Someone said this is the best unit at its price point. It may be. But here’s another option… The Audiolab 6000N can be had for $300-$350 via Amazon used. I made a Like New - Open Box purchase and it looked brand new and sealed. I compared it against the new Bluesound Node and Wiim Mini. I much preferred the Audiolab while using its onboard DAC and running it into a Denafrips Pontus ii over the Bluesound being connected the same ways. The Audiolab into the Pontus ii sounded best overall. I actually also slightly preferred the Wiim Mini into the Pontus ii versus the Bluesound into the Pontus ii. And, I preferred the Wiim into a Topping E50 versus the Node into a Topping E50.
I wonder if I had a Node dud as many reviewers like the sound. I did not. I thought it was veiled and did not have as wide a soundstage as the other two units. I used it for 3 months, too, connected many different ways with many different settings in the Blusound OS and I couldn’t get it to sound that good. For the amount of features in a small form factor, it can’t be beat. However, the sound is underwhelming and that’s even when using the EQ to try to make up for its shortcomings. IMO the Node sounded better w/o its EQ being activated
I know the Audiolab is slightly more than the Solo, but I think it’s more full featured. I have not compared the Solo versus the Audiolab, but I would love to know which sounds better - with the onboard DAC and plugged into a better DAC.