Yes, IMHO AES/EBU will provide the best quality up to 24/192 kHz and single rate DSD, for higher sampling rates you'll need USB or I2s.
I've never compared it to I2s but it's been better than USB in every comparison I've done.
SPDIF vs. AES/EBU Sound Quality?
All else being equal (same cable, etc.), will the AES/EBU connection provide better sound quality than SPDIF? I just realized by Lumin U1 mini has AES/EBU output and one of my DACs (my favorite) has AES/EBU input.
A forum search and even a google search pulled up nothing definitive and I figured I'd ask before buying an $$$ AES/EBU cable
Here is some information on the topic. I have liked the sound of AES/EBU over SPDIF when inputting to previous DACs I have owned but different DACs use different input boards, some better than others. My current Mojo Audio DAC is optimized for best performance from the USB inputs and my former Metrum DACs were optimized for I2S, so I used the optimized connections with each of those DACs. One reason AES/EBU may sound better with some DACs is discussed as point #2 (below) in the linked article. I wonder if this may make the quality of the AES/EBU cable less critical than with SPDIF cables?
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