roon basic setup recommendation.

[struts]

Guys your really great (:
Too many thing/comments to procces .
Im not new to cli and linux so ROCK is doable .
So basically as i read from the thread is that the only way to stream the highest quality available for now(until RAAT) support is via ROCK or similar with toslink.

Yes-ish.  The key distinction here is between Roon Core and Roon Bridge.  

• Roon Core (server) is a fairly demanding app that requires a NUC or equivalent single board computer like sonicTransporter or Roon Nucleus, i.e. a PC-equivalent hardware spec.  ROCK is a software package you can install on a compatible NUC to make a dedicated Roon Core.
  
• Roon Bridge (client) is a very slim app can be run on very low-power/small/cheap hardware like a Cubox, Raspberry Pi or equivalent single board computer.  Ropiee is a software package you can install on a compatible RPi etc. to make a dedicated Roon Bridge.
  

You can connect a Core directly to your DAC (i.e. the Phantoms) without the need for a Bridge.  However while you can connect a Bridge directly to your DAC it requires a Core somewhere else on the network.

EDIT: However you can *physically* connect your Core (or Bridge) to your Phantoms *only if the Core/Bridge hardware has an optical out*. Unfortunately the Phantoms lack both USB and Coax inputs which are the two most popular digital outputs on Roon devices. Core and Bridge can both connect to your Phantoms via wifi/ethernet, but as previously explained, the only common denominator with Roon is then Airplay, which is 16/44.1-only.