RME ADI-2 DAC

I got mine in India yesterday after a 10 day wait. Initial impressions are:

1. Very neutral DAC with an amazingly black background. I'm coming from my Yggdrasil(A1) which is fed by a Lynx AES16e. I've been listening only to multibit DACs for the last two odd years. Feeding it from a Mac Mini through USB or through the Eitr into coax (I prefer the latter by a very small margin). Honestly though, you do not need any USB decrapifiers.

2. Incredibly resolving and transparent. Yggdrasil has a bit more slam though.

2. Very rich in features that I have not even begun to explore. I am only playing with the filters now - going between SD Sharp and NOS.

3. The headphone out is very good and delivers sufficient power on Hi power mode to my Audez'e LCD2C, HD 600,650 (hey @Luckbad, sound familiar ? )

4. The HD 800 still needs my ZDS.

5. Ordered a SESCOM AES to BNC transformer to see how the AES16e will work with the RME.

This is a fantastic DAC laden with features. Small footprint makes it so portable.

 

In your opinion is it a tacked on headphone out or is it decent?

 

The headphone out will be plenty good for the HPs that are commonly used. For example, I was able to drive the Creative Aurvana Live HP from the Lo-Power setting. The Audez'e and the Senns required the Hi-power setting. I was not satisfied with the pairing with the 800. In general, the HP out is not an afterthought but very good for a number of HPs. I am going to try the IEM out now with my Andros. Back at you shortly !

 

Just curious. When you were using it with the HD800s, did you EQ out the 6 and 10 KHz peaks?

 

No, I don't EQ. With the SDR and the cork mods in place, the peaks are less bothersome.

 

Well, I tried the Andros. Warning to IEM users - do not use the Hi-power setting with IEMs. The Lo-power setting is plenty enough and I found myself reducing the volume. Absolutely no hiss (compared to the initial hiss I get when I pair it with the ZX2). However, with an OI of < 0.1 ohms (as per the manual), I did not like the SQ. It was a little too dark and bassy for me. The Andros will stay attached to the ZX2.

 

Where's the problem to dial in the Zout interaction with Andros via EQ?

 

No problem per se. Its just my preference to not use EQ.

 

Anyone tried ZMF phones or other planars? LC2C wasn't my cup of tea.

 

Andromedas are a strange beast. Usually I find higher Z out to increase bass rather than lower. It seems the funky interaction means you must allow for hiss in order to get the FR you want.

I need to get my ears on these at some point. I've generally disliked balanced armatures but maybe a dark and bassy Andro would be my cup of tea.

 

I'm hoping Andro/ADI-2 DAC combo works well for my tastes. I want a little more bass out of Andro so it should be alright.

 

Oh, great! Time for another meet, then!

 

ADI2 in the house. Ordered on Thursday, and got it on Sat. Delivery was amazon-fast.. very impressive!

Finished basic settings just before. Listening to my favorite test tracks.
Cannot say much about the sound yet..
But pretty sure I will like it quite a lot.

 

I'm in!

 

One thing I quickly appreciate is that I can have different settings for headphone out and line out. Not only for volume, but also for crossfeed, digital filter, tone, EQ, LR balance, and so forth.

So something like this will be possible without involving too much complexity

• LCD2C from adi2 hp out with slight tone control for trebles
• HD800 from a dedicated tube amp fed by adi2 line out with parametric eq for 5k
• These two hps can simultaneously have different crossfeed setting, or even different digital filters

 

@Vtory Yeah, the versatility on it is amazing.

I have two completely different setups (that I access via a single button press on my remote) for the Audeze and Sennheiser.

 

I really have a want to listen to this down the road. Haven't played with different filters on a dac before.

 

Is it possible to use crossfeed via the DAC out, or does it only work in headphone out?

 

Crossfeed works via line out as well.

 

I highly recommend reading the manual to anybody who is potentially interested in what ADI-2 DAC can do.

https://www.rme-audio.de/download/adi2dac_e.pdf

I'm not joking. This manual is really well written. Concise and comprehensive. Also very enjoyable if you like to play with tech toys.

Of course printed hard copy will come with the product, but reading it and understanding adi2's capability before making any decisions will help every penny spent wisely.