Is anyone familiar with the Ayre Dac??

Audio, I think you should try the REFLink with an AES Silversmith cable to the DAC3.5VB MKII.

I suspect that might beat the ST connection.

Computer Audio doesn't stay static.

I would say that in 2010/2011, it was still better to spin a disc. These days, I am not so sure. Especially when you have something like Audirvana Plus in Direct/INT mode.