[J Ottawa]

If your amp is « on », why not leave RME ON? It does not consume a lot of power.

 

[hanumanbob]

Run your RME at 0dB into your amp- no loudness feature needed in this configuration.

 

[jmimac351]

If your amp is « on », why not leave RME ON? It does not consume a lot of power.

That is certainly the plan… the point is that the RME seems to be a very nice antenna. And… if I play with a battery pack, it will need to be unplugged… which will mean it’s sending noise elsewhere while I charge the battery. I can mute the amp, but the noise should never make it to the amp. No noise is emitted from my Ayre KX-5 Twenty. Why the ADI-2?

The point is, I have other equipment that is dead quiet and doesn’t cause this issue. Can I deal with it? Sure. Should there be something about the design of the RME to prevent that from happening? Well, my Ayre gear doesn’t have this problem. RME is very proud of their equipment and seem to defer to an issue pointed out as being “pointless”, or blame something else in the system, rather than acknowledging any weakness with their equipment. It borders on arrogance. I’d prefer the issue never happens.

I like the ADI-2 DAC and it’s going to stick around; however, if RME is going to stick their chest out about how superior their gear is to other gear… well, make it so. My Ayre Acoustics gear is “Black Hole Quiet”. Ariel Brown knows what he is doing.

Right now, the bragging from RME is “noise” (into my other equipment). But, I like it… and sometimes ya gotta take the shyte with the sugar.

 

[J Ottawa]

That is certainly the plan… the point is that the RME seems to be a very nice antenna. And… if I play with a battery pack, it will need to be unplugged… which will mean it’s sending noise elsewhere. I can mute the amp, but the noise should never make it to the amp. No noise is emitted from my Ayre KX-5 Twenty. Why the ADI-2?

The point is, I have other equipment that is dead quiet and doesn’t cause this issue. Can I deal with it? Sure. Should there be something about the design of the RME to prevent that from happening? Well, my Ayre gear doesn’t have this problem. RME is very proud of their equipment and seem to defer to an issue pointed out as being “pointless”, rather than acknowledging any weakness. It borders on arrogance. I’d prefer the issue never happens.

I like the ADI-2 DAC and it’s going to stick around; however, if RME is going to stick their chest out about how superior their gear is to other gear… well, make it so.

Right now, their bragging is “noise” (into my other equipment).

It is a challenging issue for sure and it could be the AYRE gear is compatible between the units and finding a proper return feed that is somehow missing with the RME. I run a Benchmark AHB2 and I have absolutely no noise issue. But the fact that you do is noteworthy. I would not give up just yet. I am sure there is a fix somehow. We just need to figure out why?

1. I think the power supply for the ADI-2 PRO SE is a three pronged affair with IEC plug. That could provide a path to ground for the RME and "maybe" make things quieter.
2. They are working a new linear power supply, so if it dove tails the PRO SE's power supply, then maybe that could be an option as well.
Here is what I found online: the RME NT-12. Now it's not a small dunk that this would work, but worth a try...if you want to try. I would try it if I had one. But it would be a waste of your hard earned money if it did not work. But always good to have a spare kicking around. For the record, I do have a spare just in case + the battery pack as it was not a huge expense for me.

https://musicredone.com/products/rm...x55UH6bfDzWLQPLZfBIHddI9IMuhoDrUaAkKqEALw_wcB

 

[J Ottawa]

I've dealt with a bad hum on a Heathkit AA-151 tube amp rebuild; along with improper capacitor selections. It took me 2 weeks to figure out...but we figured it out....but took 2 WEEKS. I was ready to give up until the solution popped in my brain one night - with kind help from a gentleman (Mr. Dave Gillespie from Tronola) who knew what he was doing and made very good suggestions. And, he suggested a Choke (for the power supply) and a ground path capacitor when I would turn off the amp to make sure things stayed quiet (no thump). All I'm saying, stick with it and a solution may be found. Best of luck.

 

[J Ottawa]

I was curious about your amplifier and came across a review that states that there is power conditioning on board your amplifier and there is a communication link between Amp + Preamp. If the power amp is trying to communicate with something that is not there, could that be the source of your interference?
Suggestion: if you have a different power amp, or a friend or two with power amps (even integrated would work), you could try swapping power amps and see if the problem persists.
Worth a try. Again, just a suggestion. I'd love to help you get to the bottom of this as I've been lucky in the past with peeps who helped me.

And I quote: Built into each model is an Ayre power conditioner, to deal with anomalies of the AC supply from the wall, as well as AyreLink communication ports, which allow other AyreLink-equipped Ayre components to communicate with each other to automate certain functions, such as turn-on/off.

 

[J Ottawa]

I did a bit more reading. XLR outputs: RME is (+ HOT) and (- Cold); Ayre is (+ non inverting) and (- Inverting). All good.
Question for you: are you using the same interconnects between preamps when you test? Gotta make sure those are good for both units.

Also double check the phase and connections to the speakers; + to red to the speaker terminals; - to the black speaker terminals.
My hunch is all is good, but worth a check.

Is the RME and the power amp plugged into the same outlet? Gotta make sure you are getting the same return and ground if at all possible.

One test you can try at the power cord point with the RME: take the power adapter of the RME, unplug it and switch or flip the blades around that plug into the AC outlet.
Power up and Test again for hum.
Let us know if that helps at all.

And finally, if all that does not work, I suspect the RME, when powered off, is opening the connection point at the output of the preamp leaving the wires and the input of your amplifier open to noise...and somehow it's getting through. I take note that the Ayre amplifier offers 26db of gain! I run my AHB2 on the mid-gain setting, and that is about 14 db of gain; but the amp can go as high as 22 db. The Ayre offers more gain!

 

[jmimac351]

It is a challenging issue for sure and it could be the AYRE gear is compatible between the units and finding a proper return feed that is somehow missing with the RME. I run a Benchmark AHB2 and I have absolutely no noise issue. But the fact that you do is noteworthy. I would not give up just yet. I am sure there is a fix somehow. We just need to figure out why?

1. I think the power supply for the ADI-2 PRO SE is a three pronged affair with IEC plug. That could provide a path to ground for the RME and "maybe" make things quieter.
2. They are working a new linear power supply, so if it dove tails the PRO SE's power supply, then maybe that could be an option as well.
Here is what I found online: the RME NT-12. Now it's not a small dunk that this would work, but worth a try...if you want to try. I would try it if I had one. But it would be a waste of your hard earned money if it did not work. But always good to have a spare kicking around. For the record, I do have a spare just in case + the battery pack as it was not a huge expense for me.

https://musicredone.com/products/rme-nt-rme-12-extrernal-power-supply-w-3-prong-iec-cable?currency=CAD&utm_medium=cpc&utm_source=google&utm_campaign=Google Shopping&stkn=697d1435a3a0&gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQiA5fetBhC9ARIsAP1UMgEHSCW_yJaReDwuhKLSx77x55UH6bfDzWLQPLZfBIHddI9IMuhoDrUaAkKqEALw_wcB

The power supply for the ADI-2 DAC FS is lacking, IMO. In fact, before I bought it I eyeballed this power supply setup and thought... "OK... we'll see how good this is... no IEC setup". I am certainly no engineer and am ignorant to the issue... but the power supply looks like a weak spot:

I've dealt with a bad hum on a Heathkit AA-151 tube amp rebuild; along with improper capacitor selections. It took me 2 weeks to figure out...but we figured it out....but took 2 WEEKS. I was ready to give up until the solution popped in my brain one night - with kind help from a gentleman (Mr. Dave Gillespie from Tronola) who knew what he was doing and made very good suggestions. And, he suggested a Choke (for the power supply) and a ground path capacitor when I would turn off the amp to make sure things stayed quiet (no thump). All I'm saying, stick with it and a solution may be found. Best of luck.

Thank you... I am not giving up on the unit. I like it. It's just susceptible to noise and needs to be better.

I was curious about your amplifier and came across a review that states that there is power conditioning on board your amplifier and there is a communication link between Amp + Preamp. If the power amp is trying to communicate with something that is not there, could that be the source of your interference?
Suggestion: if you have a different power amp, or a friend or two with power amps (even integrated would work), you could try swapping power amps and see if the problem persists. Worth a try. Again, just a suggestion. I'd love to help you get to the bottom of this as I've been lucky in the past with peeps who helped me.

And I quote: Built into each model is an Ayre power conditioner, to deal with anomalies of the AC supply from the wall, as well as AyreLink communication ports, which allow other AyreLink-equipped Ayre components to communicate with each other to automate certain functions, such as turn-on/off.

That is "AyreLink" which does Muting / Standby communication between Ayre equipment. It's done via RJ45(?) telephone cord to send signals between gear. That's not hooked up (and I don't think it would be a problem anyway... when you see below how fanatical Ayre is about noise / ground hum)

I do have other gear and may try plugging the ADI-2 into something else to see how it plays along. Thank you.

I did a bit more reading. XLR outputs: RME is (+ HOT) and (- Cold); Ayre is (+ non inverting) and (- Inverting). All good.
Question for you: are you using the same interconnects between preamps when you test? Gotta make sure those are good for both units.

Also double check the phase and connections to the speakers; + to red to the speaker terminals; - to the black speaker terminals.
My hunch is all is good, but worth a check.

Is the RME and the power amp plugged into the same outlet? Gotta make sure you are getting the same return and ground if at all possible.

One test you can try at the power cord point with the RME: take the power adapter of the RME, unplug it and switch or flip the blades around that plug into the AC outlet.
Power up and Test again for hum.
Let us know if that helps at all.

And finally, if all that does not work, I suspect the RME, when powered off, is opening the connection point at the output of the preamp leaving the wires and the input of your amplifier open to noise...and somehow it's getting through. I take note that the Ayre amplifier offers 26db of gain! I run my AHB2 on the mid-gain setting, and that is about 14 db of gain; but the amp can go as high as 22 db. The Ayre offers more gain!

Using the same cables and speakers are wired fine... no issues.

Every piece of Ayre equipment has its own unique power conditioning built in. Ayre is fanatical about stuff being quiet. In fact, the KX-5 Twenty is designed to "put inputs to sleep" that aren't being used. It senses what is being used. And even for the initial setup for the preamp, you have to enable inputs. When volume is changed, the circuit wakes up, makes the volume change, then goes back to sleep. It is super slick... explained here by Ariel Brown starting at 37:00 when talking about the K5xe MP preamp (which I also have and is awesome). This sort of design philosophy runs thru their gear.

Ayre K5xe MP Preamp Source Isolation/ Importance of Ground Isolation and how it's addressed:



"Plugged into wall question"...
Everything is plugged into Equi=Tech Model 1.5Q power conditioner... which is no joke. That is used for "mission critical" applications in laboratories, medical, sensitive manufacturing, etc. The RME ADI-2 DAC FS has every benefit possible as it relates to getting rid of noise.

The bottom line is, it's just a bit prone to noise. But I still like it. If this prodding pushes them to clean this stuff up... great.

Equi=Tech Model Q:

https://web.archive.org/web/20031207012201/http://www.equitech.com/products/consumer/modelq.html

 

[jmimac351]

I'd love to help you get to the bottom of this as I've been lucky in the past with peeps who helped me.

Thank you! I am not upset about this issue... I can deal with it... but it should "be better". I think the ADI-2 DAC FS is super cool. I just need to avoid what makes it "unhappy"... but it should be easier for it to "stay happy". I'm not doing anything crazy, and I have other equipment that can easily deal with the exact same connection scenario.

 

[J Ottawa]

Thank you! I am not upset about this issue... I can deal with it... but it should "be better". I think the ADI-2 DAC FS is super cool. I just need avoid what makes it "unhappy"... but it should be easier for it to "stay happy". I'm not doing anything crazy, and I have other equipment that can easily deal with the exact same connection scenario.

It is perplexing for sure. To wit, the Benchmark AHB2 is a very quiet power amplifier and the RME ADI-2 DAC FS comes in at a very low noise floor (you can check the measurements over at ASR) - and I cannot detect any noise at all with various settings being changed. I'm wondering if simply stated, that your RME power supply is defective?

 

[jmimac351]

I'm wondering if simply stated, that your RME power supply is defective?

That would be interesting to try. I think I have a "customizable" switching power supply in my stack of stuff somewhere... I think it can switch it to 12v and may have proper connector end for it. Maybe I'll give that a try.

 

[Matias]

@jmimac351 let's see how RME themselves measure and advertise improvements with their upcoming DPS-2 linear power supply.
https://forum.rme-audio.de/viewtopic.php?id=36900

And also a DC filter.
"LNI-2 DC is an active DC filter that can be placed between audio equipment and power supply to efficiently filter ripple and RF interference. It is said that a high level of power supply cleaning has been achieved through "galvanic isolation" and "RME microfilter." By connecting a 9V to 18V DC power supply, it is possible to stably supply a fixed power of 12V and 2A. The DC coupling capacitance between the input and output is 5pF, which is 1/200th of the 1nF of a typical power supply. Other features include soft start with controlled power and thermal overload protection, and he says with confidence, ``I think it's the perfect solution to improve quality without having to replace the power supply you're using.''"
https://news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/2216190852141328dc3b5fd524723e038c0d63cf

 

[J Ottawa]

That would be interesting to try. I think I have a "customizable" switching power supply in my stack of stuff somewhere... I think it can switch it to 12v and may have proper connector end for it. Maybe I'll give that a try.

I haven't read everything since we are exchanging messages, but have you tried reversing the AC blades of the RME ADI-2's power supply plugged into your power conditioner. It's a long shot, but if you haven't tried it, it is something I would try....you know, leave no stone unturned.

 

[jmimac351]

So, I have resolved the hum issue that existed when the RME ADI-2 DAC FS was "OFF", and still connected to an amp that was "ON". User KaiS on the RME forum suggested I try these. I've actually owned them for 20+ years as they came with my Joule Electra LAP-150 tube preamp. When I plugged in these RCA shorting plugs, the issue immediately went away. I can "turn the issue On and Off" by channel, when I remove / install them.

If I was an owner of the RME ADI-2 DAC FS, and using the balance outputs, I would plug these into the RCA outputs and leave them there.

 

[J Ottawa]

So, I have resolved the hum issue that existed when the RME ADI-2 DAC FS was "OFF", and still connected to an amp that was "ON". User KaiS on the RME forum suggested I try these. I've actually owned them for 20+ years as they came with my Joule Electra LAP-150 tube preamp. When I plugged in these RCA shorting plugs, the issue immediately went away. I can "turn the issue On and Off" by channel, when I remove / install them.

If I was an owner of the RME ADI-2 DAC FS, and using the balance outputs, I would plug these into the RCA outputs and leave them there.

An incredible journey to a solution. Thanks for sharing!