"The whole "gray area" issue(which Hansen eventually admits is not really an issue in a well implemented system), the issue of running multiple processes on the computer, the potential of noise on the grounds, jitter (in all its forms), RFI etc. have been discussed over and over again. A lot of progress has been made on all these fronts with async USB, galvanic isolation, attempts to minimize CPU usage, much better jitter control, etc. Unfortunate, it seems that after several years of figuring out many issues and addressing them, we are now stuck more in a discussion phase than in an significant improvement stage."
There have been some breakthroughs. For instance, it is pretty much accepted that the reason that USB cables make a difference in Async interfaces is common-mode noise. This can be addressed with CM filter or galvanic isolation.
Unfortunately, there are still issues with different SQ from different playback software and different computer hardware when using USB. It makes no sense that improving the power supply for the computer would make a difference, but it does, even with Async USB and galvanic USB isolation. These will remain a mystery for a while I think.
One way to address this is to use networked audio streaming. The downside is that you are trapped into the implementation and playback software. It is also usually limited for sample-rates.
Steve N.
Empirical Audio