I have an RME ADI-2 DAC and am pleased with it.
Quite a few people seem to prefer the RME to the Chord Qutest and Hugo2 for sound quality. Has anyone compared the RME with a Chord Hugo TT2? I know the Hugo TT2 is a lot more expensive, but I was wondering about upgrading the RME at some point when I can afford to.
Well since I had Mojo, Hugo2, DAVE, Qutest and TT2 for like 1 week and returned it I'd like to share my reasons why I don't own any Chord gear now and never will again.
First off, I'm a headphone guy and always will be. Started with my HD650 and Oppo HA2-SE years ago, my first hi-fi gear comparing with my old Sony headphones plugged directly into the PC. I was amazed on how better the sound was, so then I started to think, well how much better can it get? While searching for a upgrade, here on this forum a member posted some samples with different dac/amps, and there I first heard the Mojo, and for me it sounded so much better then the other samples.
So I wrote pages with how and why I sold my gear, when I bought each one and why etc. But I feel its not relevant, so I will try to be short.
If you want a real desktop solution for headphones the cheapest one is the TT2. And with that you will have to spend some more on the M-Scaler. And the DAVE is much much better then the TT2, the reason why I returned it. So the spending cycle never ends. I don't like companies that take away features from their customers. Qutest was a huge missed opportunity, a DAC/AMP for desktop without batteries entry level. If that existed today I would have never owned the RME ADI-2. But I'm happy it doesn't because I learned that Chord isn't the only company that knows how to do incredible sounding products. There are others out there like RME. That instead of taking features away and forcing customers to buy those features they want at a premium, they offer so many of them that you could spend weeks and never quite figure them out. At no extra cost.
How is the sound then? Well this is personal preference and it depends on what we want in music. Chord has an incredible ability to pull you into the music. Like you feel that you are there with the artist. And at first I liked that very much, but with time it became exhausting. When I listen to music I like to do other things, study, work etc, but with Chord that is very hard to do, you can only focus on the music and not much else.
Also with Chord you have to chose what you listen to, as some tracks are so harsh sounding in the treble area that are actually painful for you ears. I remember a song, Murder On The Dancefloor by Sophie Ellis- Baxtor, when they start clapping their hands with Chord it became painful to listen to, but with RME it sounds like hand clapping and nothing more, no harshness at all. Some say the tracks are at fault here, but since when I own the ADI2 never found a track that was harsh.
If thats true then Chord has to have more details that the RME is missing, well not true, not that I could figure out. I'd say the biggest difference is the presentation here. Chord is forceful and attention grabbing while the RME is just there and you forget about it and enjoy the music. I can't really say anything about how RME sounds as nothing stands out, its not harsh, its not muddy, it has all the details you need. And most important its musical, makes you tap your feet.
This is my personal take on Chord and RME, and I have nothing with people that enjoy Chord products, I know I did for years, but now I really like the RME ADI-2 and don't feel the need to upgrade my DAC for some time, maybe if RME releases a new product with a more powerful amp for my HD820 and 650 wink wink.
Are going to search for that cable 
I got a demo unit of the RME a couple of days ago and I’m using it in simple desk setup with a MacBook and a Hifiman Ananda, straight out of the IEM output. 
