There are fundamental differences between using a streamers USB output to DAC versus SP/DIFF or AES output to DAC. Depending on the strength of your DAC one or the other can sound much better. The DAC must retime the USB bitstream, the others it does not.
I have found large and profound differences between sub- $3K streamers, $5K, $10K, and $20K+ streamers. It is somewhat like a turntable, in general, high quality streamers provide a much higher quality signal. This is then turned into an analog signal and amplified. It may be counterintuitive, but it makes a huge difference. On the other hand like all components it needs to be matched with appropriate quality equipment for high quality sound that is cost effective. Matching a $10K streamer with $500 DAC, preamp, and amp is unlikely to allow you to fully appreciate it’s full potential.
I have found large and profound differences between sub- $3K streamers, $5K, $10K, and $20K+ streamers. It is somewhat like a turntable, in general, high quality streamers provide a much higher quality signal. This is then turned into an analog signal and amplified. It may be counterintuitive, but it makes a huge difference. On the other hand like all components it needs to be matched with appropriate quality equipment for high quality sound that is cost effective. Matching a $10K streamer with $500 DAC, preamp, and amp is unlikely to allow you to fully appreciate it’s full potential.