Owning one of these, you lot are really comparing apples and a full fruit salad here:
The Linn DSM has a pretty decent phono-pre build in, and it is a very good pre-amp as well. I only have a rather mediocre Sennheiser HD-25 headphone, so I can't really compare it's build-in headphone amp, but from what I've read, it is pretty much up to par with the rest of the device.
The room compensation software is extremely powerful in attacking room modes, although very cumbersome to set up if you're new to it.
I wouldn't have bought it as a standalone DAC, but the total package made it, to me and my use case, a steal. Saying it is expensive when compared to a device which lacks the other features seems hardly relevant. It's like saying a Ferrari is overly expensive because it lacks storage space.
Although it can be, It is -not- intended to be used with Linns Exakt digital external crossovers; those devices have buildin DACs themselves, so there is a cheaper and DAC-less version of this streamer which would make more sense in those kind of setups.
A few remarks about the review itself
- it's preferred operation is streaming; there is less electrical noise that way. If your equipment is capable of testing that way, that would be nice.
- I have no use for Roon myself, I just want to browse through my library without any distractions, and Bubble DS provides that. All the features that you love about Roon, are putting me off. Horses for courses.
And lastly a question: does your testing put any significance on the accuracy of the internal clock? Or does the digital input of the DSM rely on the external clock? I'm not an electrical engineer, so I can't tell for sure. It could be significant for the test.