RME ADI-2 DAC Thread

[Phoniac]

if you have no interest in dabbling in things like that, then you're just paying a large amount of money for imperceptible differences.

I happily pay the higher price for the Spectral Analyzer, the Status Overview, clear display of volume, balance, sample rate and so on, balanced outputs, fade-in and jack contacts functions, various protection circuits, clickless operation, super fast reaction on sample rate and format changes (no audio cut off at the start), the choice of native and RME drivers, recording of SPDIF input, extended standby button functionality (remembers last state at power loss) - and the remote. Even if it sounds the same it's worth it, IMHO.

 

[mcgo]

"No Ground Pin" exactly, that is the problem, my Naim amp expects all sources to be grounded so I am told.

Out of interest how is it lame to return an item that does not work in my setup?

From what you've posted -- you set up a ground loop, blamed the studio-quality equipment and then punted it out of the door! Imagine if you were a roadie setting up concert equipment and made a ground loop. Would you junk the equipment? Skip the concert at this venue? No, the roadie would debug and find out what they did wrong. A post on here might have given you some suggestions, because as it stands you'll probably experience it again with your configuration!

If I was to guess, which is all I can do, I would say it was the USB cable to your computer, which is likely plugged in elsewhere from your hi-fi gear (amp, etc?). A quick fix might have been to run an extension cord from the computer over to your audio equipment. Messy, but you'll need to plan your electrical distribution to prevent loops. This particular scenario is the most common one to cause hum.

I found the wikipedia page at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ground_loop_(electricity) helpful in the past, since it has a section on solutions to common ground loop mis-configurations.

 

[Dave S]

From what you've posted -- you set up a ground loop, blamed the studio-quality equipment and then punted it out of the door! Imagine if you were a roadie setting up concert equipment and made a ground loop. Would you junk the equipment? Skip the concert at this venue? No, the roadie would debug and find out what they did wrong. A post on here might have given you some suggestions, because as it stands you'll probably experience it again with your configuration!

If I was to guess, which is all I can do, I would say it was the USB cable to your computer, which is likely plugged in elsewhere from your hi-fi gear (amp, etc?). A quick fix might have been to run an extension cord from the computer over to your audio equipment. Messy, but you'll need to plan your electrical distribution to prevent loops. This particular scenario is the most common one to cause hum.

I found the wikipedia page at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ground_loop_(electricity) helpful in the past, since it has a section on solutions to common ground loop mis-configurations.

I never use USB just just Coax connection to the ADI from my transport.

Also I do have a solution to the problem, Chord had the same problems with there Hugo DAC and came up with this workaround that also works for the ADI...

From Chord:-

"Naim amplification has the mains safety ground and the signal ground separated. Naim grounds at source.

To ensure that there is no possibility of mains hum or buzz when the Hugo is connected to a mains charger, it is simply necessary to ground the Hugo as it will be a source component, and Naim expects it to be grounded.

The easiest way is to connect a wire from the earth pin of a standard 13A plugtop to the Naim Supernait terminal marked 'SIGNAL GROUND' on the back panel. This terminal is internally connected to the braid of the signal connections connecting Hugo to the Naim amplifier.

There are no high currents or voltages involved and a simple piece of thin flexible insulated wire will suffice.

The 13A plugtop with the single earth wire added is plugged into the wall adjacent to the Naim amplifier mains plug and completes the ground path and eliminates the hum."

At the end of the day the RME DAC was not for me and would have gone back anyway!

 

[Phoniac]

but as my main listing is with speakers I could not accept a product that caused issues upstream in my system...

So when will you replace the Naim, as you can't accept a product that is built to cause problems?

 

[Dave S]

So when will you replace the Naim, as you can't accept a product that is built to cause problems?

The Naim works fine with quality components!

 

[Tsukuyomi]

hey guys, quick question. if for some reason the ADI-2 DAC doesnt have enough power to drive a pair of headphones, how does one setup and connect an additional amp ? also, is it possible to use the ADI-2 DAC as an amp only and turn off the DAC feature for lets say allowing me to pair a different DAC to the ADI-2 DAC?

 

[tekkster]

hey guys, quick question. if for some reason the ADI-2 DAC doesnt have enough power to drive a pair of headphones, how does one setup and connect an additional amp ? also, is it possible to use the ADI-2 DAC as an amp only and turn off the DAC feature for lets say allowing me to pair a different DAC to the ADI-2 DAC?

I use the 3-pin XLR output ports on the back to connect to an iFi iCan Pro. Most any amp would have either L/R 3-pin XLR input or an L/R RCA input. You could go from Phones or IEM instead, but it's nice to keep those ports free, and really, why not used balanced output when you can.

 

[Slaphead]

hey guys, quick question. if for some reason the ADI-2 DAC doesnt have enough power to drive a pair of headphones, how does one setup and connect an additional amp ? also, is it possible to use the ADI-2 DAC as an amp only and turn off the DAC feature for lets say allowing me to pair a different DAC to the ADI-2 DAC?

The only headphones that I‘ve heard of that this unit can‘t power adequately are the ones you‘d need to be using a seriously hi-end amp with.

But yeah as @tekkster said just connect the XLR or RCA plugs to the amp of your choice - there‘s an option somewhere in that maze of a UI to set both of those outputs to constant/line output, meaning the volume control on the ADI won‘t have any effect.

No, it‘s not possible with the DAC version to use it simply as an amp. It’s purely a digital in and analog out device (although you can record S/PDIF to the USB). It may be possible with the ADI-2 Pro as this has analog inputs, but that‘s not the reason why those inputs are there on that device.

 

[Tsukuyomi]

The only headphones that I‘ve heard of that this unit can‘t power adequately are the ones you‘d need to be using a seriously hi-end amp with.

But yeah as @tekkster said just connect the XLR or RCA plugs to the amp of your choice - there‘s an option somewhere in that maze of a UI to set both of those outputs to constant/line output, meaning the volume control on the ADI won‘t have any effect.

No, it‘s not possible with the DAC version to use it simply as an amp. It’s purely a digital in and analog out device (although you can record S/PDIF to the USB). It may be possible with the ADI-2 Pro as this has analog inputs, but that‘s not the reason why those inputs are there on that device.

Yeah i imagine, thing is one day i might want to get electrostatic headphones, and im not sure if they would be able to get powered properly from the amp, i think they need a unique amp to power them. not just an adapter dongle to balanced xD

 

[Slaphead]

Yeah i imagine, thing is one day i might want to get electrostatic headphones, and im not sure if they would be able to get powered properly from the amp, i think they need a unique amp to power them. not just an adapter dongle to balanced xD

No way could you power them from anything other than an amp specifically for Electrostats, apart from some weird exceptions. A lot of Electrostats will actually come with the required amp as part of the package, but you'll still need to feed the amp with a signal, and the ADI-2 DAC will more than likely be up to the job IMO.

 

[Tsukuyomi]

No way could you power them from anything other than an amp specifically for Electrostats, apart from some weird exceptions. A lot of Electrostats will actually come with the required amp as part of the package, but you'll still need to feed the amp with a signal, and the ADI-2 DAC will more than likely be up to the job IMO.

Fantastic, makes me want it even more lol the ADI-2 DAC that is

 

[tekkster]

Ooooohhhhhh you wanna output to an elec amp. Nice. I’m currently exploring diff elec amps. Which one are you looking at?

 

[VRacer-111]

Yeah i imagine, thing is one day i might want to get electrostatic headphones, and im not sure if they would be able to get powered properly from the amp, i think they need a unique amp to power them. not just an adapter dongle to balanced xD

The RME ADI-2 will act as DAC and Preamp for an electrostatic setup, and does very well at it. My setup is a little different from a regular E-stat setup because I need to use the ADI-2 for volume control since decided to use my NAD C275BEE stereo amp with a Mjolnir SRD-7 transformer to drive my STAX rig. Works beautifully though... bass is simply spectacular along with fullness of sound because of the C275BEE and the ADI-2 bring clarity and detail along with most impressive black background - plus you have crossfeed and 7 channels of custom EQ you can use to get it how you want it.

Here's some pictures of my current STAX rig configuration:

 

[Tsukuyomi]

The RME ADI-2 will act as DAC and Preamp for an electrostatic setup, and does very well at it. My setup is a little different from a regular E-stat setup because I need to use the ADI-2 for volume control since decided to use my NAD C275BEE stereo amp with a Mjolnir SRD-7 transformer to drive my STAX rig. Works beautifully though... bass is simply spectacular along with fullness of sound because of the C275BEE and the ADI-2 bring clarity and detail along with most impressive black background - plus you have crossfeed and 7 channels of custom EQ you can use to get it how you want it.

Here's some pictures of my current STAX rig configuration:

Fantastic rig dude, super jelly!! im also thinking of using a laptop because my desktop pc tskes too much room, how you finding the lenovo? Also, did you have any issues with the ADI-2 DAC when it came to drivers or software updates?

 

[Dave S]

Good user review of ADI-2 DAC vs Qutest:-

https://hifiwigwam.com/forum/topic/131055-dac-off-part-2-qutest-vs-rme-adi-2-dac/