Cables to settle brightness

That old misconception " silver is bright " might not apply since op haven't mentioned having any kind of silver/ silver over copper cable in his/her system. 

I do share the opinion that using cable as equaliser is a bad idea, changing equipment to find synergy might be more inconvenient but mostly more rewarding in the long run! 

Many recordings have a hot top end. What you are hearing is likely an accurate rendering of the recording. Rock music is particularly bad in this regard! Turn that Marshall stack up to 11!

Many recordings have a hot top end. What you are hearing is likely an accurate rendering of the recording.

This may be true, and I agree that taking the recordings into account is very important when assessing a problem. I moved into a new home recently, and am in the process of taming some bloat from the bass produced by my rear ported speakers. During the process, I have noticed that in well recorded music, the bloat is very subtle at most. But in others, typically more popular soul and funk, etc., the bass was clearly boosted, and the problem is therefore much more pronounced.

WOW!  Great thread.  I am in the OP's boat too, but it's not my DAC, which is a Denafrips Pontus II.  I actually think it's elsewhere in the digital chain.  Also have no issues with vinyl playback.  I upgraded to a Small Green Computer Sonic Orbiter i5 about a year ago.  Most cables in the digital chain are from Morrow Audio.  I have a Sonore UltraDigital and UltraRendu, using the I2S over HDMI to connect to DAC.  On some material it sounds really good, but my previous digital chain made everything sound liquid and musical, and I miss it.  I will look into some of the suggestions made in this thread.  Thanks!

I haven't read the other comments, but if you have a problem with brightness, I wouldn't look to cables for the fix.  Firstly, look at room treatments:  sound absorbers, etc.  Secondly, find out which component of yours is causing the brightness, and consider upgrading, or changing that component.  If you don't have the capacity to do the aforementioned, then you could try various cables from various sources, such as the cable company, which will allow you to test various cables in your system for a small rental fee.