USB out is a good addition. However, Roon Ready will likely take 5 months, as it did with the WiiM Amp (which I own and like). I2S output would have been a much more intriguing addition.
It is interesting that this costs $50 more than the WiiM Amp. It is a nicer design than the WiiM Pro Plus (which I own but do not currently use), but doesn't have the amp of the less expensive WiiM Amp in the same aluminum case.
I am more and more inclined towards one box that combines streaming and DAC. There are significant advantages to keeping very short and integrated digital pathways to the point of generating the analog signal. Something like the Eversolo DMP-A8 that also has a resistor-based volume control is very appealing. Of course that is almost 6x more expensive.
It would be interesting to see what WiiM could do to compete with Eversolo. It is good to see the competition here, along with the competition in loudspeakers with Borresen bringing a lot of their $X00,000 speaker engineering down to a $5,500 speaker (the X1).
