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Review and Measurements of RME ADI-2 DAC

Hybride

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Jan 3, 2019
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I don't see the point to upsample it.

RME doubt on the usefulness of upsampling. Aren't we 'educated' that upsampling is usefull to use more gentle (slow) filters as explained here: (from 14m:30s about upsampling) www.youtube.com/watch?v=SdPU2TZylSs ; upsampling doesn't increase information, but makes better sound by using more simple and gentle (slow) filtering. A contradiction between experts?

On my North Star 192 DAC i can clearly hear the difference in sound when turning upsampling on/off. I prefer on as most of my friends listening here. As i play most 44.1khz sources i wonder if the RME DAC can beat the sound without upsampling. I will order a RMA ADI-2 DAC to compare, very curious.
 

Anatta

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Mar 13, 2019
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The ADI-2 DAC has an 8x digital filter in the AK4490 which means that 44.1kHz content is upsampled to 352.8kHz.
 

linnlingo

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Adi kills qutest in sound quality no question about it. It’s easily spotted even from youtube videos....there is several.
My dealer had both the Chord Quest and the RME. We compared both through a Luxman integrated and a pair of Spendor A-6's. No reason to pay about $800 more for the Chord. Plus the feature set on the RME made it a bargain.
 

Oukkidoukki

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Tip to those who think adi is too clinical, neutral or thin etc,,....put some quality cables there and its perfect.....I have the old adi 2......used to think its thin or cold or digital sounding. I go from the dac to yamaha hs8 via xlr........used to have basic cordial cables, tested vovox sonorus, and they stayed.......I can’t hear any fault in the sound, there is sub bass, there is air , there is holographic feel.....it craps my attention every time. Ofcourse there is better, but for couple of hundred it’s great. So before you resale your adi for the reasons mentioned above, make yourself a favore and check the cable situation.
 

VintageFlanker

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Tip to those who think adi is too clinical, neutral or thin etc,,....put some quality cables there and its perfect.....I have the old adi 2......used to think its thin or cold or digital sounding. I go from the dac to yamaha hs8 via xlr........used to have basic cordial cables, tested vovox sonorus, and they stayed.......I can’t hear any fault in the sound, there is sub bass, there is air , there is holographic feel.....it craps my attention every time. Ofcourse there is better, but for couple of hundred it’s great. So before you resale your adi for the reasons mentioned above, make yourself a favore and check the cable situation.
First, I don't understand what a "too neutral" DAC is.
Second, I simply can NOT see how some cables may alter this.
;)
 

THEV

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Feb 21, 2019
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Did the SINAD get measured for this dac? I can't find it on the SINAD master list
 

treuben

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Hello all from a new user. I have a question that I hope users of the ADI2 DAC might be able to answer..

Is the remote volume control "acceleration" feature intrusive in a set-up where the unit is being used to drive a power amplifier? Some videos mention a one-second long press gives 15dB change in output! That seems like a lot to me.. and hearing the clicky buttons on the remote makes me wonder whether clicking 0.5dB increments individually would get old fast. I don't know of any hi-fi preamp that does this (volume control) in this way.
 

treuben

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Well, that sounds more reasonable. Thank you very much. 8) Now I just have to work out whether an upgrade from the HDMI NAD DAC that was tested here is going to be to the ADI-2-DAC or to the Khadas tone board.. I can do EQ for my speakers with linux digital filter suite and the thing will sit in my hifi rack so the headamp is not much good to me (since that isn't close to my chair). I guess loudness properly working is a plus.. though I seldom listen at reduced greatly level so I don't miss fidelity at lower levels driven by lack of a loudness function.. (though dac output may be reduced somewhat, because I drive a power amp directly, so fidelity at reduced dac output is useful). The RME certainly looks the biz and looks sensibly designed. I almost exclusively use one linux based install for playback so USB is probably ok and I won't miss the HDMI that makes the NAD more useful in some set-ups.

It's great to see such wonderful measurement and analysis but it's still hard to work out (for me at any rate) what might be audible.. and how much I should beat up my piggy bank as a result!

It seems like I'd need something additional to do remote volume with the Tone Board too (if I'm not missing something) - and I'm not sure what method of volume control the Tone Board uses and whether there's a performance penalty for using it. Volume control principle and its inherent fidelity is important to me. Time for more reading! Maybe even the D50 is a possibility. 8/ *confused*
 
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McFly

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The volume control algorithm is one of the better ones, maybe the best, I’ve ever used of any piece of hifi . Remote and wheel.
 

sonci

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Feb 18, 2018
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Adi kills qutest in sound quality no question about it. It’s easily spotted even from youtube videos....there is several.
Is this a joke? How can you judge sound quality from you tube videos?
Anyone can prefer whatever, but since this is a science forum the Qutest wipes the floor in measurements with the RME,
Adi2 should not even be in the first section of the dacs measured.
 

Hybride

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Jan 3, 2019
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Hi everyone,
Recieved a RME ADI-2 DAC. A subjective impression for who is interested. At first, the influence of the power supply is audible for me. With the standard switching PSU i find the sound (the highs) somewhat exhausting. When i put a Seec HQSN4U mains filter before the PSU i hear a significant improvement. Then switched the standard PSU for a Sotm SPS500 PSU. That made another slight improvement. Then i tried a Lithium batterie 12V. I hear no significant difference as with the Sotm PSU. A good mains filter seems to be enough.

The RME sounds fine in my ears in several aspects which i expect from a good dac. The output stage implementation is one of the best i heard. The sound is (micro)dynamic, musical and layered. The tonal characteristics in NOS filtermode makes me think of my good old 1541/1543 dac's. Any consideration..? Well yes, i have heard cleaner DAC's. Perhaps this is due using switching voltage regulators in the (analog) circuit and/or maybe not the final word in separation between the analog and digital circuit. If i decide to keep the dac i for sure will try to tweak it by adding some Vpolytan (ultra low ESR) capacitors on crucial places. In my past experience this can make a difference. Overall, the RME convince me in many aspects and on good engineering. In the next weeks i expect a tough consideration deciding keeping or returning this dac. I would love to read a comparising review with, for example, a Gustard X26.
 
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Hybride

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Its a filter mode;
1554972298782.png
 
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