Under $3K streaming dac suggestions, Roon Ready?

OP the Ifi DSD is  a  remarkable little guy sonically, it does have a few quirks and isn't Roon ready at the momment but boy does it sound really good.

Audioman, how do you know anything definative about the 2.7 Dac which is a dac and not a streaming dac? As per sound quality vs anything else what you personally like in your system may not translate the same way into other peoples systems. The sound quality of a dac will also depend on how you are feeding it.

Just went to the Matrix audio site and their dacs do seem nice, but it doesn't seem that they are doing anything really different than the excellent Mytek Brooklyn Bridge which is an American company the Matrix are Chinese made, both use the same ESS chip and offer similar features with the Mytek offering Roon compatibility which is a major advantage for some. 

As per the Cambridge it is a nice unit but not up to the same sonic standards as the other players listed above. 

We used to sell it and the Lumin at $2,300.00 just killed it. 

Your top contenders should be in no pariticular order

Mytek Brooklyn Bridge clean detailed, excellent headphone stage, analog inputs, analog volume control, MQA, Roon capable

Lumin D2: a great streamer, warm, full bodied great app, Roon and MQA

Teac we haven't played with this one, so no comment. 

Auralic G1 no idea on the level of the dac but Auralic does make excellent products with both MQA and Roon capability. 

Personally we love the sound quality of the Ifi DSD it fantastic we use it with a Roon endpoint so not an issue for us for native Roon, but sonically just amazing sounding if you want warm and very three dimensional this little guy throw a gigantic soundstage and is insanly flexibile. 

Dave and Troy
Audio Doctor NJ 

audiotroy -> How is the dac in Lumin D2 or  iFi Audio Pro iDSD?

@audiotroy   Thank you for the breakdown, much appreciated!

My main reservations with the Mytek is that it's packed with functionality, almost all of which will never be used (but you never know, someday I could use it as a preamp).

About the same goes for the iFi, and since I can't currently use Roon with it directly, I would be using the same configuration I am currently, albeit with a better DAC than the Liberty.  That's not a bad option by any means, but I'm really trying to limit my box count.

Another option that may work is something in the Aurender line, if they make a streamer/dac combo that is Roon friendly.  I believe they do, but probably not for my current budget.  I will search around.

Right now I'm still leaning towards the Teac NT-505 and Auralic Altair G1.  The Cambridge CXN V2 is also intriguing, but to be honest it's mostly from an aesthetic standpoint.  I love the looks, and especially the front panel displaying artwork/sample rate, etc.  Long term, that shouldn't be a deciding factor, I know.

The dac chip in the LUMIN D2 is only 24-bit and was released in 2007, right?  

That is the same year iPhone was released! Ie, stone ages for fast moving tech area (at least as fast moving as audio gets). 

I havent listened to it and I’m sure it’s great for that era but just making the point it is 12 yrs old 

The only thing I would consider is the Ayre Codex, plus whatever you can do for the streaming part. I ended up with the Roonb Nucleus, serving both the endpoint and core functions. It sounds fantastic! For me, the Codex is what transformed the digital side of my system from HiFi, to truly musical. The only better choices I have heard are above $5k. The Aurilic stuff I have heard were not in the same leagu.