USB connection to DAC: multi stage improvement

@antigrunge2  you are 100% correct on roon…but only prior to the major update they did at the end of april.
Roon sound quality was inferior to Aurender Conductor when used with Aurender N200 and I am sure its the case with Innuos as well.
This sound quality issue with roon is what drove me to try jplay. I like jplay a lot and it beat roon hands down. I stopped using Roon and was streaming strictly with Jplay.
But after the roon update I like what I’m hearing and I no longer detect any issues with sound quality. 

I don’t prioritize convenience over performance. Just so that we’re on the same page. I do like high quality equipment and the simplicity of my setup though. 

@ted_b 

You’ve been clearly down the same rabbit hole! What I found particularly surprising is how different the performance of the various components was depending on their position in the chain. So experimenting around the position between UIp and Phoenix may reveal more, although the better component typically should be nearer the dac. Fun and games…

I suggest a course in anger management

Good for yourself. This might be the most ridiculous tweak I’ve seen so far.

Why not add another five into the chain to make it a perfect ten? Oh no, don’t tell me five is the optimal number — not four, six, or ten...

I suggest you keep worrying about impedance mismatches in digital

Doesn’t matter what anyone thinks or whether or not what you did is really necessary or could have been accomplished by other means. If it sounds good to you and makes you happy, awesome!