RME ADI-2 DAC Thread

[Nkam]

Some people are like that in that their preferred product must be the right one for everyone else. Unfortunately those kind of people makes a lot of forums unreliable sources of information.

The thing with the RME DACs are that, while fairly straight forward to use if you RTFM, it can be too complex for some people and they have a lot of settings that can impact the sound. E.g. the filter version of the DC protection will cause the DAC to sound brighter and adds some glare (on and off sound identical to me) and if you set de-emphasis to on (usually it is auto or not there in most products) then you will alter the sound. Having some settings "wrong" can make the DAC sound completely different.

For those that are unfamiliar with de-emphasis, Pre-/De-emphasis is an old technology that was used on early CDs and CD players in that the higher frequencies were boosted in the music on the CD (pre-emphasis) and EQed down on the CD player (de-emphasis).

yeah that’s true.
i would like a few options but sheesh the RME. But it’s for pro use.
i do know all the settings however and understand what to set and not.
do NOT set deemphasis as you said. Was for older chips at low bit rates. Will muffle the sound.
i can’t hear the difference of the DC protection either.

the DAC is just not for me.

 

[antanast]

Can someone explain to me how the Ref Level and Auto Ref Level when connecting the dac to an amp? How do those work and what are the recommended settings?

 

[technobear]

Can someone explain to me how the Ref Level and Auto Ref Level when connecting the dac to an amp? How do those work and what are the recommended settings?

The RME has a digital volume control. At it is turned down, it loses bits and therefore becomes noisier. However, the RME has a neat trick up its sleeve. It has variable analogue gain in 4 levels. If you turn on Auto Ref Level, the RME will choose the most appropriate analogue gain and keep the digital volume higher than it would otherwise be as you turn it down. This automatically gives you the best possible signal-to-noise ratio.

Many people get confused by RME's use of dBu units. Pro users know them well enough. Here for reference are there meanings:

dBu V
-10 0.245
-9 0.275
-8 0.309
-7 0.346
-6 0.388
-5 0.436
-4 0.489
-3 0.549
-2 0.616
-1 0.691
0 0.775
1 0.870
2 0.976
3 1.095
4 1.228
5 1.378
6 1.546
7 1.735
8 1.947
9 2.184
10 2.451
11 2.750
12 3.085
13 3.462
14 3.884
15 4.358
16 4.890
17 5.487
18 6.156
19 6.907
20 7.750

The RME outputs 13dBu balanced or 7dBu single ended when the volume is set at 0dB.

EDIT: not quite! See, I said it was confusing.

The RME outputs 19 dBu balanced or 13 dBu single-ended when the volume is set at 0dB, Auto Ref Level ON.

So when using Auto Ref Level and you want a 2V nominal output on the RCAs, set the volume control at -5dB or thereabouts.

Alternatively, you can set a fixed Ref Level of 7dBu and set the volume to +1dB but you lose the advantages of Auto Ref Level if you then turn it way down.

It's all well described in the User Manual which is available to download. In my copy this is on pages 64 to 66.

 

[antanast]

The RME has a digital volume control. At it is turned down, it loses bits and therefore becomes noisier. However, the RME has a neat trick up its sleeve. It has variable analogue gain in 4 levels. If you turn on Auto Ref Level, the RME will choose the most appropriate analogue gain and keep the digital volume higher than it would otherwise be as you turn it down. This automatically gives you the best possible signal-to-noise ratio.

Many people get confused by RME's use of dBu units. Pro users know them well enough. Here for reference are there meanings:

dBu V
-10 0.245
-9 0.275
-8 0.309
-7 0.346
-6 0.388
-5 0.436
-4 0.489
-3 0.549
-2 0.616
-1 0.691
0 0.775
1 0.870
2 0.976
3 1.095
4 1.228
5 1.378
6 1.546
7 1.735
8 1.947
9 2.184
10 2.451
11 2.750
12 3.085
13 3.462
14 3.884
15 4.358
16 4.890
17 5.487
18 6.156
19 6.907
20 7.750

The RME outputs 13dBu balanced or 7dBu single ended when the volume is set at 0dB.

EDIT: not quite! See, I said it was confusing.

The RME outputs 19 dBu balanced or 13 dBu single-ended when the volume is set at 0dB, Auto Ref Level ON.

So when using Auto Ref Level and you want a 2V nominal output on the RCAs, set the volume control at -5dB or thereabouts.

Alternatively, you can set a fixed Ref Level of 7dBu and set the volume to +1dB but you lose the advantages of Auto Ref Level if you then turn it way down.

It's all well described in the User Manual which is available to download. In my copy this is on pages 64 to 66.

Thank you for such a detailed response!

 

[Svperstar]

I know someone is going to say RTFM but can someone tell me what page of the manual to look if I want to get the headphone jack AND Line Out playing at the same time? Right now I hold the volume button down to toggle between the two. I want them both going at once for this weekend.

Also does that degrade the signal quality doing that?

Thanks

 

[tiddlywinks]

I know someone is going to say RTFM but can someone tell me what page of the manual to look if I want to get the headphone jack AND Line Out playing at the same time? Right now I hold the volume button down to toggle between the two. I want them both going at once for this weekend.

Also does that degrade the signal quality doing that?

Thanks

Page 38 in User’s Guide ADI-2 DAC v1.8

 

[mformoriarty]

Has anyone here tried or compared the iFi Zen Dac Signature V2 vs the Adi? I know there is an obvious price difference but I'm looking to upgrade and this one caught my eye. Thanks.

 

[Ieonasj]

Has anyone here tried or compared the iFi Zen Dac Signature V2 vs the Adi? I know there is an obvious price difference but I'm looking to upgrade and this one caught my eye. Thanks.

i think that earmen angel uotperforms adi2 for sound quality

 

[Another Audiophile]

Has anyone here tried or compared the iFi Zen Dac Signature V2 vs the Adi? I know there is an obvious price difference but I'm looking to upgrade and this one caught my eye. Thanks.

My review with comparison against the RME
https://www.head-fi.org/showcase/zen-signature-set-mz99-dac-amp.26265/reviews

 

[mformoriarty]

My review with comparison against the RME
https://www.head-fi.org/showcase/zen-signature-set-mz99-dac-amp.26265/reviews

Nice, thank you for the info. I'm planning on using the adi as a DAC only, fed to my other amps. Having eq, visuals and some extra control over the music seems a lot more appealing than just a knob and led colors. To be fair, I've used the knob on the Zen dac Signature v2 quite a few times, but it's not something I'd get fussed about if it wasn't there.

 

[BMMJ]

I'm new to the hobby after inheriting some headphone gear. Some of the gear includes the RME ADI-2 and a Burson Soloist. I also got the DCA Aeons Noires, Arya, HD650. I believe the the Burson was used as an amp with the RME DAC. My untrained ears hear no difference between the two. It does seem like they are a popular combo for the Arya. The only difference I can hear is the the bass is more defined/stronger on the RME. I'm thinking of selling the Burson to get an easier to drive pair of headphones, maybe the Focal Clears. I'm wondering this would be a wise move as the Noires and Arya are hard to drive? Any input would be appreciated!

 

[Svperstar]

I'm new to the hobby after inheriting some headphone gear. Some of the gear includes the RME ADI-2 and a Burson Soloist. I also got the DCA Aeons Noires, Arya, HD650. I believe the the Burson was used as an amp with the RME DAC. My untrained ears hear no difference between the two. It does seem like they are a popular combo for the Arya. The only difference I can hear is the the bass is more defined/stronger on the RME. I'm thinking of selling the Burson to get an easier to drive pair of headphones, maybe the Focal Clears. I'm wondering this would be a wise move as the Noires and Arya are hard to drive? Any input would be appreciated!

I have an SMSL SP200 running via XLR from my RME-ADI2. Sometimes I will use it to drive my Arya, last night I was listening on my Arya and just used the RMEs headphone jack set to low power mode. The RME drives the Arya just fine but the SP200 gets a lot louder, to the point of damaging your hearing if you like. The SMSL SP200 also sounds brighter to me but that could be placebo since its a THX amp and they have a reputation of being clinical and bright.

You could sell the Burson and buy a used SMSL SP200 if you are looking for an amp with a ridiculous amount of power on tap since the SP200 is only like $250 new you would be saving a lot of money.

Someone on Amazon really love the combo it seems:

 

[IXOYE]

Has anyone here tried or compared the iFi Zen Dac Signature V2 vs the Adi? I know there is an obvious price difference but I'm looking to upgrade and this one caught my eye. Thanks.

I upgraded from iFi Audio Zen One Signature to RME ADI 2 and the difference was clearly audible in RME's favor, RME is the best purchase I've made in terms of audio hardware.

 

[mformoriarty]

I upgraded from iFi Audio Zen One Signature to RME ADI 2 and the difference was clearly audible in RME's favor, RME is the best purchase I've made in terms of audio hardware.

Interesting, that one a similar dac according the iFis website, happy to hear it's a solid upgrade. I purchased one last week, waiting for it to arrive hopefully later this week. Thanks for the information, more hyped to try it out now.

 

[IXOYE]

I'm new to the hobby after inheriting some headphone gear. Some of the gear includes the RME ADI-2 and a Burson Soloist. I also got the DCA Aeons Noires, Arya, HD650. I believe the the Burson was used as an amp with the RME DAC. My untrained ears hear no difference between the two. It does seem like they are a popular combo for the Arya. The only difference I can hear is the the bass is more defined/stronger on the RME. I'm thinking of selling the Burson to get an easier to drive pair of headphones, maybe the Focal Clears. I'm wondering this would be a wise move as the Noires and Arya are hard to drive? Any input would be appreciated!

The headphone amplifier in RME has more than enough power to drive the headphones you already have.