The irony is that Ted is very happy with the usb and there are a various good usb streamers like Innuos. Further irony, Innuos seem to have parts or production issues of their own, but apparently stocks are imminent. The PULSEmini at $1,250 seems an absolute steal given the Sense software, runs off a 9-24v DC power supply.
Good comments on usb here.
I used an Auralic Aries for 3 or 4 years via usb, Auralic is a usb-optimised brand and I loved their Lightning app.