Review and Measurements of RME ADI-2 DAC

[Dro]

Toslink. It even hums when the DAC is turned off. Ugh...

 

[amirm]

Wow. That sounds like a ton of mains leakage from the switching supply. File a claim with RME and see what they say. It is possible the outboard power supply is defective.

Can you also do a polarity check on your outlet?

 

[Sythrix]

Toslink. It even hums when the DAC is turned off. Ugh...

Ground loop? Have you isolated it?

 

[Dro]

Can you also do a polarity check on your outlet?

Ground loop? Have you isolated it?

How exactly do I do these things?

 

[Timbo2]

How exactly do I do these things?

If you aren't comfortable with line voltage I'd recommend finding somebody who is. What follows applies to the US.

https://www.do-it-yourself-help.com/images/duplex_receptacle.gif

See the "wider" side of the outlet labled "neutral". Sometimes this is miswired as the "hot" leg.

Assuming your main fuse or breaker panel isn't a "sub-panel" your ground wire and neutral wire share the same bond.

You can test the polarity with multimeter. If you probe ground plus the wider or fat side of the outlet you should have no voltage, but continuity.

The safest way to do this if you aren't familiar with electricity is just buy an inexpensive circuit tester for electrical outlets.

https://www.amazon.com/Receptacle-T...41329&sr=8-6&keywords=circuit+polarity+tester

 

[Dro]

Ah, that is why this did not mean anything to me. I live in Europe and we can turn all our plug by 180 degrees. There is no real concept of left-ground, right-hot here. That being said, turning the plug 180 degrees did not do anything.

Edit: I just checked which one of the contacts here is hot and ground. Turns out both are hot. The "ground" contact is just less hot than the other one. This is a really old building with old electrical installations. All the outlets are 2 pole instead of 3 pole.

 

[Sythrix]

How exactly do I do these things?

I simply meant to isolate the device on your electrical system, by unplugging anything else that may be sharing a common ground. That way you could see if it was being caused by a ground loop.

 

[Timbo2]

Ah, that is why this did not mean anything to me. I live in Europe and we can turn all our plug by 180 degrees. There is no real concept of left-ground, right-hot here. That being said, turning the plug 180 degrees did not do anything.

Edit: I just checked which one of the contacts here is hot and ground. Turns out both are hot. The "ground" contact is just less hot than the other one. This is a really old building with old electrical installations. All the outlets are 2 pole instead of 3 pole.

I'd need somebody more familiar with European wiring standards to comment. In the US we can get voltage above 120V by using two hot legs in what is called split phase. We use it for things like clothes dryers. You can wire this with 2 hot legs + neutral with an optional ground. This will give you 240V.

https://www.quora.com/How-do-I-know-if-my-electrical-outlet-is-240V

I don't think Europe uses split phase for ordinary household use. If that's correct it reads like something may be partially shorted. But we need somebody who knows European standards to confirm what you wrote.

 

[Dro]

I simply meant to isolate the device on your electrical system, by unplugging anything else that may be sharing a common ground. That way you could see if it was being caused by a ground loop.

Oh, I see. I unplugged every device in this room except for the DAC, but no change.

 

[Frank Dernie]

Ah, that is why this did not mean anything to me. I live in Europe and we can turn all our plug by 180 degrees. There is no real concept of left-ground, right-hot here. That being said, turning the plug 180 degrees did not do anything.

Edit: I just checked which one of the contacts here is hot and ground. Turns out both are hot. The "ground" contact is just less hot than the other one. This is a really old building with old electrical installations. All the outlets are 2 pole instead of 3 pole.

That may well be your problem then!

 

[amirm]

Since RME is in Germany, in this case they may be more helpful than not. So open a support ticket with them and see what they say.

 

[Dro]

Well I just connected it to my PC via USB and that made the hum go away. I think I will just leave it at that and hope my next apartment has better electrical installations...

Really enjoying this device now. The low crosstalk even with the Andromeda IEMs is amazing. There just isn't any. Many people prefer the Andromeda with an output impedance of 2 Ohm and so do I. An impedance adapter would introduce crosstalk, but the change in frequency response can be easily achieved with PEQ on the ADI2-DAC. The PEQ is a real game changer. Here is a quick setup I did for my HD800:

I was skeptical about only having 5 bands, but I even had one left to correct for the ear pad resonance around 50 Hz. And the bass and treble controls act like a configurable shelve filter, so effectively it can be up to 7 bands for you to use! This is so much better than buying an amp that has the "right" amount of treble rolloff and won't work with any other headphones.

 

[Rod]

Well I just connected it to my PC via USB and that made the hum go away. I think I will just leave it at that and hope my next apartment has better electrical installations...

Really enjoying this device now. The low crosstalk even with the Andromeda IEMs is amazing. There just isn't any. Many people prefer the Andromeda with an output impedance of 2 Ohm and so do I. An impedance adapter would introduce crosstalk, but the change in frequency response can be easily achieved with PEQ on the ADI2-DAC. The PEQ is a real game changer. Here is a quick setup I did for my HD800:

I was skeptical about only having 5 bands, but I even had one left to correct for the ear pad resonance around 50 Hz. And the bass and treble controls act like a configurable shelve filter, so effectively it can be up to 7 bands for you to use! This is so much better than buying an amp that has the "right" amount of treble rolloff and won't work with any other headphones.

Thanks! Seeing this graph led me to understand how to set the e.q. for my headphones. Found the frequency response graph for my headphones and then it all clicked.

 

[XpanD]

The comparison between this and the Pro (older non-FS version) is now up:
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...f-rme-adi-2-pro-comparison-to-adi-2-dac.2682/

Wonder how the new FS version would do, here.

 

[amirm]

This DAC was the "FS" version. You can see it from my picture:

I didn't know what it meant until just before reviewing the Pro version and realizing that one didn't.

 

[Purité Audio]

There is the ‘fs’ designation on the front of my new ADI-Pro too.


Keith

 

[XpanD]

Yup, the ADI-2 DAC only came out as an FS version. The Pro's been around for a while longer, and only got an FS update recently. The Pro in the comparison is a non-FS model, which is why I'm curious as to what a newer FS one would do there. Good to have the comparison, though -- I'm surprised at the difference there, looks like a decent upgrade from a specs point of view.

 

[AudioQuality777]

View attachment 12296 View attachment 12294 View attachment 12294

Yup, the ADI-2 DAC only came out as an FS version. The Pro's been around for a while longer, and only got an FS update recently. The Pro in the comparison is a non-FS model, which is why I'm curious as to what a newer FS one would do there. Good to have the comparison, though -- I'm surprised at the difference there, looks like a decent upgrade from a specs point of view.

Measurement of jitter and other measurements of RME ADI-2 Pro FS relative to RME ADI-2 Pro. Measurements RME ADI-2 Pro FS from RME ADI-2 DAC will be the same that's most likely!!!

 

[weikagen]

A single AKM 4490.

@amirm Can't wait till you receive your Aune S6; it looks like the S6 uses the AKM 4495. Very curious how the S6 compares to the ADI-2 and the Topping DACs.

https://www.qobuz.com/gb-en/info/hi-fi/bancs-d-essai/aune-s6-a-serious-dac-with179488

 

[Jinjuku]

How exactly do I do these things?

Purchase an outlet tester at your local home improvement store.