[Tsukuyomi]

i'm getting my RME ADI-2 DAC today/tomorrow or this weekend. my order came in at its waiting for me at the store to pick it up.
my friend has a Schiit Yggdrasil at his place and i could ask to borrow it over the weekend and test both side by side if need be.
the only cans i have for testing are the DT1990 Pro and B&O H6 Gen 2. unfortunately i dont have my LCD2C yet from Audeze. i'll be ordering that later as i'll need to pay off the ADI-2 DAC and my new A&K Sr15. lol

 

[MagnusH]

Has anyone compared an isolated USB (for example behind a ethernet transport like ultraRendu) with toslink on this DAC? Any sound quality differences?

 

[LifeAspect]

I went from the yggy to the DAC-2. Can say I prefer the DAC-2 just for the features it has over the double the price of the yggy...

 

[domho7]

Hi RME adi 2 owners. Does the player comes with USB type B feature. Tks

 

[domho7]

Hi RME owners can confirm this dac is xmos base. Tks

 

[technobear]

Hi RME adi 2 owners. Does the player comes with USB type B feature. Tks

http://www.rme-audio.de/en/products/adi_2-dac.php

 

[pororom]

Guys,
Can anyone tell me how this equalization should be programmed in the ADI parametric?
I am very interested in this and initially I will use it as a dac / headphone amp
(I have a chord qutest on my hifi equipment, although I do not rule out connecting it to this group too in order to appreciate the differences between them and enjoy the sound profile of each one of them)
The issue is that I currently equalize my headphones with a simple band equalizer with this profile:

-Amp (-1.5)
-31 (-4.0)
-62 (0)
-125 (+2)
-250 (+1)
-500 (0)
-1k (0)
-2k (0)
-4k (0)
-8k (-4)
-16k (-6)

I have seen that the ADI uses a parametric equalizer, can you help me and tell me what would be the equivalent profile that should be applied in the parametric equalizer of the ADI?

 

[technobear]

Guys,
Can anyone tell me how this equalization should be programmed in the ADI parametric?
I am very interested in this and initially I will use it as a dac / headphone amp
(I have a chord qutest on my hifi equipment, although I do not rule out connecting it to this group too in order to appreciate the differences between them and enjoy the sound profile of each one of them)
The issue is that I currently equalize my headphones with a simple band equalizer with this profile:

-Amp (-1.5)
-31 (-4.0)
-62 (0)
-125 (+2)
-250 (+1)
-500 (0)
-1k (0)
-2k (0)
-4k (0)
-8k (-4)
-16k (-6)

I have seen that the ADI uses a parametric equalizer, can you help me and tell me what would be the equivalent profile that should be applied in the parametric equalizer of the ADI?

The ADI2-DAC gives you a graphical display of the EQ. Just play with the settings until it looks like what you want. The curve you have listed is not hard to replicate with a 5 band PEQ.

 

[SilverEars]

I didn't think this DAC is high performing as it's hyped up to be in terms of sonic qualities. I wasn't all that impressive compared to the lower priced chip DACs out there. I would describe the sound as not sounding as realistic or analog when paired with my go to amp. This is usually the typical characteristics of pretty much majority of DACs out there, and I didn't think this one particularly had sonic qualities warrant such a price tag.

Headphone out isn't anything particularly special. I tried both headphones and iems, and you hear more of it's digital sounding characteristic, not really all that analog sounding to me. With iems, it's didn't sound any better from a typical DAP.

One positive thing I can say is the built in EQ, and being able to set both left and right side EQ independently. Also, it being parametric EQ built into the device itself. I didn't get much of a chance to play around with that feature unfortunately. And I take it that it's geared for engineers.

I wonder if this thing has grabbed people's attention because the company is of pro audio background? Just because it's a pro audio product doesn't mean squat in terms of pure sonic qualities. I just don't understand why people want to throw money at this thing, as to my ears, value is not there.

 

[Mrstump5]

I didn't think this DAC is high performing as it's hyped up to be in terms of sonic qualities. I wasn't all that impressive compared to the lower priced chip DACs out there. I would describe the sound as not sounding as realistic or analog when paired with my go to amp. This is usually the typical characteristics of pretty much majority of DACs out there, and I didn't think this one particularly had sonic qualities warrant such a price tag.

Headphone out isn't anything particularly special. I tried both headphones and iems, and you hear more of it's digital sounding characteristic, not really all that analog sounding to me. With iems, it's didn't sound any better from a typical DAP.

One positive thing I can say is the built in EQ, and being able to set both left and right side EQ independently. Also, it being parametric EQ built into the device itself. I didn't get much of a chance to play around with that feature unfortunately.

I wonder if this thing has grabbed people's attention because the company is of pro audio background? Just because it's a pro audio product doesn't mean squat in terms of pure sonic qualities. I just don't understand why people want to throw money at this thing, as to my ears, value is not there.

Thanks for your honesty. I have never heard it so my opinion doesnt matter. But I think people buy it because they say it measures well and has many features. Idk. But i do know measuring well and sounding good are 2 different things.

 

[captblaze]

You make some good points, but what type gear do you think recording engineers use to master am album?

 

[SilverEars]

You make some good points, but what type gear do you think recording engineers use to master am album?

Probably varies as there's so many products out there and different engineers. Audiophiles generally spend their time trying to improve their setups sonically, and engineers objective is not exactly that. So, I think engineers would get gear that fit their needs in terms of functionality being a big criteria.

For example, Yamaha NS10 was used for monitoring by engineers, but it's not really a good sounding gear. Monitoring for mastering is a bit different I think.

 

[captblaze]

Probably varies as there's so many products out there and different engineers. Audiophiles generally spend their time trying to improve their setups sonically, and engineers objective is different. So, I think engineers would get gear that fit their needs in terms of functionality being a big criteria.

Yes, but they all take the masters and tweak the sound to what they like or what the target audience might like. I should have my unit today, not that I am aithority, but I will know relatively quickly if I made a poor choice

 

[CaptainFantastic]

I have had the ADI-2 since December. I will say just this: I heard an instant and very pleasant improvement over the Grace m900 I was using before (and still do and enjoy at work). To me the improvement + the added features for about 400 more seems fair. I have done a lot of research and so far I don't understand what would be better for under 1000. Maybe I am wrong, but it seems like I would have to spend 4000 or so for a Chord Dave to get an improvement and even then with caveats. Or it could be that I am wrong. What do you, SilverEars, propose that would improve the sound in this price range? Genuinely curious. (Also genuinely loving the ADI-2 sound with my headphones)

 

[MagnusH]

Some people like colored sound, some like neutral, some like distortion (without even knowing it like vinyl, multiladder DACs etc), so there is never going to be one DAC that everyone think sound best. I have heard from different people that the RME DAC sounded more clear than the Chord Cutest (like a veil being lifted etc), which to me sounds like RME is a good DAC.