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

Tks

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Hi everyone,
The volume knob on my RME has some jumpy-ness to it (actually, all the knobs do. I just rarely use the others, so I don't have video of it). It's not like it happens all the time, but it happens enough to be annoying.
I've tried attaching a video of it here.
Is this considered within normal margins, or is it reason enough to request a repair?

It's probably only going to get worse. Mine was like that a few months ago. Now what happens is, it will jump 5-10 dB regularly in the opposite direction sometimes. My #3 knob is also doing it, and feels different that the knob on top (a lot less firm on clicks).

I'm just too lazy to send it in (go figure for ordering a V1 while the V2 was being prepped and stock was non existent in the US, so I now have to send it back to EU if I want these encoders replaced).
 

Logan Nolag

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It's probably only going to get worse. Mine was like that a few months ago. Now what happens is, it will jump 5-10 dB regularly in the opposite direction sometimes. My #3 knob is also doing it, and feels different that the knob on top (a lot less firm on clicks).

I'm just too lazy to send it in (go figure for ordering a V1 while the V2 was being prepped and stock was non existent in the US, so I now have to send it back to EU if I want these encoders replaced).

Did they use better encoders in V2? Or will the new ones also have this same problem eventually?
 

RPG

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I would've thought so too, if it wasn't for the fact that the volume also jumps in the opposite "direction" of my turning. Ie. I turn the volume down but instead the volume level jumps up by 2~4 dB. This also sometimes happen when I turn the knob a single "tick," where this acceleration shouldn't happen.

Ah......well, that definitely doesn't seem like normal behavior!
 

Tks

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Did they use better encoders in V2? Or will the new ones also have this same problem eventually?

One would hope, but I have no idea if they caught on to the issue and replaced them with encoders that don't flip out within a year.
 

Logan Nolag

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One would hope, but I have no idea if they caught on to the issue and replaced them with encoders that don't flip out within a year.

Does this happen to all of them? If so it makes me a bit nervous since it doesn't seem like the RME has a very good warranty. The manual seems to state that it is only 6 months. I did get mine through Sweetwater who provides a 2 year warranty but if the encoders really only last a year it seems like this DAC will not stand the test of time.
 

RPG

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Dunno......I've had mine (V1) for almost two years (November) and haven't had this problem yet.
 

RPG

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Have used mine pretty much every day with exceptions for vacations, etc. But, basically, most days.
 

Tks

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Does this happen to all of them? If so it makes me a bit nervous since it doesn't seem like the RME has a very good warranty. The manual seems to state that it is only 6 months. I did get mine through Sweetwater who provides a 2 year warranty but if the encoders really only last a year it seems like this DAC will not stand the test of time.
Who could know really.

As far as warranty, I really don't know why they put 6 months, seeing as how it's country related. I doubt they'd leave anyone high and dry for a manufacturing defect for example. And this issue was present on their forum where the guy in charge says to send it in for a simple encoder swap. The device otherwise is flawless.

As for standing the test of time, I have no doubt it will have any issues as I've not seen anyone with any other issue other than this (or just complaints about why they don't have and ADC in their DAC when the ADI 2-Pro is the one with the ADC, so that's just confused people and such).

It's hard to really know though how widespread this issue is. That could only be confirmed by the company.

It also fluctuates. Like when it's really humid, this issue is severely minimized. When it's dry, it gets worse for me personally.

The only thing that can go wrong on these sorts of devices seems to be thermal cycling degredation (this goes for any device that produces massive amount of concentrated heat without a heatsink to aleviate some of the instantaneous heat rise and fall). Which is basically every single DAC that I've seen on the market outside of the Sabaj D5 (though it seems they got scared of Amir's review about how it takes time to warm up the device for optimal performance and I've seen some shipping without heatsinks). RME claims their PCB design does a fair job, but I'm not sure why you would want the PCB doing the work of a heatsink in all honesty. Ideally DAC makers should be using the body of their DACs and having contact with dies that produce heat to distribute the load. This holds true for basically any electronic component producing heat in my opinion. But alas this seems to supposedly be a non-issue on DACs seeing as how no one uses heatsinks, you mostly see them inadequately used in power amps at best. (though I am of the opinion 99.99% of audio device makers skimps on proper thermal management for some reason).
 

Harmonie

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It's probably only going to get worse. Mine was like that a few months ago. Now what happens is, it will jump 5-10 dB regularly in the opposite direction sometimes. My #3 knob is also doing it, and feels different that the knob on top (a lot less firm on clicks).

I'm just too lazy to send it in (go figure for ordering a V1 while the V2 was being prepped and stock was non existent in the US, so I now have to send it back to EU if I want these encoders replaced).
Strange or rather NOT strange,

There is a thread about the Topping DX7 Pro:
@Martin and others have the same issue with their encoding ...
Best is to use the remote :confused:

@VintageFlanker
Which Dac do you have now ?
 

VintageFlanker

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Thanks for asking. I am not quite sure, but I think I noticed the issue soon after I got the unit from you. No need to feel sorry though, of course I did not mean to blame you or anything.
Maybe I'll send it in just before I go on a holiday ;)
No worries. I'm just hoping we'll figure out to find a solution. @MC_RME, is there something we may do about this issue? Can you confirm the warranty is transferable as I am the original buyer? Thanks.
 

Logan Nolag

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Warranty is usually bound to the conditions of the country where you bought the unit. In this specific (encoder) case it is no problem, we will take care of Buddelpudding's unit.

RME's warranty policies are very unclear. It says 6 months in the manual but it also says it depends on the country; however, I have been unable to find what the US warranty is. I bought it from Sweetwater who provides a 2 year warranty but I'm still curious as to what the official USA warranty policy is. I was orgionally cross shopping the ADI-2 Pro FS R BE against the Benchmark DAC3 HGC and the 5 year warranty on the Benchmark was really the only thing drawing me to it. If the RME had a comparable warranty it would have made the decision much easier. I ended up picking the RME regardless since in terms of features and price there really is no comparison but I wish RME had a better/more clear warranty policy.
 

Gus141

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Anyone try the new firmware? It’s not listed in the RME forum, but if you go to the RME support page for the DAC and look at the driver/firmware downloads there is a new version dated 2020-09-17
(FPGA 34 / DSP 34). I know the DSP firmware number changed to 34 a while back without any fanfare since it was just to support the new LCD panel part, but this September release shows an update to the FPGA.
 
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