Yes i agree but you know...there is an eternal debate about measurements and subjectivism and the great question is one ...the logic that prices are applied. For example Mofi's scandal...many vinyl audiophiles argued to death that "all analogue" chain sounded better from their mofi's records...and now it is proven that they had digital steps during the procedure...This shows that people are willing to pay for what they thing or believe, and not for the objective truth. That is why i lean towards the measurements .... the audiophile industry needs to get a little serious and not mislead the customers.
I feel both measurements and listening is important. The issue with measurements is that most rely on basic measurements of which several was made to make transistor amplifiers, early digital etc. look far better than what they replaced (tubes and vinyl) but only show a little of the total picture. Some audio companies are very measurement oriented and most likely have lots of measurements that are not public knowledge which reveal interesting traits about the equipment.
My favorite measurement for amplifiers is a square pulse (which Stereophile does at 10khz) as it says quite a bit about the speed and precision of the amplifier. I have yet to see a perfect square pulse and most are far from it, though a few have come close.
You'll never see a perfect square pulse - it's physically impossible. In fact square waves do not exist, at best they could be described as extreme trapezoid waves in terms of what can actually be reproduced (even then they can't actually be reproduced accurately), and how "tight" or "narrow" those trapezoid waves are is highly dependent on the slew rate of the device that's producing them.
I've been lurking on this thread for awhile, and I'm wondering whether any RME ADI owners have (gasp) tried modding the digital to analogue output (to clean up anything in the signal path) or the power supply (i.e. instead of a wall wort, a Kevin Gilmore Golden Reference external PSU). Yes I am aware that mods void the warranty. I love my RME but I'm looking into sprucing it up.
I've been lurking on this thread for awhile, and I'm wondering whether any RME ADI owners have (gasp) tried modding the digital to analogue output (to clean up anything in the signal path) or the power supply (i.e. instead of a wall wort, a Kevin Gilmore Golden Reference external PSU). Yes I am aware that mods void the warranty. I love my RME but I'm looking into sprucing it up.
Changing the power supply is common and easy as there is no permanent modification to the DAC. But modding a surface mounted board... That should be very hard. Plus it already has excellent measurements, not sure what else is there to gain.
I've been lurking on this thread for awhile, and I'm wondering whether any RME ADI owners have (gasp) tried modding the digital to analogue output (to clean up anything in the signal path) or the power supply (i.e. instead of a wall wort, a Kevin Gilmore Golden Reference external PSU). Yes I am aware that mods void the warranty. I love my RME but I'm looking into sprucing it up.
This question has been asked countless of times and answered in these threads, the general opinion is that the RME does an amazing job handling the dirty DC coming from the stock switching PS. Some here have tried batteries and pricey linear PS with no discernible improvement.
Having said that, I just finished this evening a long listening session on a system (B&W 801 D4's, Bryston 28B3 mono's in a purpose built acoustic listening room) with a new RME ADI-2 DAC (semi-broken in with approx 150hrs) going straight into the mono's via XLR. I put together a linear power supply adjusted to 12.3V DC using an Acopian (USA made) ps with a very conservative 2A rated output (more like 3A). While listening sessions can very much be anecdotal, we were able to hear a discernible improvement with this linear PS, no eq settings were changed, it was in default settings, same source, only PS was changed and same DB measured before and after. We definitely heard more bass, it was more pronounced, tighter and better separation of instruments. You wouldn't normally use this RME DAC for the above pricey rig and setup but the client wanted to test out the RME in his main room and it did sound scary nice and this room is tuned well. The new RME is very nice, especially for the price. We swapped out the PS's three different times, gave it time, had three people listen and results were the same. The bass was definitely better to the point I needed to fix a ceiling light; I could hear the trim make noise/vibrate with the more pronounced bass; the set up sounded awesome and still probably needs more break in.
Again, listening sessions can be anecdotal and very subjective, mileage will vary with your system and there's countless of previous posts saying otherwise, so take my above info with a grain of salt.
Changing the power supply is common and easy as there is no permanent modification to the DAC. But modding a surface mounted board... That should be very hard. Plus it already has excellent measurements, not sure what else is there to gain.
Thanks for this reply as well as Mr Magee's... I'm no technician, but as I understand it the mod I'm getting (on top of the GRpsu) is a discrete I/V converter via a current conveyor, complete with its own separate GR-PSU. If what I just wrote is gobbledy gook, then I blame myself and (as always!) Wikipedia.
I'm aware of RME's reputation as already being so well designed that mods to the internals are pointless. And, to be clear, I LOVE my RME already--it's my favourite part of my setup, and that includes the headphones themselves. But measurements don't tell the whole story, and my builder is someone who I consider both skilled and trustworthy. The time required for the mod isn't a huge concern--I'm now interested in whether and to what extent it works. So, I'd love to chat with anybody who has also had a go at clearing up the signal path.
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