Better to buy a high end network player with a DAC?

Mr mahler,
didnt say players without dacs are bad.

i said its tough to get the higher end players without a dac, eg lumen x1, dcs bartok.  The lumin u1 is without dac, and it is a very good player.  The x1 has more to offer relating to the player, but it also includes a dac.

and maybe there is merit in getting a dac built into a player.  
You dont find higher end processors with an amp and there is a clear reason for this. Quality higher stereo preamps wouldnt dream of having an amp.

not the case with a player where it may offer an advantage when including a dac.  

just that the original premise of the OP, that players that come without DACs are bad, was incorrect

My apologies @mahler123 I misinterpreted your meaning. I though you were indicating that the premise of having a DAC built into/along with a player is somehow flawed. I now see what you were pointing out, that OP's premise that you can't find DAC-less players is flawed.

Yea, there are plenty of DAC-less players out there now. Most of them are just computers. Quite frankly if I was OP, I'd avoid Roon (their player doesn't sound particularly good), turn the Nucleus into a NAS, and use a UPnP/DLNA type solution if I were concerned with SQ - heck, a Raspberry Pi as an endpoint running SqueezePlayer or MPD would probably outperform what he has right now.

not the case with a player where it may offer an advantage when including a dac.  

As I see it, any DAC manufacturer not including a player solution are leaving things up to a crapshoot when it comes to their product because without a comprehension of what is happening upstream there is no way to guarantee the performance of the DAC in the first place. Further, it is my opinion that DAC manufacturers should publish the specifications and equipment used in developing their product, so that consumers know the following:

- What player software and file types were used in developing the DAC and it's associated interfaces
- What hardware was used for the player software, and which interfaces on that hardware were used in the development of the DAC
- If they include a player with the DAC, whether it is bespoke/custom or something provided by a third party, and specify which third party

My point is high end players are hard to find without a dac.  Clearly there are many good players without dacs.