Sounds the same as Serene, no change. Does increase dynamics a bit as the attenuation in digital domain is much less but wasn’t much of a noticeable issue without the -20dB in the chain.
My path is old retired work PC running Windows 10 hosting RoonServer, HQPeOS on much more powerful home built PC sending to UP Board gateway running NAA connected USB to May dac. Roon sends unaltered audio to HQPe that upsamples to DSD256 and applies HAF convolution.