Review and Measurements of RME ADI-2 DAC

[amirm]

@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

Good deal. Sadly the ship date is June 1 so it won't be here for a while.

 

[chungjun]

Chance upon a post somewhere of a recent review (with pictures of the internals of the ADI2-DAC!)

http://prosound.ixbt.com/interfaces/rme-adi2dac.shtml

 

[Veri]

Damn this dac measures so incredibly good. I wonder just what device will overtake it as "best measured" eventually!

 

[amirm]

I think the Benchmark is the main competitor. Hope to measure that next month. Alas the Benchmark is much more expensive.

 

[chungjun]

Have been holding out from getting a DAC for my setup.

Finally pulled the trigger today for an ADI-2 DAC. Shipping is en-route. Exciting times!

Have been reading up and following discussions here and the recent review of Benchmark DAC3 is of particular interest for myself and I believe for many others as well.

Grateful and a big shout out again to ASR and members here for sharing, cordial and respectful “peer-review” and making arriving at purchase decision less of an impulsive ill informed exercise.

 

[amirm]

Congratulations. Please keep us posted on how you like it. I know good number of people who were waiting for Benchmark DAC3 to decide whether to buy the RME ADI-2 DAC or not.

 

[Thomas savage]

Have been holding out from getting a DAC for my setup.

Finally pulled the trigger today for an ADI-2 DAC. Shipping is en-route. Exciting times!

Have been reading up and following discussions here and the recent review of Benchmark DAC3 is of particular interest for myself and I believe for many others as well.

Grateful and a big shout out again to ASR and members here for sharing, cordial and respectful “peer-review” and making arriving at purchase decision less of an impulsive ill informed exercise.

Congratulations and thanks for being appreciative, posts like these are nice to read.

Enjoy the DAC.

 

[Jimster480]

I think the Benchmark is the main competitor. Hope to measure that next month. Alas the Benchmark is much more expensive.

After the test of the benchmark UDAC it looks like the two top DAC's now are the RME ADI-2 DAC and then the Topping D50 and then the UDAC3?
Although the D50 entry wouldn't count if you are looking for a balanced DAC since its just a Single Ended DAC...

 

[derp1n]

New firmware available for the DAC and Pro that seeks to address USB issues.

 

[amirm]

New firmware available for the DAC and Pro that seeks to address USB issues.

Wow, that is most excellent:

Will have to try it.

 

[Jimster480]

Wow, that is most excellent:

View attachment 13444

Will have to try it.

Retest Incoming?
I'm waiting for them to update the pro version with the changes from the DAC version and then this might end up on my list of things to buy

 

[Jinjuku]

Looks like RME is listening to the people in the consumer space. Great news.

 

[Jimster480]

Looks like RME is listening to the people in the consumer space. Great news.

I bet they are reading this website too. Especially as its become quite known over the last months

 

[amirm]

Retest Incoming?
I'm waiting for them to update the pro version with the changes from the DAC version and then this might end up on my list of things to buy

I don't think the DAC audio performance is changed due to the update.

 

[Jimster480]

I don't think the DAC audio performance is changed due to the update.

Oh, I thought there were some issues you had with the USB test?

 

[amirm]

Oh, I thought there were some issues you had with the USB test?

No, it was that it was stuck to one sample rate using WASAPI instead of automatic switching.

 

[Jimster480]

No, it was that it was stuck to one sample rate using WASAPI instead of automatic switching.

You are right, my bad.

 

[chungjun]

I am bummed by the single sampling rate mode of the Windows UAC2 driver. I am hoping RME reconsiders and fixes this.

RME is listening and responding.

In their recent RME Forum posting about latest firmware update (Firmware Updates ADI-2 Pro 177 / 87 and DAC 17 / 21)
(https://www.forum.rme-audio.de/viewtopic.php?id=27280)


Quote:-

"So basically there is no driver installation necessary under Windows 10 anymore - unless you want to use ASIO and DIGICheck and the Firmware Update Tool. And please note, once the driver is installed the same restrictions apply as before: with WDM there is only one single sample rate available, no automatic sample rate switching from the application via WDM or Wasapi - only via ASIO."

 

[amirm]

RME is listening and responding.

In their recent RME Forum posting about latest firmware update (Firmware Updates ADI-2 Pro 177 / 87 and DAC 17 / 21)
(https://www.forum.rme-audio.de/viewtopic.php?id=27280)

Yeh, saw that yesterday. Given the strong objections initially, I was not hopeful that they would do something about it. Good on them!

Funny thing is that a few of the owners attacked me on Head-fi claiming I was in the wrong here.

 

[mindbomb]

After the test of the benchmark UDAC it looks like the two top DAC's now are the RME ADI-2 DAC and then the Topping D50 and then the UDAC3?
Although the D50 entry wouldn't count if you are looking for a balanced DAC since its just a Single Ended DAC...

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. Depending on how you use the dac, the RME advantages might not apply (if you use xlr out/headphone 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.