RME ADI-2 DAC

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

  1. limesoft

    limesoft Friend

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Oct 4, 2016
    Likes Received:
    489
    Trophy Points:
    63
    Location:
    London
    I did try different filters, couldn't really hear a change. I'm probably going to get rid of mine - love the eq and all the facilities but the upper ranges timbre. Plugged into Genelece 8050 speakers it makes them sound tiring and splashy - dangerous source makes them rock n roll, tight and sound pleasant.. listening over a long period of time to both this becomes obvious something is off about the RME timbre, it's borderline offensive.

    This is what most people complained about with its main headamp, and it's also present on it's line outs.. not so much on the 3.5mm however - might be an opamps issue? no idea
     
  2. svperstar

    svperstar Acquaintance

    Joined:
    Nov 20, 2016
    Likes Received:
    49
    Trophy Points:
    28
    Location:
    Canada
    I have been wanting the RME ADI-2 for years. I got a great new job that pays very well and decided to finally get it. Glad I waited as long as I did to get the latest revision.

    Been going through all of my DACs/Amps figuring out what my work setup is going to be and decided to have some fun since I have so much gear and do some testing.

    Running the RME-ADI2 -> SMSL SP200 XRL, then I have my original Modi Multibit that has been sitting in the closet hooked up RCA SMSL SP200. I have both of these running USB from my laptop.

    Here is the fun part. There is an old Winamp plugin that lets you run different output plugins at the same time. The author's homepage no longer exists but found it with the wayback machine and downloaded the latest version:
    https://web.archive.org/web/2009062...unds.net/blog/projects/multiple-output-plugin

    I stopped using Winamp years ago but downloaded it again for this test. If you want identical outputs you have to make a copy of the dll you want. I made a copy of the DirectSound dll. Then opened up Winamp with the multiout plugin and set the RME to DirectSound and the Modi Multibit to DirectSound.

    Then when I hit play all I have to do is flip the switch between XLR and RCA:


    I earmatched the volume best I could. I did a mix of songs I have heard 10,000 times and the community favorite headphone test tracks like this:


    I am also running Equalizer APO and toggled it off and on. I'm using my Arya and LCD2C.

    End result is the Modi Multibit and the RME ADI-2 sound very similar coming out of the SP200. I am glad I went with the RME instead of a AKM4499 DAC like I was thinking of getting. I doubt I would hear a difference. I'd give a slight nod to the RME when it comes to soundstage and detail but its not a big difference.

    The SMSL SP200 is a fun thing to do tests with.
     
  3. limesoft

    limesoft Friend

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Oct 4, 2016
    Likes Received:
    489
    Trophy Points:
    63
    Location:
    London
    SMSL SP200 is probably homogenizing the sound - I found similar thing when testing with my Dangerous Music Source as pre; Mojo 2 and Dangerous' own dac sounded extremely similar, especially out of headout (with variety of headphones).
    Plugging in my headphones (HD800s) directly in the Mojo 2 gave me a vastly different sound (mostly for the better).

    It made me appreciate how hard it is to design a truly neutral pre amplifier - even the ones we imagine are neutral are often times doing their own reconstruction of the sound.

    Testing with something like Shure KSE1200 own electrostatic little amp shows me the differences with most of my sources much more clearly over the Dangerous Music Source
     

Share This Page