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Grace Design m902 measurements to RME ADI-2-DAC

Bliman

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Bliman

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Oh yeah and it is for using in a stereo system with power amplifier and loudspeakers. Not for headphones.
 

pkane

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Can nobody help me?

Technically, RME is a much better DAC in all measurement categories. If the measurements are correct, the USB input is extremely jittery on the Grace DAC. Well above the level of any decent modern DAC.

Whether the RME will work well with the rest of your system and/or with your ears and preferences for sound only you can answer.

In your position, I’d give the RME a try, but it’s your money, your ears and your music ;)
 
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Bliman

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Technically, RME is a much better DAC in all measurement categories. If the measurements are correct, the USB input is extremely jittery on the Grace DAC. Well above the level of any decent modern DAC.

Whether the RME will work well with the rest of your system and/or with your ears and preferences for sound only you can answer.

In your position, I’d give the RME a try, but it’s your money, your ears and your music ;)
Thank you very much. Yeah, there is something not right with the usb input. It never worked good. And there was always a lot of noise on it. Can you or someone say what the SINAD is with the measurements? I tried a calculator, but I got stuck.
You need 85 I think to be completely transparent.
 

pkane

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Thank you very much. Yeah, there is something not right with the usb input. It never worked good. And there was always a lot of noise on it. Can you or someone say what the SINAD is with the measurements? I tried a calculator, but I got stuck.
You need 85 I think to be completely transparent.

I can't compute SINAD from the charts JA posted, but THD by itself (without the Noise component) was measured as 0.0016% in on channel and 0.0007% in the other for Grace DAC. More than twice the difference between channels, but low enough. If we take THD as the average of two, it comes to about -99dB, which is OK.

RME THD measurement, IIRC, is closer to around -115dB or so. So, SINAD will also be better for the RME DAC, especially if, as you say, noise level is high in the Grace DAC. Whether this is a huge audible difference I very much doubt, but again, depends on you, your ears, listening habits, etc.
 

M00ndancer

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Yeah, there is something not right with the usb input. It never worked good. And there was always a lot of noise on it.
There is probably no or small difference in audibility. But that USB would drive me crazy. I would if I had the money, change, just for that.
 
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Bliman

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Thank you both. Yeah I am going to bite. I am going to archive my cd's because I am running out of room to place them and my cd player is starting to give up the ghost. And for that I need a good usb connection to connect to a streamer of some sort. And that is lacking in the Grace Design.
 

paddycrow

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I have been really happy with the RME. I am using it between a server and a preamp.

Also looking forward to seeing data on Matrix Audio's new Element I to see how it stacks up.
 
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