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Measurements of RME ADI-2 DAC and Headphone Amp

Bliman

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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.
Thank you.
But you are giving me to much honor. I know as much as you.
This place and people are some of the most knowledgeable people in regards to audio. And they have a ton of knowledge. Therefore I want to thank all the people here for the sharing of knowledge and being friendly.
Today was again a day of measuring and shuffling the speakers and it shows in the curves. And most important it shows in how good the sound is. It is incredible how these things change.
Maybe a tip that I can give you. Go to here (that's where I asked for help) https://forum.rme-audio.de/viewtopic.php?id=29041 and communicate there also.
Believe me that you will love that you spend 120 € on the Umik and cable in the future. It will be the best investment you will ever done in regards to audio.
Good luck
 
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daftcombo

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Believe me that you will love that you spend 120 € on the Umik and cable in the future. It will be the best investment you will ever done in regards to audio.
I would agree if measuring a speaker was simple. I spent countless hours (100+) with mine and am still not sure how to EQ.
 

daftcombo

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How so? I am experiencing a major upgrade in sound. Like I have never heard before. I am even enjoying Tool on cd. And that is mostly by speaker placement and measuring. And finetuning with EQ.
Good! Maybe you are lucky. In some rooms, it is a pain.
 

ShiZo

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I wonder how different the pcb's of the rme v2 look compared to the v1.

Im not ballsy enough to open the top myself unfortunately.
 

VintageFlanker

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I wonder how different the pcb's of the rme v2 look compared to the v1.

Im not ballsy enough to open the top myself unfortunately.
Would take a look... Without this last screw with a warranty void seal on it:

20191207_113137.jpg
 

nnitr

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Hi together, I hope I'm not wrong posting in this thread but I have a quick question:

I've got the new ADI-2 DAC and it is connected via optical to a computer and via cinch to a sub7 from Adam Audio and from there to two Adam A3X. When I'm using a USB connection from my pc there is a considerable amount of noise (but only since I've integrated the sub7) so I'm using the optical connection. Unfortunately the bit perfect test fails via optical or USB connection. Does anyone have any pointers in which direction I should look into?

Thanks a lot in advance.
 

JIW

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Hi together, I hope I'm not wrong posting in this thread but I have a quick question:

I've got the new ADI-2 DAC and it is connected via optical to a computer and via cinch to a sub7 from Adam Audio and from there to two Adam A3X. When I'm using a USB connection from my pc there is a considerable amount of noise (but only since I've integrated the sub7) so I'm using the optical connection. Unfortunately the bit perfect test fails via optical or USB connection. Does anyone have any pointers in which direction I should look into?

Thanks a lot in advance.

This sounds like an issue with grounding.

As far as I am aware, both the sub and the speakers have symmetrical XLR-connectors. Why not use symmetrical connection instead.

Regarding the bit-test, check if the sample rate of the DAC is that of the file and if the playback software is set to full volume and all effects are disabled.
 

nnitr

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This sounds like an issue with grounding.

As far as I am aware, both the sub and the speakers have symmetrical XLR-connectors. Why not use symmetrical connection instead.

Regarding the bit-test, check if the sample rate of the DAC is that of the file and if the playback software is set to full volume and all effects are disabled.

Thanks for your tips.

I'm looking into XLR cables, I would lose the stereolink functionality, but I guess with the ADI-2 I don't need it anyways..
 

ShiZo

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My rme hasn't had any grounding issues. But then again I do use only xlr on all my gear :p.

I always thought it was the fact the rme isn't grounded through it's power cable. But I guess it may be possible through rca. I'm pretty surprised though. Are you sure it's not something else in your chain? My jotunheim used to have some serious grounding issues before I got the rme too.

You used asio or wasapi for the test?
 

JIW

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Thanks for your tips.

I'm looking into XLR cables, I would lose the stereolink functionality, but I guess with the ADI-2 I don't need it anyways..

How would the stereolink even work with a sub?

The RME functions very well as a preamp for active speakers.

You need four XLR-cables. Two from the RME to the sub and a further two from the sub to the speakers.
 

nnitr

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My rme hasn't had any grounding issues. But then again I do use only xlr on all my gear :p.

I always thought it was the fact the rme isn't grounded through it's power cable. But I guess it may be possible through rca. I'm pretty surprised though. Are you sure it's not something else in your chain? My jotunheim used to have some serious grounding issues before I got the rme too.

You used asio or wasapi for the test?

It might be the USB connection as well... I've tried another USB port and it's a little bit better, but there was static noise even when scrolling in firefox.

I only installed the RME driver from the RME homepage, shall I install an asio driver as well?

How would the stereolink even work with a sub?

The RME functions very well as a preamp for active speakers.

You need four XLR-cables. Two from the RME to the sub and a further two from the sub to the speakers.

Stereolink worked fine, because the sub has a seperate volume knob. I've ordered four XLR cables that should arrive on tuesday. Thanks for your help.
 

ShiZo

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Download foobar, go to preferences and change output to wasapi or asio. The rme driver has an asio driver built in. No need to install anything extra.

I'm not sure but I think the test has to go through asio or wasapi to work. If someone could confirm?
 

Alan S

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Download foobar, go to preferences and change output to wasapi or asio. The rme driver has an asio driver built in. No need to install anything extra.

I'm not sure but I think the test has to go through asio or wasapi to work. If someone could confirm?
PASSED with OTG.
 

th0m

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My v2 will most likely show up tomorrow. Sadly my power amp is away for repair atm, but that at least gives me plenty of time to acquaint myself with the myriad of settings before I can use it for real.
 

Alan S

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I was googling around but unable to find, when/why/how did you do this test.
Andriod Phone→USB OTG→ADI-2 DAC
APP:HibyMusic (USB exclusive mode)
And I can't hear the difference between OTG and PC.
P.S. I use a Buffalo PCI-E USB expansion card on PC.
 
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nnitr

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The xlr cables are supposed to come tomorrow,but I'm really hooked on using my new audiosense t800 with the adi. A really nice combination, I believe.
 

DivineCurrent

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Anyone have an idea as to when the updated ADI-2 DAC will be available in the US? I'm very much considering one. @MC_RME?
 
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