All above just goes to show how weak usb ports directly attached and powered by motherboards are. Even the Aurrender with it's partially optimized usb not good enough. Noise is the critical thing with streaming, until we see optimized usb vs. I2s with 005 we're relying on conjecture for which is best.
And then we have my setup which ignores any usb or I2S within server, which adds another conversion within relatively noisy server Ethernet out of server means everything external and discreet lps powered. This setup has far exceeded my best prior optimized server usb solutions. And this prior to optical optimization with OpticalRendu, OR brought futher substantial gains. With so many options nearly impossible to have direct comparisons.
A couple other things I've learned from John Swenson and others, is one wants signal in server the least amount of time with the least amount of processes running. This means fast processor, efficient motherboard, best power and optimized OS. Noise is the enemy of streaming resolution and more natural presentation. Minimize signal contamination is name of game, the above experiences prove the validity of running processes outside server where noise can be better controlled. For those running Roon, separating core from endpoint is commonly heard as superior, again we are minimizing server processes and running them outside in quieter environment.