[butch111]

Awesome report! Nice to have a high end DAC. I plan on getting 2 of them. One for mixing music tracks in my home studio and one for casual listening in my audiophile stereo system

He forgot something important.....all your audio files have to be re-heard

 

[oxide7]

Do you guys think this part is a problem: [Apple Music streamed at 768kb] ... i mean would tidal open up another world? I like the convenience of Apple Music -- has everything plus videos, plus I can easily share with my family. I heard the actual files are 256k AAC, which is as good or better than 320kb mp3s.... This is endless ... its like when you drive an M3 you start thinking about porshces. sorry if this should go on another board.

 

[jerick70]

Do you guys think this part is a problem: [Apple Music streamed at 768kb] ... i mean would tidal open up another world? I like the convenience of Apple Music -- has everything plus videos, plus I can easily share with my family. I heard the actual files are 256k AAC, which is as good or better than 320kb mp3s.... This is endless ... its like when you drive an M3 you start thinking about porshces. sorry if this should go on another board.

My wife thought going to Tidal was a huge leap forward in sound and she's not an audiophile. She was listening on a single Sonos 1 too. If that's any indication. She rolled her eyes at me when I first signed up for Tidal and wouldn't listen to it. Then one day out of the blue (about a 1.5 years later) she decided to listen to a song on tidal and made this comment.

 

[Overclocked11]

He forgot something important.....all your audio files have to be re-heard

So upon setup, clear my schedule? Check check and double check.

 

[Mr B1]

Do you guys think this part is a problem: [Apple Music streamed at 768kb] ... i mean would tidal open up another world?

There's a free trial for Tidal, so you can answer this by listening.. and check if their family option would be worth it to you.

Personally, I find all sparkle, realness, detail, emotion drops off with anything compressed at 256/320...and your RME and LCD-X can do a lot with lossless and MQA tracks.

 

[PointyFox]

"Well, I don't know 'bout dat".

 

[tekkster]

I bit the bullet and got this 2 days ago... this is absolutely blowing my mind. I am upgrading from a schiit modi stack, so its quite the jump, but I didn't know it could sound this much better. I am afraid I dont have the diction or experience to express it... its like a curse!

First the easy stuff -- I am using this at my desk in the office and it absolutely looks the part. It looks purposeful and quite button up; serious but not pretentious. I love that I can have a top-end DAC and amp in one unit ... its my office after all, and I dont work in a studio. For most it doesn't attract attention, but when really admire it, it is very clean. The buttons, tactile quality, everything is first-rate.

Second -- there are so many features. I dont even know what half of the stuff does. And to me that is exciting. I love that I can tune it and play with it and learn how best to use it over time. The manual seems to be like 300 pages and I cant wait to read through it. But after just a few pages, I can see they are taking a lot of pride in what they've built. It's not dry corporate stuff you would except from say, an American company, but it like its written by a product manager or some who is technically astute and proud of what they've built -- it will be a fun read. And I feel it should have some depth considering it's price, so I am happy it will be a gift that can keep on giving in that aspect, and I learn though it and grow with it, so-to-speak. Meaning: it's got character

The screen is just killer. I dont understand why all units dont have this. Am I the only one into a spectrum analyzer? Also I love the EQ and now I dont need to use my software one which always gave me reservations.

Finally the sound -- this is where I feel very challenges to describe this. It feels just more clear and more explicit. All the sounds. There were some songs where I felt I was getting clipping of the bass before and the highs were shrill. I read somewhere that's sort of a symptom of semiconductors and to go tube, so I was considering that for a long time. But this doesn't have any of those problems. These make my ue11's come alive in a very refined way that I just haven't heard before. I had to keep turning up my schiit to hear details but somehow this is detailed at all volumes. And doesnt let up when I turn it up. The bass is so clean and refined - with the eq i turned it up just just a tad and omg... and I am talking IEMs. I tried some hiphop just to see (like drake's 9 for instance) and I found myself touching the table expecting vibrations.... just crazy and tight and explicit and clear. I havent even tried the planars yet (still shipping)

So all in all I am very happy. I was apprehensive. I am more of an enthusiast than a ... snob. I dont mean that in an offensive way, but I just haven't yet invested the time in learning and understanding the nuance and lingo, but I do know when I'm listening to crap. So i was wondering would this be better than my schiit and would it be worth it... but just with the IEMs a new world opened up. Can't wait to try with the LCD's

(FYI I'm using apple music and sending a 768kb signal to it via USB)

Excellent writeup. Rock on. The clean sound and detail retrieval continues to surprise me when switching from one of my other DACs or DAPs to the RME ADI-2. I like your use of the word "refined". Totally get what you're saying there.

I don't consider myself an audiophile either. More just an enthusiast.

 

[Spareribs]

I’m an enthusiastic audiophile

 

[Giacomino]

Ciao, sto amplificando Focal Utopia e HD800S con Rme ADI2, un'emozione della musica !!

 

[technobear]

Ciao, sto amplificando Focal Utopia e HD800S con Rme ADI2, un'emozione della musica !!

Firstly, this is an English language forum. Please post in English.

Second, Microsoft Translator gives the strangest translation of 'amplificando':

Hi, I'm ampliecting Focal Utopia and HD800S with Rme ADI2, an emotion of music

 

[CaptainFantastic]

@technobear To be fair, he just communicated an emotion, and doing so in his (beautiful) native language was probably better for most of us. What I mean is that it transmitted the sentiment on a more authentic level. Also, he communicated this using words which I expect almost any English speaker understands.

"amplificando" is the gerund, perhaps that is why your translator has an issue with it. Google Translate does a much better job, just checked.

 

[tekkster]

I just had a flashback to the Orkut social network as the groups I was in were slowly taken over by a foreign language.

At least this foreign language writer is on topic. I would agree with Giacomo, the ADI-2 is a good pairing with the Utopia and HD800S to my ears as well. Maybe not the absolute best pairing for the Utopia, but very good.

 

[montanari]

Ciao, sto amplificando Focal Utopia e HD800S con Rme ADI2, un'emozione della musica !!

Hi. I m driving (amping) utopia and 800s with rme adi2.
It s just a music emotion!

Here we are all italian!
Siamo tutti italiani!

 

[i20bot]

Does this thing let you choose between the outputs? If you have something plugged into the XLR and RCA, can you choose which to output to or does it output to both at the same time?

 

[lithrai]

You can choose output even with remote.