USB, SPDIF and analog cables do make a Huge difference. Materials, gauges of wire , impedance as well as capacitance are real issues. Connectors that oxidize making bad connections over time can slowly diminish sound quality. I don’t need my Masters degree in EE to understand this, for I have heard the differences as many others have too. The argument is parochial and not worthy of an audiophile.
Can you hear a difference, yes. In digital circuitry the effect is called Jitter, a distortion in square wave signaled that can add digital noise. Effects are like a bad CD, as an extreme, to loss in audio detail, on the lesser end. Someone might go to extremes in there choices of cables, in either direction.
If you are using a $98 DVD player that has a $1, 100ppm clock, it will not make a difference what cable you use, garbage in, garbage out. Most current DAC chips have error correction functions, but those have a higher tolerance on the operating clocks, and not the transport interconnects, like SPDIF, I2S and so on.
I use an Ultraviolet USB cable between my CuBox-i4pro to a CM6631a (unit I built). That connects to my customized DAC via a 75 ohm coax that I made from a silver based high frequency cable I had in my shop, overkill but readily available. The SQ is much better then I expected from my volumio appliance.