RME ADI-2 FS Version 2 DAC and Headphone Amp Review

[Trell]

Santa is coming!

Closed Pre-Test of new ADI-2 Pro and DAC firmware (Page 1) — ADI-2 & 2/4 Pro series, ADI-2 DAC series — RME User Forum

Closed Pre-Test of new ADI-2 Pro and DAC firmware (Page 1) — ADI-2 & 2/4 Pro series, ADI-2 DAC series — RME User Forum —

forum.rme-audio.de

>>>

Topic: Closed Pre-Test of new ADI-2 Pro and DAC firmware​

We are now not far away from completing the next major firmware release for ADI-2 DAC and Pro. There are numerous fixes, improvements and news for the DAC. Double that for the Pro.

I contacted a few of you before, but would like to have anyone interested in trying out the new firmware doing so. The changes are not only many, but especially under the hood big parts of the code were re-written, so there are chances that we overlooked side effects or unexpected, only in certain situations happening errors.

If you would like to try the new firmware please send me a mail via the forum mailer. I will then send you a download link to the updated manuals, a special changes list, and the new firmware files for Mac and PC - hopefully next week.

Note that you can flash back to the official release version anytime, so if something doesn't work as expected you can easily restore your unit to fully functional.

Thanks in advance!
<<<

 

[amper42]

Santa is coming!

Closed Pre-Test of new ADI-2 Pro and DAC firmware (Page 1) — ADI-2 & 2/4 Pro series, ADI-2 DAC series — RME User Forum

Closed Pre-Test of new ADI-2 Pro and DAC firmware (Page 1) — ADI-2 & 2/4 Pro series, ADI-2 DAC series — RME User Forum —

forum.rme-audio.de

>>>

Topic: Closed Pre-Test of new ADI-2 Pro and DAC firmware​

We are now not far away from completing the next major firmware release for ADI-2 DAC and Pro. There are numerous fixes, improvements and news for the DAC. Double that for the Pro.

I contacted a few of you before, but would like to have anyone interested in trying out the new firmware doing so. The changes are not only many, but especially under the hood big parts of the code were re-written, so there are chances that we overlooked side effects or unexpected, only in certain situations happening errors.

If you would like to try the new firmware please send me a mail via the forum mailer. I will then send you a download link to the updated manuals, a special changes list, and the new firmware files for Mac and PC - hopefully next week.

Note that you can flash back to the official release version anytime, so if something doesn't work as expected you can easily restore your unit to fully functional.

Thanks in advance!
<<<

Wouldn't it be wonderful if one of the new RME ADI-2 features was an HTML interface that allowed the user to configure all the setting options via the USB port with a Mac or PC? That would take the RME DAC to a new level of fun!

 

[Trell]

Wouldn't it be wonderful if one of the new RME ADI-2 features was an HTML interface that allowed the user to configure all the setting options via the USB port with a Mac or PC? That would take the RME DAC to a new level of fun!

RME has said on their forum that this will not happen due to limited onboard resources.

 

[Atanasi]

I would like a USB-based backup and restore, considering that there is a large number of settings.

 

[Vintage Fahrenheit]

Just go this up and running! Whoah, no pops when changing sample rate. Great!

My PC's USB outputs chirps and squeals though (at a low volume, mind you). Would this adapter help, if I feed power from a smartphone charger?: https://www.audiophonics.fr/en/dc-p...e-for-external-usb-a-power-supply-p-8389.html

There is no ground hum, just the little critters chirping on the USB line. Will NOT be paying for an Intona for such a small-ish improvement.

 

[amper42]

Just go this up and running! Whoah, no pops when changing sample rate. Great!

My PC's USB outputs chirps and squeals though (at a low volume, mind you). Would this adapter help, if I feed power from a smartphone charger?: https://www.audiophonics.fr/en/dc-p...e-for-external-usb-a-power-supply-p-8389.html

There is no ground hum, just the little critters chirping on the USB line. Will NOT be paying for an Intona for such a small-ish improvement.

I feed the RME ADI-2 DAC FS via USB port either directly from my MacBook Pro USB port or with a RPi4 attached to the ADI-2 USB port over UPnP. In both cases, I am playing the music on the MBP with an app called Audirvana. Absolutely, zero chirps or squeaks from the USB port with this configuration.

 

[Trell]

Just go this up and running! Whoah, no pops when changing sample rate. Great!

My PC's USB outputs chirps and squeals though (at a low volume, mind you). Would this adapter help, if I feed power from a smartphone charger?: https://www.audiophonics.fr/en/dc-p...e-for-external-usb-a-power-supply-p-8389.html

There is no ground hum, just the little critters chirping on the USB line. Will NOT be paying for an Intona for such a small-ish improvement.

The ADI-2 ASIO driver can check if there are any USB transmission errors: Just open up the drivers settings dialog and let it stay open. See the manual for more info, page 41.

If you are using the ASIO driver you might have a too small buffer size giving clicks/pops.

https://www.rme-audio.de/downloads/adi2dacr_e.pdf

 

[Vintage Fahrenheit]

The ADI-2 ASIO driver can check if there are any USB transmission errors: Just open up the drivers settings dialog and let it stay open. See the manual for more info, page 41.

If you are using the ASIO driver you might have a too small buffer size giving clicks/pops.

https://www.rme-audio.de/downloads/adi2dacr_e.pdf

No, it''s just classic PC USB port noise. The move-yer-mouse-and-hear-'em-chirp type, in the background and mainly only audible up close. Would like to get rid of it though. That Audiophonics splitter cable seems worth a shot.

I must add that it was WAY worse on an Asus Xonar USB soundcard. Plus that one had a constant 8kHz whine on top of all the random noise, perfectly audible to the listening spot. In that sense, this is not a criticism towards RME at all. And I could live with this if I had to.

 

[MC_RME]

You are mislead by the name ground loop and the expectation that its hum. Mouse noise, graphics card noise and what you call USB noise is still 100% 'ground loop'. The noise is not from the DAC, but transported 'in parallel' (so to say) around it. To solve this first identify the real cause: do you have something connected to XLR or RCA? If so remove it and try headphone only.. You could ground the DAC, this is the most easy and cost-efficient solution - it works if the ground loop happens via the capacity to ground (the leakage current path) of the switching power supply.. But if the issue comes from whatever is connected at RCA and XLR, the grounding of that device might need fixing. Yes, the Intona would fix it too, but I understand that is a quite expensive solution.

 

[Vintage Fahrenheit]

The

You are mislead by the name ground loop and the expectation that its hum. Mouse noise, graphics card noise and what you call USB noise is still 100% 'ground loop'. The noise is not from the DAC, but transported 'in parallel' (so to say) around it. To solve this first identify the real cause: do you have something connected to XLR or RCA? If so remove it and try headphone only.. You could ground the DAC, this is the most easy and cost-efficient solution - it works if the ground loop happens via the capacity to ground (the leakage current path) of the switching power supply.. But if the issue comes from whatever is connected at RCA and XLR, the grounding of that device might need fixing. Yes, the Intona would fix it too, but I understand that is a quite expensive solution.

I do NOT suspect the noise to originate from the DAC - on the contrary, its headphone output is dead silent (and sounds amazing by the way, using the high power option with AKG k701's).

Only the RCA out is connected to the amp. So there's a loop between the source (PC) and amp, both grounded, attached to the same power strip. I'll experiment with the power plug orientations and other tweaks.The PC's ethernet cable for example is not the problem, I already tried.

In any case, supplying the 5V power to the USB from outside of the PC would probably help here, would it not? Even though it's not comparable to the extreme of galvanic isolation. I get absolutely no noise or hum otherwise anywhere in the system. The antenna cable to the TV did cause severe humming in the sub but I never watch live TV, so I just unplugged it. Problem solved, haha.

 

[MC_RME]

That doesn't help because the DAC does not use 5 Volt buspower. Only breaking the ground would help, but that is not recommended (it's dangerous for the USB input) and that cable is not doing that either.

 

[Vintage Fahrenheit]

That doesn't help because the DAC does not use 5 Volt buspower. Only breaking the ground would help, but that is not recommended (it's dangerous for the USB input) and that cable is not doing that either.

Thanks, Matthias! I'll go for the isolator then.

EDIT: Would 2.5kVRMS be enough isolation - or do I need to splurge on the even more expensive 5kVRMS Intona?? For what it's worth, the noise issues in my system are not very severe.

Thinking of this one, which appears to be the cheapest (erm, least expensive, that is!)

Signal Processing Devices, Made in Germany

Inventor of USB 2.0 High Speed Isolator

intona.eu

 

[holbob]

Thanks, Matthias! I'll go for the isolator then.

EDIT: Would 2.5kVRMS be enough isolation - or do I need to splurge on the even more expensive 5kVRMS Intona?? For what it's worth, the noise issues in my system are not very severe.

Thinking of this one, which appears to be the cheapest (erm, least expensive, that is!)

Signal Processing Devices, Made in Germany

Inventor of USB 2.0 High Speed Isolator

intona.eu

When I had my RME ADI-2 DAC months ago, I was getting horrendous pc noise, especially Gpu noise in video games. I solved it completely at the time by buying a balanced hypex amp, and connecting to it via balanced from dac. Have you tried a fully balanced connection?

I recently swapped back to a rca connection to a higher powered amp, and the noise didn't return - but I've got much more organised power and audio cables now. Maybe try making sure the power cables are kept fully away from the audio cables?

 

[Vintage Fahrenheit]

When I had my RME ADI-2 DAC months ago, I was getting horrendous pc noise, especially Gpu noise in video games. I solved it completely at the time by buying a balanced hypex amp, and connecting to it via balanced from dac. Have you tried a fully balanced connection?

I recently swapped back to a rca connection to a higher powered amp, and the noise didn't return - but I've got much more organised power and audio cables now. Maybe try making sure the power cables are kept fully away from the audio cables?

No balanced input on my Yamaha A-S1000 amp sadly. The A-S2000 does have them. Organizing the cabling doesn't seem to help. Now I would just need to make sure if 2.5kV is enough for the Intona isolator or not - otherwise it's 200+ euros down the drain. I have no clue whatsoever about the specification requirements.

 

[Atanasi]

Now I would just need to make sure if 2.5kV is enough for the Intona isolator or not

Intona's support forum has this guidance:

In general, don't bother about AC, DC or Isolation voltage. Your ground loop is maybe somewhere in the millivolts range. All Intona isolators will break this reliably, regardless of model 7054 and 7055.

 

[Vintage Fahrenheit]

My PC is always on but sleeping when not in use. The ADI-2 DAC is switched on and off using the power strip main switch. The order in which I power the two on/off (or wake-on-lan/sleep) depends on the situation.

Now, the RME of course can always establish a connection via USB. Can introducing an Intona isolator in between affect this reliability-wise somehow?

I've read at the least some older Intona versions/firmwares required a certain order in which to power devices on and off. Even though the Intona is transparent to the system, it's much more than just a cord in between and needs to establish a connection. I have no idea what the role of the ADI-2 is in this handshake (?) scenario from a technical point of view.

I'm thinking @MC_RME probably has some experience with this, being familiar with the Intona.

 

[KSTR]

I never had any issues with my Intona USB-2.0 isolators. Always worked as plug&play as it gets (on Windows and Linux machines).

But rule #1 always applies, no matter whether with Intona or not: Whenever the USB connection is in active state (basic connection established), the DAC must be powered on.
That means you have to "eject" it (like a memory device) before you cut power or disconnect the USB cable, and when you sleep the PC, the DAC must be powered on before the PC is waking up again. Otherwise, BSOD may occur.

 

[Vintage Fahrenheit]

I never had any issues with my Intona USB-2.0 isolators. Always worked as plug&play as it gets (on Windows and Linux machines).

But rule #1 always applies, no matter whether with Intona or not: Whenever the USB connection is in active state (basic connection established), the DAC must be powered on.
That means you have to "eject" it (like a memory device) before you cut power or disconnect the USB cable, and when you sleep the PC, the DAC must be powered on before the PC is waking up again. Otherwise, BSOD may occur.

Do you mean this also applies also when using a plain USB cord or only when some extra device (isolator, hub, whatever else) is put in the middle of the USB transmission?

 

[KSTR]

In all cases (as it's low-level Windows driver issue, removing a device while it's in use), but I would need to double-check to be sure. Reluctant to do so as the recovery from BSOD takes some 10 minutes (Windows 10 "trying to gather information" on the crash).

Whenever you have an USB icon in the tray bar that means you should adhere to the practice of using it, eject before disconnect. It's a bit annoying as there is no chance of data loss...

 

[Trell]

Do you mean this also applies also when using a plain USB cord or only when some extra device (isolator, hub, whatever else) is put in the middle of the USB transmission?

He meant just a straight USB connection.

I’ve not had a problem with BSOD while using the RME ADI-2 DAC FS and turning power on/off.

There are those that do, however as seen in this thread in RME user forum.

BSOD after ADI-2 DAC is switched off (Page 1) — ADI-2 & 2/4 Pro series, ADI-2 DAC series — RME User Forum

BSOD after ADI-2 DAC is switched off (Page 1) — ADI-2 & 2/4 Pro series, ADI-2 DAC series — RME User Forum —

forum.rme-audio.de