It will probably work, but you won’t know until you try or somebody can confirm that this specific device indeed works with Audirvana.
The advantage of using a RPi based solution is that there are multiple software options for it and those are developed actively. Pretty much every distro for RPi had issues with UPnP at some point, but it was eventually fixed.
With a hardware manufacturer you’re pretty much stuck with what the manufacturer provides. This is compounded by the fact that hardware manufacturers are usually not that great with software and the release cycles are much slower.
Yes, I agree that the RPI solution is more flexible, but that means adding devices and cables for such a simple/basic thing as a putting out sound stream data through USB.
The network player option really simplifies the whole thing (and sound should ven be better in theory) but I need to make sure Audirvana is compatible first. There is not such a list, is there? That’s really missing.
I like streamlined setups with minimum amount of „garbage“ too.
That said, we’re getting to a point where everything is a computer and there is software that runs it. Unfortunately manufacturers lose interest in supporting their older devices as the time goes by. They’re usually not great at writing software in the first place. It’s usually done by external consultants on project basis. After the project is finished consultants move on, good luck with getting support for that device.
Maybe it works now but might not work in the future. You might end up with perfectly functional device you can’t use any more.
Well this is very true. The choice depends on many factors, one being the need for a standalone DAC. I have actually 2 main streaming setups in my office, one with RPi and USB DAC and a second one with an all-in-one streamer/network bridge (Auralic Aries Mini with linear PSU). Total cost of both is about the same. SQ is now (after cleaning a reclocking the USB signal from the PRi) very comparable, differences are due to the various DAC Chips used (AKM in e30, Sabre in Aries). Depending on the music, I prefer one or the another. Unfortunately they have stopped to produce the Mini now, what a pity. The e30 is also used as DAC for the CD players (actually for 2 different once, one connected via optical, the other on coax). Mini can also be used as a network bridge for an USB connected DAC (which was btw. the original Auralic idea behind the Mini) and I may actually revert to using it for that purpose after I buy a higher class DAC which is planned in mid-term. Even in that case I will still keep the RPi and e30 for testing and experimenting.
I suspected it maybe due to the difference in up sampling between Audirvana vs Volumio. With Audirvana directly connected to DAC, it uses the SOX up sampling from Audrivana. When you connect to Pi4, you are using Volumio / Moode 's up sampling. Audirvana’s SOX up sampling is simply better.