[bcaulf17]

I have the ADI-2 and the THX 789....it's an great combo. But, I would be perfectly satisfied using the RME alone. In my humble opinion, I'd say the 789 makes the background quieter and the sound warmer. I'd describe it as the RME alone is for more critical listening, where every single noise is heard (sometimes that's good, sometimes bad), while going through the THX you can just sit back and enjoy the listen. For example, listening to 'Jesus Doesn't Want Me For a Sunbeam' from Nirvana's Unplugged album, at the end of the song the crowd claps. With the RME every single clap is super crisp and separated, but almost too much so that's it's a little abrasive to the ear. With the THX the detail is still there but the abrasiveness is gone. Maybe some of that could be EQ'd away when going back and forth, but that's simply unplugging from one and going straight into the other. Weird for me to have that opinion since my quest was always for the most detailed sound, and to say that too much detail is detrimental to the sound is not something I expected. It's nice to have the option t listen either way, and maybe the effect is minimized using various headphones (I'm using Fostex TH900 mk2's).

I'd say the RME setup can be as exhausting as you make it. I honestly haven't even tried any of the fine tuning EQ options....I EQ through the source (JRiver on a desktop PC). Although I have played a bit with the bass and treble knob adj's and they work well. The biggest thing I noticed as far as simple "on/off" impacts with the RME were items in the I/O menu, which aren't nearly as intimidating. In fact, the biggest difference I found was the "Loudness" function, which is a button on the remote. Turning it on really brought out the sound detail mentioned above....but again, almost too much at times.

My comparisons are very limited as I only have a Mojo. But I like the capabilities and the sound options with the RME (for example the loudness mentioned above) that are absent in DAC's you simply plug into. But I'll certainly admit that can be exhausting as well, as you're always wondering "will it sound better if I adjust this". But I'd still rather have the option.

This is very helpful, thanks!

 

[Slaphead]

Hi
I have been looking at the Rme Dac or possibly the Qutest. I like to plug and play and a bit daunted about understanding the RMEs functions.
is it easy enough to set up?
Also I have a Cayin tube amp could this be connected too?
Thanks

Both are equally plug and play - you take them out of the box, plug them in and start playing music. The only difference is that the RME unit offers far more flexibility to tailor the sound to your own requirements, but only if you chose to take advantage of those functions. For me personally I find the RME to be absolutely wonderful in it's default configuration, so that's how I've left it. However, I'm happy knowing that should I need them, then the options are there for me to use.

 

[CaptainFantastic]

In my humble opinion, I'd say the 789 makes the background quieter and the sound warmer.

I have honestly never heard the 789 described as warm before. In fact, most descriptions of it say overly-analytical, cold, sterile. I heard it, but never owned it.

 

[Hinomotocho]

I haven't purchased mine yet but I've done quite a bit of studying. I had the same concern that with all of the adjustments I might get so deep into all of that and make it worse than it was before I started. The RME website has a video that shows the features of the newest models. It shows a simple way to reset everything back to factory defaults. That's a great feature and would make me willing to try a lot more things. As far as hooking it up to your amp, I think you can hook up any amp that has RCA or balanced inputs. If the amp has a volume control, you should be able to set the outputs of the RME to fixed level. To be sure I would give them a call in Florida, they're great about explaining things

I recently got mine and have to a certain degree familiarised myself with the menu but the actual settings of the EQ etc still goes a bit over my head, the other tweaks are fairly easy to reverse even if they are not fully understood - the reset is a good back up. I don't have much confidence to make EQ adjustments but I have asked others with the same headphones for recommended settings which has given me a couple of EQ profiles which so far have worked well. If you understand EQ it may give you an advantage once you learn how to enter the settings.

 

[Slaphead]

I recently got mine and have to a certain degree familiarised myself with the menu but the actual settings of the EQ etc still goes a bit over my head, the other tweaks are fairly easy to reverse even if they are not fully understood - the reset is a good back up. I don't have much confidence to make EQ adjustments but I have asked others with the same headphones for recommended settings which has given me a couple of EQ profiles which so far have worked well. If you understand EQ it may give you an advantage once you learn how to enter the settings.

You know how bass and treble controls work, right? OK, EQ is just an extension of that. I'd write a long post about this, but the link below explains it better than I can, and therefore I can get back to drinking beer. Oh and while the link is aimed at musicians/producers, the principles apply to everyday listening as well.

https://blog.landr.com/eq-basics-everything-musicians-need-know-eq/

 

[Moose246]

I have honestly never heard the 789 described as warm before. In fact, most descriptions of it say overly-analytical, cold, sterile. I heard it, but never owned it.

Interesting. Admittedly, I have no other amp to compare it to and I’m new to the game so it’s the only one I’ve heard. Maybe warm isn’t the right word, and the sound signature itself is the same as the ADI, but there’s noticeably edge taken off when going back and forth.

 

[bcaulf17]

Interesting. Admittedly, I have no other amp to compare it to and I’m new to the game so it’s the only one I’ve heard. Maybe warm isn’t the right word, and the sound signature itself is the same as the ADI, but there’s noticeably edge taken off when going back and forth.

Yes, perhaps cleaner and smoother/more liquid transients. The 789 sounds flat, which I like, it puts out what you put in, no color, wire with gain. I wouldn’t describe it as warm but I also wouldn’t describe it as cold. Analytical maybe.

 

[Hinomotocho]

You know how bass and treble controls work, right? OK, EQ is just an extension of that. I'd write a long post about this, but the link below explains it better than I can, and therefore I can get back to drinking beer. Oh and while the link is aimed at musicians/producers, the principles apply to everyday listening as well.

https://blog.landr.com/eq-basics-everything-musicians-need-know-eq/

Thanks very much for that.

 

[betula]

I have the ADI-2 and the THX 789....it's a great combo. But, I would be perfectly satisfied using the RME alone. In my humble opinion, I'd say the 789 makes the background quieter and the sound warmer. I'd describe it as the RME alone is for more critical listening, where every single noise is heard (sometimes that's good, sometimes bad), while going through the THX you can just sit back and enjoy the listen. For example, listening to 'Jesus Doesn't Want Me For a Sunbeam' from Nirvana's Unplugged album, at the end of the song the crowd claps. With the RME every single clap is super crisp and separated, but almost too much so that's it's a little abrasive to the ear. With the THX the detail is still there but the abrasiveness is gone. Maybe some of that could be EQ'd away when going back and forth, but that's simply unplugging from one and going straight into the other. Weird for me to have that opinion since my quest was always for the most detailed sound, and to say that too much detail is detrimental to the sound is not something I expected. It's nice to have the option t listen either way, and maybe the effect is minimized using various headphones (I'm using Fostex TH900 mk2's).

I'd say the RME setup can be as exhausting as you make it. I honestly haven't even tried any of the fine tuning EQ options....I EQ through the source (JRiver on a desktop PC). Although I have played a bit with the bass and treble knob adj's and they work well. The biggest thing I noticed as far as simple "on/off" impacts with the RME were items in the I/O menu, which aren't nearly as intimidating. In fact, the biggest difference I found was the "Loudness" function, which is a button on the remote. Turning it on really brought out the sound detail mentioned above....but again, almost too much at times.

My comparisons are very limited as I only have a Mojo. But I like the capabilities and the sound options with the RME (for example the loudness mentioned above) that are absent in DAC's you simply plug into. But I'll certainly admit that can be exhausting as well, as you're always wondering "will it sound better if I adjust this". But I'd still rather have the option.

I think this depends on the headphones as well. I actually did not like adding the THX789 to the RME. You are right, it sounds warmer but at the same time details get lost. It is not a huge difference, but to me it was enough for not keeping the THX amp. Unless you need more power or want a different taste/sound I find adding an amp (at least the THX789) unnecessary.
There are quite a few options for fine tuning the sound on the RME, filters for example (NOS, Slow) can probably take away that edge in the sound you mentioned.

 

[Verificateur]

A new RME ADI-2 DAC FS owner here. Thank you everyone for sharing your impressions and tips, it’s been great reading this thread.

I do have a question of my own - would it make sense to use the 3.5mm output for not-hard-to-drive headphones such as the Denon AH-D9200?

Or will I benefit more if I plug in the Denon into the 6.3mm jack?

Perhaps anyone who owns the Denon could share their impressions of output from 3.5mm vs 6.3mm?

 

[captblaze]

A new RME ADI-2 DAC FS owner here. Thank you everyone for sharing your impressions and tips, it’s been great reading this thread.

I do have a question of my own - would it make sense to use the 3.5mm output for not-hard-to-drive headphones such as the Denon AH-D9200?

Or will I benefit more if I plug in the Denon into the 6.3mm jack?

Perhaps anyone who owns the Denon could share their impressions of output from 3.5mm vs 6.3mm?

the IEM output can't engage hi power, so if your cans are power hungry 6.3mm

 

[Verificateur]

the IEM output can't engage hi power, so if your cans are power hungry 6.3mm

Right, so that’s actually my question ... my cans aren’t power hungry (Denon 9200) to my understanding. Which mode is best to use?

In other words, what tempts me by the 3.5mm output is the lower noise and no need to use an adapter. However, I don’t want to use it if the 6.3mm would result in better sound.

Would appreciate anyone’s input who has the Denon series with the RME.

 

[Hinomotocho]

Right, so that’s actually my question ... my cans aren’t power hungry (Denon 9200) to my understanding. Which mode is best to use?

In other words, what tempts me by the 3.5mm output is the lower noise and no need to use an adapter. However, I don’t want to use it if the 6.3mm would result in better sound.

Would appreciate anyone’s input who has the Denon series with the RME.

Even 'easy to drive' headphones can really benefit from more power, I don't understand the technical reason but I highly recommend using the 6.3mm. The iem output is for smaller lower ohm iems, low ohm headphones need higher power output to physically move the large coils/drivers - or something along those lines.

 

[milkdudd]

I think the best thing is you can try both without having to spend any extra money. A win-win. My headphone amp has three different gain settings that are there for me at the touch of a button. No matter what headphones I use I experiment with all three settings. Sometimes even the iems sound better on medium when you would think they would be better with the low gain. Plus experimenting is part of the fun

 

[Verificateur]

Thank you for your responses. Does it mean that it’s almost always beneficial (or, in other words - a safe choice?) to use the 6.3mm output and use the High gain option, even with headphones that may not “need” to have that output power?
I guess I am just looking to see what output setting to settle on with easy-to-drive headphones such as D9200/D7200 etc.