No, it's not the "cable design" alone, that you have one wire more.

What you are still missing is that balanced cables need to have a special circuit on both sides which makes use of the additional wire which carries the same signal in reversed polarity for noise cancellation purposes:
http://www.aviom.com/blog/balanced-vs-unbalanced/

This makes balanced cables superior over non-balanced cables in the 1st place not the "cable design".
Additionally balanced connections are using higher signal levels which are typically found in studios which makes it also possible to use much longer cables lengths. The article mentions up to 30m, which is not possible with unbalanced cables without loss.

So it's not the cable quality which makes balanced connections superior, it's the logic behind how it works with the extra circuits on both sides, sending the same signal in reversed polarity over the additional wire, etc ..  which at the end eliminates any form of deltas (noise) to the original signal.

No, it does not. Balanced/unbalanced has nothing to do with cable quality whatsoever, and would also apply to coathangers. Please inform yourself (Wikipedia).

It is sad that you won't even for a moment acknowledge the fact that you may not be hearing, but (to put it  blunty) simply imagining these differences. If that is good enough for you, great, that's how snake oil sells... :-)

That is because an analog cable actually transmits audio. An SPDIF cable and, even more so, a USB cable does not. As simple as that. This is not an audio transmission, there is no way categorically that the twice embedded audio content could be in any way affected by the cable, at least not gradually. The transmission will be either correct or corrupt, no shades of grey here.

Unless you acknowledge these two main issues, the discussion is really rather pointless...

Regards
Daniel Fuchs
RME

@Robertm394 This is like car vs. motorcycle, i.e. two wheels vs. four wheels. There is a fundamental difference: A car will not topple while standing still, while a bike will. This behaviour does not depend on the implementation. Its the same for an Audi as it is for a Dacia on the car side and the same for a Ducati or a Honda on the bike side.

Yes, battery connects make a very audible difference in sound. Anyone claiming otherwise is a lazy couch potato internet keyboard warrior, the kind of person that will argue to the death about what something can and can't do, and never actually get off their ass and find out for themselves.
I have the RME ADI-2 DAC connected to a deep cycle battery with 20 gauge solid copper cables, all DIY.
And the difference in sound is unmistakable, even a retarded gerbil with one missing ear can hear it.

  +10!!!

Try recording simple PCM 24 bit 96 kHz and you won‘t hear any difference to the source.

DSD is a pain in the ...
What’s the point in recording noise frequencies way above audible, that later can cause trouble because they intermodulate with the audio band?

It‘s all about proper ground connections:

Of course your vinyl path needs to be free of ground related hum and noise for a good transfer.

Usually the turntable’s extra ground wire needs to be connected to the RIAA preamp‘s ground screw, the preamp needs to be connected to mains ground, e.g. via it‘s power cord.
The cable to ADI-2 Pro should be balanced if your preamp offers such connection, or as short as possible if you are using RCA.

An USB ground lifter may help or not, depending on the computer’s ground scheme - if the rest is correct it doesn‘t make a difference.
Same applies to the difference between SMPS or LPS - only if the grounding is wrong there‘s one, not always in favor for the Linear Power Supply.

In my studio I have loads of devices with all types of PSU‘s, spaced much more apart than typical Hifi (which makes signals more prone to interference), and there’s no problems with noise or hum pollution.

Show your objective measurements/data  supporting your subjective claims/opinions

I have read this thread two times now, very amusing! You guys should meet in real life to fight this out.

- Angry mob of black eyed chanting audiophiles meet up with whipping shiny USB cables. Some even cleaned attic for ø30mm phat Monster speaker cables. In a rush they leap forward to defend their way of life. Its going to be a bloodbath!

- Faithful RME forum lieutenants KaiS, Ramses and mr. Fuchs courageously soften them up with D-Sub to 16 channel XLR´s. Even beating some of them to a pulp. The angry mob outnumbering RME faithful are still pressing forward.

- Suddenly MC shows up. In a series of "bullet time" fast ninja moves he saves the day with an honest to price 5m spdif optical cable. As fast as he showed up, he is gone!

- Audiophiles crawl back to their mancaves to regroup for another attack on reality and cheap ugly cabling.

To continue. 50 seasons times 52 episodes.

Tbh. I find this quiet sad, that you didn't even realize that an USB connection has an influence on the analogue path. And you are not an audiophile? Get yourself a cheap $100 DAC, you don't need an excellent RME.

Thank you for your elaborate answer.

I'm in the process of building a studio setup, so I now have connected everything via XLR, but the phono-preamp only has RCA. If I plug it via RCA-to-XLR (simple) cable into an analogue EQ, which only has XLR ports, does this help with the grounding? Both the phono-preamp and the analogue EQ are grounded. I mean, I should have killed the grounding issue with the PC via USB isolator, but I want to understand. Last time I tested, turning the analogue EQ on resulted in amplifying the grounding noise - it has a true bypass.

The other noteworthy question is, why does the USB transport-frequency - 8 kHz - have the highest peak in the noise measurements? Because it's the most regular pattern happening in the PC, or because it also is electrically nearby to the next ground?

I'll check a few things and report back if I have more questions.