$5k-$6K DACs w Roon?

@erik_squires, I purchased the Bricasti M21 DAC and it is truly excellent.  I use the laddered DAC option and use an AES/EBU cable from my Aurender N20 Music Server to the DAC.   I am very satisfied with the sound quality of this system and so are my friends that have heard it.  I also installed the Bricasti MDx digital in the M21 DAC and the sound quality improved.   The MDx board is an outstanding upgrade and is highly recommended.   The Bricasti M21 DAC is highly recommended.  AND PLEASE KEEP READING.
     

After several phone calls with my retailer, and Bricasti, I ALSO PURCHASED the Bricati M3 DAC in January 2020.  It took some time for the M3 to break in BUT it was light years BETTER THAN my previous Ayre Codex DAC.   Please NOTE this is a 2-channel home theatre and my LG OLED TV connects to the M3 DAC and then balanced cables to my SimAudio integrated amp.   I like this system very much and highly recommend you consider the Bricasti M3 DAC.  The addition of the Bricasti M3 DAC “substantially improved” the sound quality of this system.  

As was noted above, Bricasti Customer Support is excellent.   I have both talked to them on the phone and also using email.   Bricasti DACs are highly recommended.

if you have budget is around $5,000 and you are looking for a very good sounding DAC, I strongly recommend the Bricasti M3 DAC. The M3 “offers an incredible array of performance in a more affordable price class. It includes two fully differential conversion channels, separate conversion for PCM and native DSD, and a balanced analog level control circuit, making the M3 suitable for all applications”.

I also looked at the MSB Discrete DAC but everything thing was an extra cost option (USB, AES/EBU, power supply, etc.,).  The dCS Bartok was also interesting but, based on my research, I kept coming back to Bricasti.  The Chord DAVE was on my list, but I decided to pass (my Chord retailer was very pushy and not helpful).  I hope this helps.  

Are you looking for a device that is "Roon Ready" and has a built in renderer/player or are you looking for a device that is compatible with a Roon Server/Renderer like the Nucleus or a Nuc connected via USB?  The list of DACs with a bridge to handle Roon directly is not that long.  You probably would be better looking at a streamer/player with a built in DAC like Naim, Lumin, Aurender, Auralic, etc...

If you are looking just for a USB DAC that will interface with a Roon server/player, I would check out the Rockna Wavelight.  A hair below your budget, but is a really awesome R2R DAC with an FPGA interface.  

 It took some time for the M3 to break in BUT it was light years BETTER THAN my previous Ayre Codex DAC.  

Wow, that is high praise indeed, as there are very vew DACs, and no SS headphone amp, I've heard better than this.

The new Gustard X26 Pro is a phenomenal performer. I think it is very low cost at $1500 (on sale for $1300) I have it and it replaced my Benchmark DAC3B in the office system. I moved the DAC3B to the living room. I stream into the Gustard with a Sonore OpticalRendu since the Gustard does not do native streaming.

RJ45 streaming and non-fibre optical streaming is second tier for me. I spent some time doing tests with 3 different streaming options, RJ45, microRendu, and fibre. It was so easy to hear the improvement with fibre optical. So that adds another $1200-$1500 for ROON READY fibre streaming.

I was thinking of getting the AudioByte stack (son of Rockna) but I think I like to save my money with the Gustard.

I saw a Bricast M1 SE $4995 Including shipping Price Reduced that was sold. When you are ready, please search Bricasti M1SE for sale and see what appears.  
Also please contact some Bricasti retailers to determine if they have any acceptable trade-ins.  You never know. If interested, also search on Bricasti M3.