Review and Measurements of Grace Design m900 DAC & Amp

[Thunder240]

Thanks for the response. The m902 is a different beast, so I don’t know that I can generalize to the m9xx, but if the m9xx’s anti-jitter texhnology is a trickledown from the m902, then that’s a good sign.

 

[Hchavez]

I have had a Grace M900 for several years now. Like any other audiophile we are always looking for the next best thing(that we can afford,lol). I have had my eyes on the RME adi-2. Would it be worth the upgrade or not?

 

[TK33]

I have had a Grace M900 for several years now. Like any other audiophile we are always looking for the next best thing(that we can afford,lol). I have had my eyes on the RME adi-2. Would it be worth the upgrade or not?

Depends on what you are looking for. Both are excellent DACs and I was happy with my m900 SQ and super low output impedance for my IEMs. However, it had dangerously loud clicks and pops with my IEMs (loud enough to make my ears ring) when sample rates changed (Bluesound Node 2i --> Grace m900 --> Shure SE846). This only happened over coax and optical but no such issues over USB (Qobuz exclusive mode at the time). This behavior was observed on the unit customer support had as well so the m900 went back in the box since no firmware update was available to fix the issue (now in storage with my other unused gear) and was replaced by the RME ADI-2 DAC. Have been super happy with it and love the PEQ functionality. Don't really tinker with the settings on the RME ADI-2 anymore now I have everything set up the way I like it (fixed output to my speakers with no EQ, phones output with EQ for my Aeon 2 Noire, and IEM output with no EQ used for when I listen to my SE846) so don't let all the available options scare you. Obviously the m900 could be bus powered and the RME is not so definitely not as portable if that is important to you. I think they each have a different use case.