DDC Connection Roulette - Denafrips Venus II 12th

Here’s what I’d do — buy this Hermes from TMR and hook the SMSL to it via AES/SPDIF and A6 via USB and then run i2S from Hermes into the Venus.  I strongly suspect the superior clock, lower noise, etc. of the Hermes will provide significant improvements to both, but if it doesn’t for the SMSL you may still derive big improvements leaving that connected to the Venus via i2S and run AES from the Hermes to the Venus for the A6.  Or you can just return it to TMR for a minor restocking fee but at least you’ll know, and really the only way to know with this is to try it in your system.  But again my strong bet is you’ll get significant benefits with both.  Just my $0.02 FWIW, and best of luck.

https://tmraudio.com/products/denafrips-hermes-ddc-d-d-converter-9

presuming your smsl disc player is well built as a hifi component, my guess would be a ddc would not make a meaningful difference, its inherent jitter and noise levels should be pretty low and not negatively affect the sound played through the venus

but as always you should

a - try the various connection options (even without a ddc) afforded by the venus

b - buy a ddc and try it on a returnable basis to see if it makes a difference 

... and use your ears as the guide

all this of course, depends on your listening sensitivity and the transparency of your system

@soix  I find it odd that TMR shows the Hermes retail as $1749 when it's actually $1299.

With the I2S connection, the source is the Master clock.  So, for that connection, I would use the source that you consider has the best clock - probably your Eversolo.  For the CD player, you can use optical, coax, or USB - whatever sounds better.