I'm just here to mention that I've witnessed the issue shown here with my own Hilo also. I have mine configured to accept an SPDIF Input from my Bricasti M5 streamer and at first it takes about 1min to Lock onto the incoming Bitrate and will eventually do so but as soon as the sample rate changes it must repeat the Lock process for the new Rate. On the other hand, if I only play the same Bitrate back to back to back, it plays fine.
I too can hear the ticking noise when it gets pissed if the SRC is turned off.
I havent had time or the motivation to revist the issue since I discovered it. Maybe someday i'll ask Lynx if it bugs me enough.
FWIW, I do notice a difference in subjective SQ between the Lynx Hilo and Benchmark DAC3. I have the ability to A/B them on the fly in such a way that I'm not aware of which one is selected. I can pick out the Lynx pretty much every time. The Lynx tends to jumble the center image details together instead of creating space between the performers. In other words, it sounds confused. The Benchmark doesn't have this problem, IMO.
The Lynx is still a great unit, I just think the DAC3 sounds better to these ears.