RME ADI-2 DAC

Wow, we want more info. How can you tell a DAC is shit is 2 seconds?

 

Didn't take me much longer than that with the Denafrips Aries we had on loaner. As a matter of fact, it took about 23 seconds into a Rebecca Pidgeon track to utterly dislike the entire presentation.

 

I mean the thing has an OFF button in front - it's designed to be turned off!

 

I just use EQ to fix it's sound stage and other short comings. /s

I would be interested if @Marvey or @zerodeefex have heard Soekris 1541 or Holo Cyan for an amp/DAC shootout.

 

Lol, he did this at the meet at his place. I was like, lol wtf, dude. He just did not like that glare.

 

Yeah I hear you.

I got the RME as a bedroom rig and easy AIO measurement system tailored for Andromeda. Works well for those things.

Demoing Yggdrasil A2 and it crushes everything I've heard. There is a slight issue but I want to confirm before reporting it.

EDIT: @Marvey probably tired and buzzed from hike and drinking lol

 

Some impressions can be found from Head-Fi: ( RME vs Soekris and Soekris vs Holo Cyan )

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/new...cm-or-dsd-module.861507/page-11#post-14072996

 

I'm guessing anything south of Gungnir Multibit and non r2r for a vinylphile ain't gonna cut it. Also personal taste, chain synergy and so on.

Or Marv wants to tank the RME resale market on SBAF and pick one up on the cheap to listen to out in the shed while wrapped in cellophane and eating snickers bars.

 

Eh, bummer. While I appreciate the frank and honest reviews on SBAF, I now understand that posting someone's blunt and unfiltered thoughts is also considered fair game. Marv is probably referencing his experience with the ADI-2 Pro I took to his meet. I told him he should check it out, and overheard him saying he didn't much like the sound after listening for a minute or so. Fair enough. I don't remember what headphones he used, but maybe it was an unflattering pairing?

I'm not sure why one person's opinion would put you off auditioning it though? One person's "garbage" is another's gold. Torq seems to hold the RME ADI-2 in high-esteem, and while he's not someone I respect personally, I would assume he knows a thing or two about DACs?

Edit: I should add that many people here (Torq included) pair their DACs with good quality tube amps. The RME's headphone outs (which is what Marv used) are digital sounding in comparison. @jowls pointed this out a few pages back. I recently heard my DAC hooked up to an Aficionado; needless to say it was sonic bliss.

@Marvey is welcome to borrow my RME (I live close to Sherman Oaks) and give it a better shake of the stick in a quiet environment. I bet it would fair well against the Yggdrasil with his custom EC tube amp in assistance. There's a good reason why RME are a very well respected German pro audio company - they make quality stuff.

 

Purrin is just one person and he even said often to take things as just an opinion. It doesn't mean anyone else will dislike it, or like it. I mean we are all different and, more often than not, with different pairings, not to mention experience and settings.

Ofc pairing is always a "problem" so he may or not, change his mind but I would still be curious what @zerodeefex would think about it.

 

Just the opinion of one, although highly experienced person. If you've followed his posts for a long time and generally agree with most of them then yes, his quick dismissal likely/maybe means something to you.

Many here also have a very different taste in audio though. That being said even if you tend to trust someone's impressions I would always audition myself too if possible. There's just no substitute for first hand experience and that's the only thing that matters in the end.

(I've never heard the RME gear)

 

Somewhere this ought to be big a and bold sticky note, required reading.

 

@PTS: Was your unit set to all defaults when @Marvey tried it?

 

I'm not at all surprised that the RME ADI-2 isn't @Marvey's cup of tea. And not just because of this:



I like the RME ADI-2 Pro for what it does and how it is implemented - and my original recommendation was in the context of "If you're interested in this, and you'll use all it's functionality, there's no reason to hold back."

It is not my personal choice as my primary device for listening to music. When I use its headphone outputs I'm doing so in a monitoring capacity. If I'm listening to it for other purposes, which usually means I'm "in the lab", then it's feeding an external amplifier (iFi Pro iCAN, usually in Tube+ mode) along with using the built-in EQ. And it spends at least as much time operating as an ADC as it does anything else.

I think it's a good example, and very solid implementation of the AKM4490 - without getting mucked up with all that velvet-sound nonsense. It maybe the best 4490-based unit I've heard (I can't name a better one at present). But it's still a multi-function D/S DAC. And, fundamentally, it sounds like one.

Bear in mind that there's a LOT of functionality in these boxes (I've only got proper first hand experience of the "Pro AE" version and haven't spent any meaningful time with the "DAC" version*). In the case of the "DAC" version, you're getting a balanced-output DAC, capable DSP engine, full EQ, lots of control options, a physical UX/display, a nicely done headphone amp output and so on, for $999.

It measures well, has a lot of gadget appeal and doesn't need a bunch of nervosa-driven faffing around to get a good result from. For me the DAC section is competitive, musically, with D/S DACs in a similar price-range, and technically better than many, which is saying something given all the functionality on offer, but it's still a to-taste thing ... and my preferences remain R-2R or some very specific (and not cheap) D/S implementations.

--
*I will buy one when they're in stock to compare with the "Pro". Entirely predictably, all the vendors I spoke with that were reassuringly saying they'd be shipping units today (2/28) are now saying "Didn't get the units ... they'll ship when we get them - and we won't say/don't know when that is". My guess is that'll be early March for units coming out of Europe and late March/early April for the US.

 

I have both, they're the same audibly and will pretty much measure the same as well. For 98% of folks the DAC version will be better. The remote and lights-off function does make me a bit jelly of the DAC, but I absolutely need AD and a four channel DAC running from the same clock.

 

Hi,

so Marv who was asked to listen to it altough he is known to prefer R2R did not like the PRO, well no reason to wet your pants, everyone is entitled to their opinion methinks, after lurking here I got the impression, that the other forum is the one for people not having a mind of their own to make up and therefore had to rely on others. I still like the PRO.