I'm glad you found a good one and I appreciate your walking us through the process of getting it up and running. $200 is a good price.
I've tried two different DACs. One was budget-friendly and was such a disappointment that I saved a bit and bought a high-end model. Neither one was impressive to me. Maybe I gave up too early. I certainly didn't tweak a bunch of settings like you did, but I also don't remember having a problem getting things set up, so tweaking might not have helped. I sold them on Craigslist shortly afterwards. Of course, that was several years ago and gadgets are always changing so maybe things are better now. If I ever decide to throw money at one again I'll get the same model you have.