The RME is much cheaper and far more versatile, but both are excellent designs.
Keith
Keith
The wins are marginal though at best for almost twice the cost... Honestly at that point might as well get the D50 unless you really "need" balanced outputs.The RME ADI2 dac wins in unbalanced linearity, usb jitter, and headphone power. The dac 3 wins in 24dbu thd+n, -90db sine wave, smpte imd curve, headphone noise, and I suspect toslink jitter. Depending on how you use the dac, the RME advantages might not apply (if you use xlr out, or less than a certain headphone voltage), leaving the dac 3 with a bunch of uncontested wins.
So I'd still put the dac 3 above the adi 2 dac, with some caveats.
Amir, thanks for the great measurements and review! I'm seriously considering getting this for my Andromedas as well as my HD650. Have you ever measured or used the Hafler HA75? It's around the same price as the RME ADI-2 and am having a difficult time deciding which one to go for. They are very different though!
Yes, In that case I would only start out with an amp and later down the line i would get a dac. I'm planning on outputting the digital signal from the Sony nw-zx300 into an amp like the Hafler or a dac/amp like the RME. What I like about the Hafler is that it proves several tweaks to the sound as well as having tubes. I like about the RME that it has tons of DSP functions. Thanks for your help!You're aware though that the RME is a DAC+headphone amp while the Hafler is a headphone amp only?
Hi there. Welcome aboard. Thanks for the kind words. And no, I have not gotten any requests for the Hafler. I know the company from making home amplifiers. Did not know they were into headphone amps. If someone has one, I would be happy to measure it. Otherwise at $999, it is way above my budget.Amir, thanks for the great measurements and review! I'm seriously considering getting this for my Andromedas as well as my HD650. Have you ever measured or used the Hafler HA75? It's around the same price as the RME ADI-2 and am having a difficult time deciding which one to go for. They are very different though!
Yes, In that case I would only start out with an amp and later down the line i would get a dac. I'm planning on outputting the digital signal from the Sony nw-zx300 into an amp like the Hafler or a dac/amp like the RME. What I like about the Hafler is that it proves several tweaks to the sound as well as having tubes. I like about the RME that it has tons of DSP functions. Thanks for your help!
Are you sure you can output a digital signal from that Sony? AFAIK it only has analogue out.
But yeh, if you're looking for user-controllable tube distortion, the Hafler looks like an interesting buy. Would be interested to hear your impressions if you've heard it?
Assuming that the Sony can do digital out, and if you do really want to have the Hafler in the system, you might be best off going for something like a very cheap but almost certainly transparent Topping DAC (e.g. D10 or D50) and running the digital signal from the Sony into that and then the analogue out from the Topping to the Hafler.
Yes, there is a Sony cable for outputting digital signal only, not analog.
Would you recommend the the Topping D50 over a JDS OL Dac?
The one thing that I'm unsure about the Hafler is that it has a high out put impedance. There is a knob to change the headphone load from 20 Ohms to 400 Ohms. This probably won't play well with sensitive IEMs like Andromeda which as an Impedance of around 12 Ohms at 1kHz but because it has 5 balanced armatures the impedance swings goes from as low as 8 Ohms all the way up to around 18 Ohms I think.
This probably won't play well with sensitive IEMs like Andromeda which as an Impedance of around 12 Ohms at 1kHz but because it has 5 balanced armatures the impedance swings goes from as low as 8 Ohms all the way up to around 18 Ohms I think.
The Andromeda's impedance varies from ~4Ohms in the bass to ~25Ohms in the treble. Plot is here.
Given that it has a low nominal impedance to begin with, it does not take much impedance in front of it to noticeably alter the bass characteristics towards the "lean" side.
IMO, this a bad electrical design. But, I'm sure others think that being able to change the sonic characteristics is a feature.
IMO, this a bad electrical design. But, I'm sure others think that being able to change the sonic characteristics is a feature.
Most people, including myself, think the Andromeda actually sounds best around 2 to 3 ohm output impdance. Of course, with the ADI-2 it does not matter, as you can just EQ it.
The Andromeda's impedance varies from ~4Ohms in the bass to ~25Ohms in the treble. Plot is here.
Given that it has a low nominal impedance to begin with, it does not take much impedance in front of it to noticeably alter the bass characteristics towards the "lean" side.
IMO, this a bad electrical design. But, I'm sure others think that being able to change the sonic characteristics is a feature.
Do you think it was designed that way because it was easier than to fix the impedance swings or do you think it was designed like that on purpose.