I like DPP4 because of the way it renders color....to my eye it looks more true and requires less adjustment.

Also the luminance and chrominance noise reduction feature uses algorithms specially designed for Canon cameras. Using just a small amount of these at the initial step is often all that is needed. If I find more noise reduction is required in post it is usually minimal and is much easier to deal with having used a small amount of noise reduction in the initial conversion.

I always shoot RAW just due to the fact that the image will respond better to the wide array of processing techniques available and it can be saved to be reprocessed later if new/better software becomes available.

To my own detriment, I have yet to really delve into LightRoom. I know I should but just have not made the effort yet.