Hi,
I came across this forum looking via google if I will find some reviews that will share my thoughts with the rem adi-2 dac. I have had the rme dac a week and still have the Yggdrasil dac at home.
to make it short.
I think that measurements do not tell the whole story about dac's. they may be a hint of what will happen, nothing more.
its all about listening. its about the musical performance. if a dac gets me involved into the music...thats matters to me.
the rme measures superb but does not sound superb.on the first listening you're overwhelmed by all the information you're getting. on the second and third listening I feel the dac does not have the ability to focus on the main musical structures...after 30 minutes my ears get tired...
if you listen to vocals you will understand what I mean.
if you have for example a good dac like the Yggdrasil side by side...its gonna be clear.
I would like to assume that a good chain is present and that the room is measured and thus heard via loudspeakers.
the rme has a very nice resolution but its character is a bit cold, metallic and flat. the rme does not have the ability to render a 3d soundstage.
everything remains flat with much information happening in the left-right stereo picture. the rme does not render the main musical ingredients.
In depth there is not much happening.
i have learned, that's a smart move, to judge a dac or musical equipment, how they render vocals.
if I take the rme I must say that vocals do not sound good. they are sharp, thin and have no warmth at all and miss body.
when I translate the vocal area to instruments, I see that instruments share the same character. coldness, sharpness....
now I'm coming to the Yggdrasil.
the Yggdrasil renders vocals beautiful. Vocals have a nice full body, warmth and they are never sharp, they never bother me
in the "desser" area. Vocals remain the leading instrument in a mix. Nothing in the stereo field distracts from the voice. The focus stays on the vocals. Instruments have all their clearly defined space and this is the reason the Yggdrasil can "3D".
the overall musical presentation is engaging and involving. I can listen to music with the Yggdrasil for hours...I have been listening a week to both dacs side by side.
to me, without a doubt, the much better dac is the Yggdrasil.
finally I will say, if the rme converter would be the better one, I wouldn't wait a second to sell the Yggdrasil.
btw the remote control is nice...but....
we had a weekend with friends. we had for 5 hours fun presenting the rme and the Yggdrasil in a blind testing.
guess what? the Yggdrasil was in every musical performance preferred. we had classical music, mercedes soza, r&b...andreas Vollenweider...jazz.
..........
a strange world today ...in the analog days with vinyls turntables....measurements were in focus and purchase decisions were made on this basis?
of course not...its all about sound...
.........
Ecouton LQL200 speakers, Ragnarok Amp, Audirvana with Dirac live or math audio RoomEQ, Project Stream Box S2 ultra.