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

[Veri]

Looking at the plots, it seems to me that author failed to compensate for the fixed propagation delay (dead time) which is sample-rate- and filter-type-dependent, and which is why the phase curves bend upwards first before later going into the expected downward slope.

@KSTR to the rescue..

 

[MC_RME]

In about 2 weeks I will redo these measurements with my APx and then discuss the result with Soundstage. I know that there is no such phase shift, as expected, but did not find my APx measurements on my travel computer. And discussing results from a different setup is wasted time...

 

[nagster]

Excuse me from the side.
I don't have ver.C(ess), but I measured ver.B(ak4493) to make the mystery smaller.

After a while, I noticed that the title of the Sound Stage graph was different. I usually use "Continuous Sweep" (chirp) for phase measurements, but they may have used "Transfer Function". I also attach the graph for that case.

 

[MC_RME]

Thanks. I am pretty sure that matches what I will measure with the ESS version. And good catch with the Transfer measurement - that seems to explain the strange results.

 

[melowman]

@MC_RME It would be great to measure the AKM version too, to compare with the above graphs, and because this is the model I and many users have. Thank you for your dedication.

 

[MC_RME]

Soundstage might be quicker than me. I informed them of @nagster 's findings, they confirmed and reproduced and might update the graphs on that page (with the ESS version that they have). Stay tuned.

Oh, the above IS AKM.

 

[melowman]

What about this quote from the manual (ch. 31.3, p. 57), is it accurate?

Please also note that Slow and NOS filters cause much more aliasing into the audio band and out-of-band noise than Sharp filters.

 

[danadam]

What about this quote from the manual (ch. 31.3, p. 57), is it accurate?

I don't know if this is a valid test or what's the explanation, but I did two 44.1k loopback recordings (headphone out, low power) of a 20-20k sweep on ADI-2 Pro FS. AD filter was set to Sharp all the time and DA filter was first set to NOS and then to Sharp. Here are their spectrograms showing some difference:

And spectrum for 13 kHz:

 

[MC_RME]

The effects shown here (thank you!) might be introduced from the ADC. It does not have a perfect, and correctly placed aliasing filter at the nyquist border (that's normal, unfortunately). I wanted to recheck this with the APx, but that will need some more time.

If so the statement in the manual is correct. The filters 'cause this', it does not say 'in the DAC'.

 

[melowman]

But this is the DAC thread, not the Pro thread; and indeed I was referring to the DAC’s manual…

 

[bigidibo]

Quick question: Will RME ADI-2 work in XLR+RCA mode? Or is it just XLR or RCA? I would like to hook up the subwoofer on RCA outputs...

Thanks

 

[Trell]

Quick question: Will RME ADI-2 work in XLR+RCA mode? Or is it just XLR or RCA? I would like to hook up the subwoofer on RCA outputs...

Thanks

They are active at the same time.

 

[DJBonoBobo]

Fantastic news! RME is planning a PC control software for the ADI-2 DAC's settings in the next weeks (via @Hörzone )

https://www.facebook.com/100063776569046/photos/692278322908047

 

[Matias]

This is great news! A recurring criticism of the ADI-2 DAC is that the user interface is too hard to use, and this will be a killer solution. It's already looking very nice!

 

[Atanasi]

A while ago RME told no more firmware features are expected for the existing ADI-2 DAC due to a shortage of storage space. I wonder how they manage to squeeze this in.

 

[Matias]

A while ago RME told no more firmware features are expected for the existing ADI-2 DAC due to a shortage of storage space. I wonder how they manage to squeeze this in.

I think it is mostly transmitting and receiving back data than storing more stuff.

 

[badboygolf16v]

Wow, this is incredible!

 

[Trell]

A while ago RME told no more firmware features are expected for the existing ADI-2 DAC due to a shortage of storage space. I wonder how they manage to squeeze this in.

Indeed, and I expected at most some bugfixes going forward.

 

[Veri]

Fantastic news! RME is planning a PC control software for the ADI-2 DAC's settings in the next weeks (via @Hörzone )

https://www.facebook.com/100063776569046/photos/692278322908047

This is really, really awesome.

 

[HarmonicTHD]

Fantastic news! RME is planning a PC control software for the ADI-2 DAC's settings in the next weeks (via @Hörzone )

https://www.facebook.com/100063776569046/photos/692278322908047

Very cool.