AES/EBU cable is not quite the same as balanced audio cable. AES cable is built to different specifications. AES cable can carry analog audio as well as (if not better than) balanced audio cable.
Maybe you weren't there, but when the AES and the EBU teamed to define the AES3 standard, they defined it as usable on existing wiring, and based the standard on the fact that most of audio cables had a characteristic impedance of about 110 ohms.
For the same reason, Philips and Sony chose 75 ohms for S/PDIF, because most of the RCA cables have a characteristic impedance of about 75 ohms.
It's only later that cable manufacturers produced specific AES/EBU cable; which ensured that the characteristic impedance was more strictly controlled than for audio cable, where it's a non-specified parameter.
On the two web pages below, note the cable capacitance (in picofarads per meter) and that the capacitance of the analog cable is about 4 times as much as the capacitance of the digital cable. The higher capacitance of the analog cable degrades the HF response of the digital signal to the point where it is unusable in a much shorter distance. Also note that the twist on the digital cable is almost twice as tight as on the analog cable.
Analog cable (StarQuad)
Digital cable (AES/EBU)
You're comparing AES/EBU cable with Starquad, which is notorious for its high capacitance. Apples and oranges.
Indeed the twist on Starquad is higher because there are 4 wires instead of 2.
Also what MrCMRR said about reflections and standing waves in post #23 is very significant.
Reflections and standing waves are the result of inadequate matching of impedances. It is clear that using high capacitance audio cable results in a characteristic impedance that is lower than the recommended 110 ohms.
Please note that I'm not advocating using audio cable neither for AES/EBU nor data,; I'm just saying that the proof is in the pudding.
There are enough examples of using "wrong" cable that work satisfactorily. In the particular case of the OP, I just suggested that experimenting was the only way to know if it could work or not.
A system with "wrong" wiring will not work as well as one with the proper wiring, it will eventually cease to work, but knowing the limit without experimenting is very uncertain.
If the audio cable is of close enough impedance, the difference in performance will be related to the loss factor. The capacity of the receiving equipment to recover/process the signal is fundamental in the resulting performance. They're all supposed to be equal, but some more than others...