RME ADI-2 DAC

Discussion in 'Headphone Amplifiers and Combo (DAC/Amp) Units' started by Luckbad, Jan 12, 2018.

  1. Psalmanazar

    Psalmanazar Most improved member; A+

    Pyrate Slaytanic Cliff Clavin
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    Thanks. Will check em out and try to compare with the QSC RMX
    SBAFers might like the Yamaha P-2200, "Natural Sound" style amps as they're smooth and warm but have a critical lack of detail so they might hate them. They're good for NS10m and other etched old speakers.
     
  2. Armaegis

    Armaegis Friend

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    On the QSC RMX series: my ears like them, my back doesn't.

    There is also a revision to the RMX series with an "a" appended after the number, such as RMX1450a. In general, these are considered inferior. My memory banks are foggy on this, but I think the original non-a series had beefier power supplies (or maybe two transformers and separate supplies for each channel). Don't quote me on that though.

    I used to have two of them. Can't remember the exact models now... I think it was the 850 and 1450, or maybe the 2450. Oh wait, 4050? Bleh, they all blend together after awhile.
     
  3. svperstar

    svperstar Acquaintance

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    While I haven't spent anywhere near as much money as some of you guys especially back in 2006/2007 MHDT DACS did make me more skeptical and focus on other things for a while.

    Having my "pleb" X-Fi Elite Pro soundcard completely outclass an audiophile product in every way made me hold off on upgrading my source till I switch to laptop only.
     
  4. Senorx12562

    Senorx12562 Case of the mondays

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    Guess it wasn't really an "audiophile" product?
     
  5. bixby

    bixby Friend

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    I lived with a modded Havana for many months while exploring mid priced dacs for a HP setup. Thick, colored, interesting, yet not in the same league as the older Bifrost Multibit for example. My beef with the older Schiit mb had most to do with their weak USB implementations. Yes, I had some criticism of the tonal presentation but they are a good contender nonetheless. The one that impressed me the most that I did not live with was the Yggdrasil via AES or SPDF-coax and that was years ago.

    I would have to hear what they are doing now as they seem (by reports here) to have made good progress on USB.
     
    Last edited: Apr 22, 2022
  6. murphythecat

    murphythecat GRU-powered uniformed trumpkin

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    sorry for being OT, what is your opinion of Wadia DACs?
     
  7. Armaegis

    Armaegis Friend

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    I used to have the Wadia 121. It's not terrible... for a sabre dac.
     
  8. svperstar

    svperstar Acquaintance

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    What are you using these days?
     
  9. damaged-goods

    damaged-goods Acquaintance

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    Has anybody compared the RME with the Grungnir DS? I'd appreciate some comments on these two.
     
  10. AvijitS25

    AvijitS25 Acquaintance

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    So I currently use Iems only with my zx300, but was interested in buying this for desktop use as I was interested in foraying into headphones more. I have pre- ordered the ZMF Aeolus. I was wondering would the headphone outs on this unit be sufficient for my use case or would a better amp be recommended right away or down the line. Should I go a different route all together.

    The main thing that intrigued me about the unit was all the hype surrounding at the moment and the amount of fidelity it has, which probably going to be overkill for me but at least the feature are there.

    Sorry if this belongs in the advice thread I was not sure where to ask.
     
  11. Vtory

    Vtory Audiophile™

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    Don't think rme adi-2 dac as a good aio. Its headphone out might be a good back up or ok for some test uses, but mostly inferior to budget value amps (e.g. Magni 3). Honestly I've never met "acceptable" aio so far. Maybe cranesong solaris quantum can be a good aio, but I didn't hear it yet.

    Regarding the dac performance, I think this product has general tendency of 4490 chip, but more refined than cheaper implementations. Except CS solaris which I haven't heard, adi2 dac has the least stridency among affordable~semi affordable ds implementations. Softer attacks and polite (aka 'velvet') presentations are not for everyone though. Overall, it was a good stepping stone in my audio journey.

    Anyway audition as many products as possible. At the price level (or a little more) of rme adi-2, I recommend you to hear the following products (generally well-received) as well:
    • Schiit Gungnir Multibit A2 (the most recent version)
    • Soekris dac1421
    • Dangerous music Source
    • Lavry da10/11
     
    Last edited: Jan 30, 2019
  12. I_want_all_the_tacos

    I_want_all_the_tacos Friend

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    So I just received my RME ADI-2 DAC a couple days ago so I'm not the best person to make judgments on it quite yet. But I do own ZMF Atticus and Auteur (for over a year now) and I just auditioned Aeolus (not with RME) this last weekend so I know ZMF headphones really well. Based on previous reports of RME's head-amp as well as my own limited testing so far, I think it is somewhere between ok to good. It isn't great, but it doesn't suck. The DAC, the IEM port, and the features are the star of the show while the built-in amp is tagging along. How big of an issue that is will vary person to person, and unfortunately you chose a headphone that really really loves tubes and high quality amps. That doesn't necessarily mean expensive as ZMFs sound great out of MCTH, Valhalla 2, and EC ZDT Jr in my experience. But if your immediate goal is to get the most out of Aeolus I wouldn't necessarily choose the RME right out the gate if you aren't also getting another amp.

    If you go for the RME get it for all the things it is besides the built-in amp. If you don't need a better DAC, DSP features, small footprint, IEM port, remote, etc. then there's most likely better/cheaper alternatives. But it is solid if you have plans to add a better amp at some point, the built-in can be ok for now.
     
  13. damaged-goods

    damaged-goods Acquaintance

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    That hits it very well. It's hard to blame the RME for any faults but I found it unengaging and dissapointing as a DAC.

    Holo Audio Cyan PCM delivers a similar smooth and soft sound but with it's lovely sweetness it's much more engaging. I'd take it over the RME anytime. I find it hard to stop to listen to it.

    DM Source is a studio DAC that's very musical (compared to analytical and artificial Mytek DACs) It slams hard and in my book sounds neutral, engagning and just right. You need to be abe to handle the hot pro audio outputs though. Very capable (and loud) headphone out, great USB.

    I'm using both of these with a Phonitor e but they have capable headphone outs..
     
    Last edited: Jan 31, 2019
  14. RedLipstick

    RedLipstick Acquaintance

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    How do you handle the hot pro audio outputs?
     
  15. GoodEnoughGear

    GoodEnoughGear Evil Dr. Shultz‎

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    Phonitor is pro level gear, it'll take +32.5 dBu or just over 36 volts.
     
  16. damaged-goods

    damaged-goods Acquaintance

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    Apart from the technical specifications of the amp I'm using the XLR speaker outputs of the Source to attentuate the output signal. Alternatives are replay gain and the replay gain preamp or attentuators like the SYS or the Goldpoints and such. This all affects sound quality more or less and it's one of the reasons why I like the Holo Cyan, which has a pretty low output volume so I have bitperfect digital and don't need to feed the analog signal through additional equipment.

    Also the Phonitor sounds good with SE output, too.

    Edit: The Source is still pretty new in my setup and I'm still experimenting and figuring things out.
     
    Last edited: Jan 31, 2019
  17. Psalmanazar

    Psalmanazar Most improved member; A+

    Pyrate Slaytanic Cliff Clavin
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    Don’t use a hot output pro monitor controller into anything but pro power amps and active monitors. If you have to be “special” and use whatever hi-fi amp or pre your ocd demands, buy something else. Done.
     
  18. RedLipstick

    RedLipstick Acquaintance

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    So there are pro stand alone amps that are as good as hi-fi ones? The amp sections from most pro dacs is said not to be up to task compared with hi-fi ones.
     
  19. Vtory

    Vtory Audiophile™

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    The most important thing is "knowing what you do".

    Even pro dacs have different references for 0 dbFS. Some hotter, others not.
    Also, amps have different input tolerances based on how they are implemented.
    Digital or analog attenuation is something to consider. Its merit and demerit are debatable and varying though.

    If you are willing to do at your own risk, anything will be fine. Reporting the result back would be contribution, too.
    For risk-averse people, just use pro amps (generally accepting very hot signal) for pro dacs and consumer amps for consumer dacs. That's mostly safe way.

    PS. I like RME, particularly ADI-2 DAC, for this aspect. It has four different reference levels that users can choose simply. Even the hottest level is compatible with consumer amps. Real-time level monitoring via LCD is wonderful. Lynx hilo can do similar (or more complicated) things. But I prefer RME's user interface.
     
    Last edited: Jan 31, 2019
  20. AvijitS25

    AvijitS25 Acquaintance

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    @Vtory @I_want_all_the_tacos thanks for the advice, I'll look into some of the options you guys mentioned. Soekris seems the most interesting to me and cheaper then then the Rme in Canada. If I were to get the rme as a dac would the thx or the mcth go well with it? I will do more research now that I have some more options to look into
     

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