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WTT my RME ADI-2 DAC fs for a Denafrips Ares II (or similar r2r) DAC.

KillerQ

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Hi!


As the title states, I’m looking to trade trade my RME ADI-2 DAC fs for a Denafrips Ares II. Or a similar-sounding r2r DAC.

This RME is the newest version of the RME released last year with the upgraded chipset and upgraded remote.

If you have any question, please let me know. United States only shipping at this time, please.

Please tell me below when you PM. Also, I have tons of feedback on head-fi as well as /r/AVexchange that I can lead you to if necessary.

Thanks in advance!!


Time stamp:
6F30F29B-60B6-4ABC-A6D0-A4E122ADE594.jpeg
 

Phorize

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I hate to be that guy but ‘similar sounding’ doesn’t give people much to go on given that all transparent dacs are ‘soundless’. Perhaps naming the features that you want would help, not that I can think of a dac that has for features than the rme.
 
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KillerQ

KillerQ

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I hate to be that guy but ‘similar sounding’ doesn’t give people much to go on given that all transparent dacs are ‘soundless’. Perhaps naming the features that you want would help, not that I can think of a dac that has for features than the rme.

Sorry, I meant a similar r2r discrete resistor ladder DAC that has a smoother, less-analytical/clinical sound.
 

Phorize

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Maybe you should try the EQ of the RME to suit your taste rather than just add distortion?
Add a little between 150 and 200 Hz and reduce between 2 and 5kHz...
That’s a good idea. The rme is such a great dac!
 

Phorize

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It seems like it takes me 4 hours to adjust anything!
Agree that the menus have a Swiss Army knife sort of feel, lots to choose from. What streaming source do you feed the rme with, could you eq that more easily? I really think that playing around with eq might leave you with something you prefer.
 
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KillerQ

KillerQ

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Agree that the menus have a Swiss Army knife sort of feel, lots to choose from. What streaming source do you feed the rme with, could you eq that more easily? I really think that playing around with eq might leave you with something you prefer.

Thanks. I use my PC. However, I despise EQ. If I have to EQ I feel like I wasted my money on my headphones. I’m strange.
 

jannek

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Which headphones do you use? Headphones sound VERY different, transparent DACs (as the RME) do not. A perfect match between the headphone sound signature and your taste would be luck. At least EQing them to Harman Target is absolutely no shame. Using an expensive headphone with little distortion and then feeding it with a DAC with lots of it is a waste of money.
 

Phorize

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Thanks. I use my PC. However, I despise EQ. If I have to EQ I feel like I wasted my money on my headphones. I’m strange.
The headphone point is a good one. You’ll find tonnes of good information on headphone sound here. I use an akg 371 without eq and it sounds very well balanced so I don’t bother to eq it. I have others that need a few tweaks.
Appreciate that you came here to sell swap your dac so I won’t keep trying to persuade you not too:)
 

Aerith Gainsborough

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Thanks. I use my PC. However, I despise EQ. If I have to EQ I feel like I wasted my money on my headphones. I’m strange.
Soo uuh I guess you would buy an expensive car and then leave the seat, steering wheel and the mirrors in the stock position?
Because adjusting anything would be a deviation from what the designer intended, right?

If you look at EQ as fine tuning an already good headphone to your particular hearing quirks, you notice that there is no waste involved. No headphone engineer can create a can that sounds good for everybody, as we are all different. Hell even your two ears may have varying frequency responses, the RME is capable of addressing that.

Yup, different DAC structures are completely pointless in the year 2021. Get a DAC that is measured transparent here (hint: you already have that with your RME) and add a headphone amp that has a low output impedance, coupled with the power you need and low distortion (depending on the can in question, the integrated amp of the RME may be all you need on that front too).

EQ to taste -> forget the OCD hunt for gear and "synergy" and just listen to the actual music.

You have no idea how the right EQ can improve any headphone... :D
Yup, even my Focal Clear benefits from a gentle shelf that adds a little more sub bass.
 
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KillerQ

KillerQ

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Soo uuh I guess you would buy an expensive car and then leave the seat, steering wheel and the mirrors in the stock position?
Because adjusting anything would be a deviation from what the designer intended, right?

If you look at EQ as fine tuning an already good headphone to your particular hearing quirks, you notice that there is no waste involved. No headphone engineer can create a can that sounds good for everybody, as we are all different. Hell even your two ears may have varying frequency responses, the RME is capable of addressing that.

Yup, different DAC structures are completely pointless in the year 2021. Get a DAC that is measured transparent here (hint: you already have that with your RME) and add a headphone amp that has a low output impedance, coupled with the power you need and low distortion (depending on the can in question, the integrated amp of the RME may be all you need on that front too).

EQ to taste -> forget the OCD hunt for gear and "synergy" and just listen to the actual music.


Yup, even my Focal Clear benefits from a gentle shelf that adds a little more sub bass.

Thanks for that answer. Now, knowing the equipment I have, and using the PC, what would be the quickest way to click a button to add some distortion/EQ/ filter to try and get the sound I’m looking for without spending hours navigating menus and fiddling around? Just a quick way to show me that the RME is great for what I want still.
 
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KillerQ

KillerQ

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Soo uuh I guess you would buy an expensive car and then leave the seat, steering wheel and the mirrors in the stock position?
Because adjusting anything would be a deviation from what the designer intended, right?

If you look at EQ as fine tuning an already good headphone to your particular hearing quirks, you notice that there is no waste involved. No headphone engineer can create a can that sounds good for everybody, as we are all different. Hell even your two ears may have varying frequency responses, the RME is capable of addressing that.

Yup, different DAC structures are completely pointless in the year 2021. Get a DAC that is measured transparent here (hint: you already have that with your RME) and add a headphone amp that has a low output impedance, coupled with the power you need and low distortion (depending on the can in question, the integrated amp of the RME may be all you need on that front too).

EQ to taste -> forget the OCD hunt for gear and "synergy" and just listen to the actual music.


Yup, even my Focal Clear benefits from a gentle shelf that adds a little more sub bass.

Also - you bring up a valid point. Before I was into high end equipment and into all of the audiophile stuff, I would just buy a pair of sub $100 ear buds and then crank them up with the most extreme V curve possible, because I didn’t know better. I thought music only sounded good with extreme bass and very sharp treble. At that time, if you played a song with flat EQ, I would literally laugh and shake my head and say that that isn’t how music is supposed to Sound.
Once I got the nurse or equipment and is your headphones I realized that the flat or EQ is exactly how music is supposed to sound/intended and now if I went back to my old ways I would roll my eyes and laugh at myself. I am honestly afraid to EQ at all because I don’t wanna get back into my old ways of just throwing a filter over my songs to make it sound good not taking Equipment into account.

I love classic rock and classical and alternative and all kinds of genres, however my favorite genre is death metal. It’s probably a tricky genre for an audio files to find the perfect equipment for. This is the case because they usually don’t take a lot of care mastering it. Here’s an example of what I love, listen to both (all the way through as there are tons of changes) and lemme know what you think may work. I appreciate it.


many of them also have huge breakdowns with bass slams. See here.
Thanks!
 

Aerith Gainsborough

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Thanks for that answer. Now, knowing the equipment I have, and using the PC, what would be the quickest way to click a button to add some distortion/EQ/ filter to try and get the sound I’m looking for without spending hours navigating menus and fiddling around? Just a quick way to show me that the RME is great for what I want still.
First of all, the menu structure of the RME is really simple. Once you understand it, you can make adjustments within seconds.
With the manual provided, it shouldn't take you more than 15 minutes to get the hang of it. It is very logical.

Second: what you want is very difficult. I cannot tell you what sound you are looking for. I for one cannot distinguish between electronic components if my life depended on it (output impedance and obvious noisefloor being the only exceptions).
The only way to learn what floats your boat is through experimentation and self reflection. THIS WILL TAKE TIME because you need to live with a new EQ for a while in order to acclimate to it. I can only tell you how it worked for me: I got my DT-880 back in 2012 and noticed that I like a rather flat response. When I got my Clear in 2019 I noticed that a little more bass wasn't bad either. At the time, my output device had a higher impedance, giving the Clear additional warmth. When my shiny new ADI took that away and exposed the true character of the headphone, I learned that Clear sounded a bit too lean. So I measured it and re-created the signature that, to my ears, was perfection via EQ.

Perhaps, this image might be of assistance:
descriptors2.png


Third: realize that recordings are wildly different. There is no can to suit them all, no EQ to rule them all. If you are OCD about imposing your sonic signature on all of them, you will basically have to create EQ profiles on a per record basis. I do not recommended that unless the record has glaring flaws that makes the music unenjoyable to you (some just are super bright for instance). Oh and.. yeah: garbage in -> garbage out always applies. EQ can mitigate it but if the master is crap it will sound ... well ... only slightly less crappy? :D
 
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KillerQ

KillerQ

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Thanks for the response!

I have read the manual several times and as very familiar with the menu structure- what I mean is that I need to learn more about the frequencies to learn WHAT I need to tweak. I know that left is bass, right is treble, and midrange is in the middle. Haha.
Perhaps I’d be better off experimenting with Peace/EQ APO with some presets for now.

First of all, the menu structure of the RME is really simple. Once you understand it, you can make adjustments within seconds.
With the manual provided, it shouldn't take you more than 15 minutes to get the hang of it. It is very logical.

Second: what you want is very difficult. I cannot tell you what sound you are looking for. I for one cannot distinguish between electronic components if my life depended on it (output impedance and obvious noisefloor being the only exceptions).
The only way to learn what floats your boat is through experimentation and self reflection. THIS WILL TAKE TIME because you need to live with a new EQ for a while in order to acclimate to it. I can only tell you how it worked for me: I got my DT-880 back in 2012 and noticed that I like a rather flat response. When I got my Clear in 2019 I noticed that a little more bass wasn't bad either. At the time, my output device had a higher impedance, giving the Clear additional warmth. When my shiny new ADI took that away and exposed the true character of the headphone, I learned that Clear sounded a bit too lean. So I measured it and re-created the signature that, to my ears, was perfection via EQ.

Perhaps, this image might be of assistance:
View attachment 113755

Third: realize that recordings are wildly different. There is no can to suit them all, no EQ to rule them all. If you are OCD about imposing your sonic signature on all of them, you will basically have to create EQ profiles on a per record basis. I do not recommended that unless the record has glaring flaws that makes the music unenjoyable to you (some just are super bright for instance). Oh and.. yeah: garbage in -> garbage out always applies. EQ can mitigate it but if the master is crap it will sound ... well ... only slightly less crappy? :D
 

VintageFlanker

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I meant a similar r2r discrete resistor ladder DAC that has a smoother, less-analytical/clinical sound.
That is plain wrong to begin with. More distorsion lead to the exact opposite sound.
Which DAC do you use?
The more transparent. You already has one.
However, I despise EQ. If I have to EQ I feel like I wasted my money on my headphones. I’m strange.
Yep, for sure. Think about this: you're seeking for a DAC to act as a (permanent) tone control but don't want to play with the plenty of DSP available. That doesn't make a lot of sense, don't you think?

Try to apply really light EQ (1 or 2 dB max at each band) and see what's happening. I've never heard my K712 Pro sounding as good as with the ADI-2 EQ.
 
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