, so I found the IP address using my router software and finished the setup that way. That eventuality was covered in the instructions.
Did not drop at all while listening, assembly was four Phillips screws and everything needed was in the excellent beginner instructions posted. Harder to change the battery in many devices.
Thank you for the recommendations, this is pretty clearly the cheapest and slickest way to create an endpoint if you already have a DAC.
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Thatās a pretty narrow list of requirements. Why not just go for a Roon ready streamer with wi fi and spdif, usb and analog outputs, and future-proof your purchase? Streamers without DACs are a pretty niche market to begin with (as are CD players without DACs. Come to think of it, CD players are a niche market these days).
The most reasonable way to do what you askāand cheap, to boot-- is to get a Raspberry Pi (you can get a kit with a case if you want), install Roon Bridge, which requires minimal technical skills, and plug your DAC into that. The latest Piās supposedly do not have the performance hit from sharing the same bus between USB and Ethernet, and are WiFi enabled. I havenāt tried this, I have always used a digital HAT to feed spdif to my DACS but others have.
I wonāt get into the distinction between āworks with Roonā and āRoon readyā. Lots of people are using Piās running Roon Bridge with satisfactory results. Weāre all here in the unlikely event the Roon team canāt give you the support you need.
But actually, even a PI has a crappy DAC feeding a headphone jack which nobody in his right mind would use for serious audio (or maybe they donāt any more. I wouldnāt have noticed). Maybe you meant you donāt want a streamer with an expensive DAC.
I had very few requirements. Henceā¦ narrow list.
The RPi4 running RoPieee has done a great job so far. Perfect for the job. Works perfectly with my quality āTrue Multibitā DAC, and so far has been my least problematic endpoint. Shows up as āRoon Readyā on my audio screen.
Problem solved. $125 all in.
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KInd of whizzy! What is it?
This case has a fan in it - so it will keep the Rpi4 cool - but at the expense of air flow noise if the fan ever starts running.
By contrast, the Flirc case is purely passive (and thus totaly silent) and relies on the conductivity of the case itself to disipate the heat over a large surface area where is can radiate away.
Under heavy loads, the Flirc case will get warmer - but I would not expect it to get that hot to the touch.
Certainly, if you are only running Roon Bridge on the Rpi4, then the Flirc case should keep it very cool indeed (Roon bridge does not stress the Rpi4 in the least).
Personally, I use an Argon one V2 which also has a fan in it but is also set up to conduct heat away in the same way as the Flirc case and the fan is set to come on at 45 deg Celcius. In practise, even when the Rpi4 endpoint is in use, the case is able to keep the temperature down to 30-32 deg Celcius and I have never heard the fan turn on. When the Rpi4 is idle, I see temperatures about 5-8 deg Celcius above ambiant.
I would expect the Flirc case to work equally well.
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My Argon One case gets hot to the touch, but DietPi reports the temp as ācool runningsā (<40 degrees). I use it as Roon bridge, Plex server and for HQPlayer (PCM only). Iāve never heard the fan
Hi George,
Know this thread is getting a little old now, so presume you settled on a solution by now? If not, or just for the benefit of anyone else thinking about this (as I have been) there are at least 3 other Roon Ready certified products that fit your requirements which donāt seem to be on the list of those mentioned:
-
Argon Solo - cheap and cheerful with built in DAC, but best bypassed and connected to an external DAC. Also benefits from a decent linear power supply over the supplied one, but great value for the price - not sure how compares, sound wise, as a pure streamer versus the Wiim products. Not seen any comparisons.
-
Pro-Ject Stream Box - several variants in increasing spec and price range DS line DS Ultra, and RS line - plus some now older models you can pick up cheap on eBay. The current streamer models are here - HiFi Electronics ā Pro-Ject Audio Systems. Note they all have a USB output for an external DAC and I think all of them have a USB input which is supposed to clean up noisy/dirty signals from a direct PC connection or other noisy input)
-
Musical Fidelity DX-Stream - you can pick these up for as little as Ā£500 new in places as it looks like MF might discontinue it in future as they are selling some products with free Wiim streamers in packages, but the MF DX-Stream is Roon Ready and also has jitter reducing technology built in. My impression that this would be an amazing bit of kit if supplied with a decent linear power supply as the supplied wall wart sounds a bit crappy with poor voltage regulation.
-
Latest to market is of course the Auralic Altair S1 - but this is pretty expensive, but supposed to give incredible clean digital output signal, especially with additional power supply (if you can afford to spend Ā£3k). However I mention it as the original version of the Auralic Altair is supposed to be pretty good with an external linear power supply and can be picked up for cheap money these days, especially now the latest products are out.
Hope this helps. It covers everything Iāve been researching beyond those already mentioned. For completeness, if you or anyone else is considering the Rasberry Pi route then for optimal sound quality, check out the Ian Canada products which give you lots of options for cheap to really high end with super capacitor power supplies etc - Have a look at Gabsters YouTube channel, Ian Canadaās pages on GitHub or his website, or you can also buy them at Audiophonics.fr
Steve 
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Thanks Steve!
FWIW, this became a pretty slippery slope pretty quickly. Lol.
For my headphone rig, I built a RPi4 with the Flirc case plugged into a Jotunheim 2 with the Multibit DAC. Sounds greatā¦ not looking to change it at all.
For my HiFi I got a PS Audio GainCell DAC to become the 2 channel solution. In the near term I will continue to use the WiiM Pro I bought, but will likely build another RPi4 for it at some point. I have no problem with the WiiM though as a streamer.
My big problem is that my Roon Server (my working laptop) doesnāt seem to like to be used for anything other than Roon. Roon wonāt wake it up (even though I have configured the computer not to sleep) so every time I want to listen to Roon I have to go into the office and wake it up, log in to Roon and sometimes cycle the router.
Just put up a NUC (or get the new budget Nucleus) and your big problem is solved. Thatās what I did two years ago and donāt regret it.
George,
If you get round to building another Pi based digital transport Iād highly recommend you check out the options from Ian Canada which can make a massive difference to the sound quality you get out of the DAC you feed it with, especially if you use one of his built in power supply options (from super capacitors to Lithium cells and onwards) and/or using any of the several re-clocking options. Theyāre not expensive and start from as little as US$200 up to about $550 for his flagship streamer options - though you can spend as much or as little as you want depending on casework (or having a bare Frankenstein type affair )
As for your Roon Server issues, Iāve been using an old Mac Mini for years now and once you get it set up properly (there are a few tips) it should pretty much run flawlessly without interruption. You can get a Mac Min for silly cheap money these days. That said the new Roon Nucleus One at only $499 or about Ā£400 GBP her in the UK is hard to turn down when it will give you a plug and play dedicated Roon core system (with no fans, so you donāt have to hide it away). Depends on how tech savvy you are if you want a different option, but I definitely wouldnāt recommend using a laptop to run Roon Server in the long term, unless youāve no other option