Measurements of RME ADI-2 DAC and Headphone Amp

[amirm]

It de-emphasis better left off? I thought it fixes certain music files that have emphasis added to it. @amirm, do you know anything about the emphasis setting? Sorry for being dense .

I only remember one or two ancient CDs that were encoded with emphasis. I would put it in auto just in case you run into them. There is a flag that indicates whether the stream is encoded such or not.

 

[CMB]

My ears being adapting to the RME, I decided to follow a totally different way from now.
Forget about the EQ thing.
I am playing now only the worst CDs I could find (mostly Barbara Streisand Greatest Hits) and work on my ears adapting better.
I will report on that shortly as soon I have found a reliable scientific way to mesure it.
At the moment, I mesure it by the minutes I am late at work by this process.

Have a great day to all.

 

[jacobacci]

List of CDs with preemph here

 

[ElNino]

List of CDs with preemph here

That's a great reference -- pre-emphasis was always rare, but it looks like no mainstream CD mastered after 1992 used it.

 

[ShiZo]

The rme adi 2 dac v2 sounds at least the same or better than the v1.

I do have a really "transparent" setup though, I like a flat frequency response. My favorite audio devices for listening are the focal clear, jbl305p w/ jbl310s, and elegia. All of them have a fairly flat frequency response I believe.

I do bypass my rme's amp to a hpa4 though.

 

[Nango]

Has anyone tested SQ face-to-face with one of those flagships mobile DAP like DX220, or M11 or even one A&K please?? Is it far far away??

 

[Majestyk]

I had set the new RME up today. And of course, I listened to it immediately.
So this is a very first impression. I heard immediately that the treble was much more out there and strong (also on other cd's).
It is difficult to explain but the layering seems also pretty thin (difficult to explain). I know that 10000 days is not a great recording and it was also apparent on the grace design but with the RME I couldn't listen to it. starting with Vicarious. I put the treble down by 6 dB and bass up with 6dB but I couldn't get it good. It was so harsh and also a bit of a mess to listen too.
I then listened to the Grace Design and it is much more coherent and less messy.
This is only after hearing the RME a couple of hours. So things can change.
What was also clear is that the RME is more detailed then the grace design. I could hear things that I never heard before.
Just so you know I am always someone that is very critical of purchases and fearful of buying the right stuff.
I hope I can change it with eq.
The coming days I will hear more and maybe things will change.
Also with headphones the difference is there and the Grace Design sounds better (but I haven't listened much).
And although I didn't do a blind test, I would be very surprised if I couldn't hear which is which.
I wish it was simple for me to do a blind test.
Hopefully it is just fear talking in my head that I made the wrong choice. But the Tool stuff was pretty scary.

Just curious if the EQ changed any of this for you. I had the RME and I heard EXACTLY what you are describing and I sold it. I never did tinker with the EQ all that much, I didn't think it would make that much of a difference.

 

[Bliman]

Just curious if the EQ changed any of this for you. I had the RME and I heard EXACTLY what you are describing and I sold it. I never did tinker with the EQ all that much, I didn't think it would make that much of a difference.

First I must say that I had a grace design that not really worked with usb and I don't have a computer in my room.
Now when I bought the RME I was also considering the Oktoresearch dac and the Matrix dac.
The one thing that helped me make the decision is the reputation of the company and the product and the praise here and the features. I also bought the Microphone from Minidsp which I could now use with my laptop by usb and the usb input of the RME.
I then starting measuring. And it was clear that something was not right. And by the help from the RME forum. I found out quickly that the phase wasn't set right on my subwoofer. He also chose to set the speakers a little different as well as the subwoofer. He also said to match the main speakers to the subwoofer. This already made a huge huge difference.
Now I posted the curve again. But I tried the EQ myself also to get rid of some anomalies in the curve that were less now. And this made a difference in the sound. Much more than I thought possible. The level of playing of my system has gone up much greater than a slightly better spec would do. There is nothing wrong with the RME. And yes others will give you the same performance. But not the same features. My system is sounding better than ever.
The biggest difference is measuring with a microphone, someone who can help you figure out what is happening with the curves and room. I hope I helped you. And otherwise, just ask.

 

[Majestyk]

Do you have the V1 or V2?

 

[CMB]

I seriously would like to give a thumbs up to Mr Bliman for his restless quest on fine tuning its RME DAC and sharing about his journey. I follow the experience with great interest to replicate. I am setting up my check list. Until now:

• Buy a Umik and long enough Cable (spend another 120 Eur - I hate it)
• get and get a very basic knowledge on a mesurement software like REW or Dirac (ok)
• Trick the family out the house (will try)
• Put all eq to 0 (easy)
• Make and interprete mesurements (probably not so easy)
• Check the polarity of the sub (should be ok)
• Match the sub and speakers volume (that one is a revelation for me!)
• Try to different angle the speakers and move the Sub around until better mesurements
• Try to eq to get rid of anomalies (biggest challenge)
• Invite Mr Bliman and Mr Vintage together to your home to finish the job (as someone has to know what he is doing)

Looking forward completing this list with further details on the eq settings. Mr Bliman, please keep on sharing your experience also on eq settings.

 

[zenmastering]

Has anyone tested SQ face-to-face with one of those flagships mobile DAP like DX220, or M11 or even one A&K please?? Is it far far away??

I have the RME ADI-2 DAC fs (v1); the first gen. ADI-2 Pro; Astell and Kern Kann and the Fiio M11. I use all of them in a mastering studio environment, with many hours of listening and comparing.

My opinion of the relative sound quality, top to bottom: ADI-2 DAC fs ; Kann; ADI-2 Pro; Fiio M11. The Kann is really rather good but it's GUI is slooooowwwww, especially with more than a few thousand tracks. The M11 has a snappy GUI, two SD card slots (like the Kann) but lacks the low-level resolution and transient accuracy of the ADI-2 DAC and the Kann. It's not a small difference.

 

[Nango]

I have the RME ADI-2 DAC fs (v1); the first gen. ADI-2 Pro; Astell and Kern Kann and the Fiio M11. I use all of them in a mastering studio environment, with many hours of listening and comparing.

My opinion of the relative sound quality, top to bottom: ADI-2 DAC fs ; Kann; ADI-2 Pro; Fiio M11. The Kann is really rather good but it's GUI is slooooowwwww, especially with more than a few thousand tracks. The M11 has a snappy GUI, two SD card slots (like the Kann) but lacks the low-level resolution and transient accuracy of the ADI-2 DAC and the Kann. It's not a small difference.

Thank you. Do you mean the KANN or the KANN Cube (doubles the px)??

 

[Baten]

Hi guys. Can you tell me if it is possible, between old ADI-2 and new ADI-2 for differences to be audible?

On other forums they talked about different harmonic profile, old version is odd-harmonic dominated. New one is more even.
Can this be audible? Really just curious.

 

[Blumlein 88]

Hi guys. Can you tell me if it is possible, between old ADI-2 and new ADI-2 for differences to be audible?

On other forums they talked about different harmonic profile, old version is odd-harmonic dominated. New one is more even.
Can this be audible? Really just curious.

Try pkane's neat distort software. You can create your own distortion profile and compare multiple versions to see if you hear a difference. Of course your rig needs less distortion than the profiles and with either RME that is unlikely. The highest artifacts are right near -120 db or less. You aren't hearing that regardless of harmonic profile. So no they'll both sound the same I think.

https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...test-distort-audibility-of-distortions.10163/

Latest version of Distort can be had here for Windows.
https://distortaudio.org

 

[MRC01]

That's a great reference -- pre-emphasis was always rare, but it looks like no mainstream CD mastered after 1992 used it.

One thing to keep in mind with these lists is reissues. Most of these are old recordings. If you bought the same CD new today, it is likely to be a reissue that doesn't use emphasis anymore. If you want the original using emphasis you'll have to search for used originals on places like eBay.

 

[VintageFlanker]

Hi guys. Can you tell me if it is possible, between old ADI-2 and new ADI-2 for differences to be audible?

All harmonic distortion spikes are -120dB or beneath. For both v1 or v2.
That does mean it cannot be audible.

 

[Pillars]

How do you physically tell the difference between v1 and v2?

 

[VintageFlanker]

How do you physically tell the difference between v1 and v2?

Absolutely identical apart from the remote. Then, the only way to identify a v2 is the presence of SD Low Dispersion filter:

 

[Willem]

The difference between these two versons is minor and will be inaudible for the simple reason that the old version was already better than what humans can discern.

 

[Bliman]

Do you have the V1 or V2?

I have the latest version.