Snakeoil Installer- 1.2.6 (Gear Isolation U6)

[Snoopy8]

Adding a DDC (esp a quality one), SO in PC is really a game changer.  The effect is 1+1 >> 1.  DDC is a very powerful and critical tools in CAS. 

In my case, without the DDC, SO in PC is less than half of the performance with DDC.
S = Stock streamer
D = DDC
PC = PC

PC + D >>> S + D > S > PC

A DDC coverts a digital signal, usually USB to something else e.g. i2S. DDC may have better clocks than their source and clocks at music frequency e.g. 44.1 kHz. 48 kHz.  A USB reclocker improves the (hardware) clocking (24 MHz) of USB itself, but not the clocking of the music itself.
 
So, 2 different approaches to improving SQ but they are not inter changeable, driven by what inputs the DAC has.  i2S is generally considered the best interface and if a DAC has i2S, then a DDC is a logical buy because most streamers do not have i2S. A DDC may be better if it has a better clock and power supply than a streamer for AES/EBU, optical, coax digital?  Also, some people prefer AES/EBU to USB (less digital edge), hence will use a DDC.

But a USB Reclocker like the Innuos Phoenix is used in a pure USB setup.  It improves the SQ of a USB link.

I have read that a Phoenix USB Reclocker is better than a Denafrips Gaia DDC.  But that of course assumes you are comparing apples to apples with equivalent quality cables and equivalent quality inputs on DACs (vendors sometimes favour one!).  At the end of the day, it does depend on individual  setups and what a user wants in the sound...