XLR crept out of the studio environment because it was a great way to send ANALOGUE signals over long distances - phono is good for upto about 10 metres whereas XLR was good for 100m+
The HIFI illuminati seized on this and thought it'd be a great way to make more snakeoil for the hifi world
How the grundlefunk it ended up being used in the HIFI world for DIGITAL is beyond me but its another one of those studio things that creeps into the domestic hifi scene
The best way of sending digital information for domestic CD transports was with a separate timing signal, then it was all re-clocked at the DAC and super accurate but also expensive
and BNC!
There were two or 3 companies that did this - note the 'sync' connector and 'ti link'
Have these diminutive beasties incoming to replace the ML’s after many years of service, had to downsize as they just don’t fit in with the new furniture, but these are REALLY downsized!