In the world of audio especially in the subrange of 1000- 2000 you will definitely be tempted to experiment. The German brightness and excitement of this dac will be a different flavour of the music you are listening too. Digital filters cannot recreate note decay easily as it almost appears some filters just rolls off the highs to calm the music. Note decay on piano or string instruments this solid state dac is probably not it's strong points. Kind of like comparing a Focal Clear/HD800S vs a HIfiman Ananda/aging HD650 in the headphone world.
Depending on self powered speakers you choose it'll probably be Class D amplification. Kef's LS50W only uses Class AB for its tangerine tweeter but Class D for the driver so it's going to be punchy. You'll need to feed it a tube or vinyl source to produce a more realistic note decay with 3d holographic vocals and string instruments.
End game is powerful words that I know most of my audiofile friends can have difficulty including that in a sentence
The more you audition the more you get sucked into the music and demand realism. Now if you talking about background music while being occupied with other things that's a different story.......
Hmmm. I own the Focal Utopia, HD 800, KSE1200, T1, HD650, aging Denon and AT headphones, among others. Own multiple analog sources and tube amps. Again, like many on head-fi, I'm a little irrationally obsessed. I've been chasing audio since my first Berkofsky handmade speakers purchased back in '88. And have an old (and long since broken) Stax Lambda Pro Classic and SRM-T1S (buried in a box somewhere in the garage)
So...when you talk about analog vs. digital with regards to sources and chains, that's a very different conversation from talking about just the RME in a world of DACs.
The first post of your's that I responded to seemed to be talking about the RME as an endgame for those who listen to digital music. To which I would definitely say it could easily be end game for many people.
The second post which I'm quoting here seems to be talking about SS DACs vs. analog in general, and that statement, frankly, is one you could apply to any SS DAC and not particularly to the ADI-2. What you seem to be saying here is that NO SS DAC under $2000 can be end game because any DAC in this price range can't compare to analog. I'm assuming by your price range clarification that you are withholding judgement on more expensive SS DACs.
One can easily infer from your two posts that your opinion is that end game requires a pure analog chain, or spending obscene amounts of money in order to be considered end game.
And that opinion, while certainly acceptable for you to have in reference to yourself (I too spend too much on audio gear to really argue against that point), does not apply to every hard core audiophile. Not every hardcore audiophile, even those with "well tuned ears", can afford to spend (or can justify spending) irrational amounts of money on audio gear.
Many can barely afford spending on the ADI-2 DAC and a good pair of headphones. Others may have the disposable income but have other financial priorities and/or obligations in life.
When discussing end game, the real question I ask is whether a piece of equipment performs far above the competition in the same price range. To that end, the ADI-2 is absolutely end game worthy.
Though just an opinion, the ADI-2, to my mind and my ears and my requirements, performs far above its price range. It may be the best value for dollar purchase (for audio gear) I have ever made. I will personally probably keep chasing more gear, cuz I'm stupid that way (and old and a DINK), but in terms of both "true value" and "value for dollar", the ADI-2 is hard to beat and an easily justifiable, highly satisfying end game DAC/AMP.
