Yes, the USB cable matters.
What is your dvd-type cable? It should be as short as possible.
DDC Cableing
I have a new Denafrips Gaia DDC expected to arrive in a few days. My understanding is that except for converting the original input type (USB to I2S), the only real change is to clean up the incoming signal.
I plan to use a high-quality cable coming out of the DDC into the DAC (I2s over a DVD-type cable). But what about the quality of the cable from the source into the DDC? Does that have an effect on the final signal at all given the transformation put on the signal by the DDC?
(Is this a Digital or Cables post, the admins can sort that out.)