Are all R2R dacs slow and soft?

A well-designed R-2R DAC can be both very fast and very natural sounding. The resistor-ladder switching is extremely fast, enabling spontaneous transient attack and excellent micro-dynamic expression. My Micro DAC is just as fast as any delta-sigma DAC I’ve heard, while sounding more natural overall.

In contrast, the digital filters used in many delta-sigma DACs can sharpen the leading edge of notes, which may give the impression of greater speed but can also sound more artificial. With R-2R DACs—especially when NOS mode is engaged—the leading edge is slightly softened, allowing for more natural decay. This presentation may be perceived as slower, but it is often closer to how real instruments behave.

Your Cinnamon cable is not "defective" - but, it is being used for a purpose for which it was not designed.

It seems to me that a fundamental weakness in I2S is that DACs seem to be affected by everything before them.  With a good isolated asynchronous USB you are insulated from anything before it - the words are buffered and are read out by the DAC's clock.

@audphile1 

Thanks for your answer. I’m pretty new to midfi streaming, so that’s why I asked that question. My router is in the basement & I ran an ethernet cable upstairs to my system. My other choice would to relocate my router upstairs & port my comp. & printer in the basement. Reason for my question. My wifi is so strong right now, but looking to get an Aurender N-200 to go into my Aero DAC that’s being built as we speak. So they have to be hard wired. (no wifi card)

Venus 15th owner here - not slow nor soft.

@danmar123 Aurender N200 is excellent. And it has a solid network improvement but…what the switch will give you is ability to implement a high quality Ethernet cable for your streamer. When I had the N200 I could hear differences between Ethernet cables. I used Purist Audio CAT7 Ethernet cable into N200. Then tried Audience Hidden Treasure and sold the Purist. 
I no longer have the N200 as I was able to eliminate it due to the high performance streaming card built into my DAC, but nonetheless try different cables on N200.