cardeli22
500+ Head-Fier
- Joined
- Nov 7, 2014
- Posts
- 545
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- 176
I guess they saved the balanced out for the Pro version. Thanks for the quick impressions. I definitely have my eye on this. Looks a lot like the ADI- 2 Pro Anniversary edition minus the see through top, some extra features and the almost double the price tag.Stream of Consciousness Day 1
- DA Filter options including FR curves and impulse responses to show you what they do (in the manual). I mightprefer "Slow," even over NOS.
- Crossfeed works on line out, not just headphone outputs
- You can diagnose your USB! Super useful for peace of mind. USB diagnosis field right in the MADIface driver control panel. Bit Test will tell you if anything went wrong when you playback their super quick test files.
- The best manual I've ever seen for any hi-fi product. OMG I love reading it. They also give you a nice glossy-paper ringed manual with it. Something fun to thumb through while listening.
- Exceptionally clean, even from USB.
- Built-in 5 band parametric equalizer that shows you exactly what it's doing. Has 20 slots to save and the ability to instantly recall previous settings (back and forth) to listen for changes.
- Nice remote with programmable buttons.
- Independent settings for line out, HP out, and IEM out for volume, crossfeed, etc. It automatically mutes the line out (you can change that) and recalls the volume of the appropriate output. Also quickly ramps volume up, but takes long enough that you can change the volume or take off your headphones if you're about to deafen yourself
- 9 Setups that you can save (and factory default) and recall. You can set and save every setting on the thing apart from EQ, then program these to the 4 programmable remote buttons to very easily swap between settings. Do I prefer the Slow filter with a bit of Crossfeed or SD Sharp with no Crossfeed? One button, boom.
- Display settings can be changed to have a dark background instead of the default light. You can swap the default state screen between State Overview (cool stats), a really nice FR spectrum display, or a simple display that shows volume and basic output info. You can also turn on auto-dark to turn off the display 10 seconds after you adjust something on the unit (3 seconds if you change something via the remote).
- I'm liking this more than any DS DAC I can remember. Could be because it's paired with better gear otherwise.
- As a transportable unit, this thing is unbelievably good. You can run it off a battery pack (not included) if you need to use it in a portable situation. Doesn't need a nice power supply because it cleans everything up internally.
- This is probably the best single unit setup I can imagine for using at the office. It's compact, cleans up USB, cleans up power, works with full-size cans and IEMs, and doesn't look garish at all.
- For PRT fans, you can invert phase of both or either channel on the unit instead of doing it in software. The DSP is before the DAC, so the DAC and anything its connected to should benefit from the Phase Reversal Trick.
- A feature I won't use but that would be great for some is that you can record S/PDIF (coax, optical, or AES with an adapter) into the USB. I think this means you could use a CD player to record stuff? I dunno. Might be useful for some guitar FX units.
- Neat feature: The faster you turn a knob, the bigger steps the value takes. One notch, when turned slowly, is 0.5dB of volume. Turn it fast, and one notch is several dB.
- The headphone output on this is quite a bit better than I was anticipating. Better than most solid state amps I've used. It's a shame that the size of the unit doesn't allow for an XLR output since the DAC is balanced. Maybe in a v2 in a few years, they can relocate the power button and squeeze a balanced headphone out in.
- The intelligent Loudness function is pretty slick. Basically, you set the bass and treble gain levels of the loudness feature, then set the minimum volume at which it reaches those boosts. As you approach the threshold, it interpolates how much boost is needed to retain some punch and sparkle even at lower volumes.
- Bug: If you rapidly swap between coax and USB inputs (for me, that means swapping inputs every couple of seconds to compare their sound), after several swaps the USB goes into robotic music through spring-loaded tin cans mode. I think that means it loses sync with the clock (it uses the internal clock for USB and slaves to external input via coax). If I go back to coax for a couple of seconds then back to USB, it corrects itself (as does stopping/starting the music).
- Quirk: It seems to present itself as a different device to Windows for every sample rate. I noticed because switching to a 96kHz album from 44.1 suddenly started piping the Overwatch League game I was watching through the ADI-2 DAC because Windows always makes new devices the default (simultaneously with JRiver ASIO, so kinda cool that it can do that). Checking my playback devices showed that it didn't have the custom icon (RME logo) or name I gave the device, then I noticed that 96kHz was the only sample rate shown. Sure enough, it does this once for each supported sample rate (then Windows remembers your settings for that SR from then on). Doesn't seem to do it for DSD.
- Speaking of DSD... you can do direct DSD via line outs only since you're not allowed to manipulate the volume. It silences the headphone outs if you turn on DSD Direct. I believe it converts DSD to PCM internally if you leave it off, which is default.
- The menus recall where you last were when you go back to them. The screen is nice and crisp on the unit and menu navigation and manipulation is really nice after you acclimate to it.
- In addition to the parametric EQ, you have bass/treble knobs. You can define the cutoff frequency and Q factor.
- I love the integration of some of the old school things like Loudness, Bass/Treble, EQ, and balance controls brought up to modern spec. It's like an homage to old receivers, but reimagined as alien technology.
- The USB on this thing really is pretty stellar. It's at least in the same playing field as Schiit Gen 5. I'm pretty sure I still prefer the Lynx AES16e feeding it AES via coax, but it's good enough to not get too much nervosa over using it.
- I'm a little bit in love with this thing right now. It's not just the honeymoon period, it's the wedding night.
- The tech on the ADI-2 DAC is astonishingly good. It's so freakin' versatile.
