Am I deaf?

Ok but isn't the digital out on all the time whether it's connected or not?

Many/most players have a switch or menu item to turn it off if not in use. Left on, not in use adds a ton of spewed hash...

Maybe I'm not sure what I should be listening for? When I got the Ayre pre I could hear a difference right away. When I got the SMC power amp it was much harder to tell. When I got the Cardas cables I knew I couldn't give them back. 

Honshagen, as an Ayre C5xe owner and using Cardas throughout my system, I can tell you I love the Ayre sound and Cardas sound. I also have a BD105 and tried their DAC in comparison with my previous Rega DAC and the Cutest and preferred the outboard DAC both times.
I am using the Node2 for streaming and set the Cutest filter on 3 or light green (I do find Chords colorful light indicators annoying) and find it shares the timbre voicing of the Ayre sound, as I know it. I tried a number DAC’s in the price range of the Cutest and I went back to the Chord every time, having heard it first.
I encourage you to give it more time and let it settle in and as a final note, try the different output levels keeping in mind the tolerances of the pre-amp. I found 2mv to be the best in my system.

Good Listening

Thought- These Harbeth C7 speakers and wonderful but not that revealing. I notice you can't hear the reverb in rooms like I'm used to. Could it be difference is just not being resolved by the Harbeths?