This is great information and I appreciate the thoughtful responses. I have experimented with my system connections, but never tried USB, thinking it would be inherently noisy. Noted definite improvement of SPDIF over Toslink. I use Transparent Reference or Ref XL cabling exclusively. I am getting Aesthetix Romulus DAC upgraded from Signature to Eclipse at this moment so I want to extract everything it can offer when I get it back.
Intrigued by the idea of DDC between streamer & DAC. Will be the subject of more research. The obvious consensus is USB, and my takeaway is to get one that is well made and shielded. The notion that SPDIF has timing encoded with data was new to me vs USB only data. Never really thought of it in those terms.
This is how the forum is supposed to work. Thank you all
Intrigued by the idea of DDC between streamer & DAC. Will be the subject of more research. The obvious consensus is USB, and my takeaway is to get one that is well made and shielded. The notion that SPDIF has timing encoded with data was new to me vs USB only data. Never really thought of it in those terms.
This is how the forum is supposed to work. Thank you all