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RME ADI-2 vs D50s+Atom, audible difference for Aeon Closed?

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geek101

geek101

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Is it final that I cannot buy RME products to ship to US from m.thomannmusic.com ?. I have never noticed such a restriction before. Wondering if this is something new or a well known restriction across various products.
 

Majestyk

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bricksie

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@Majestyk - that's crazy-cheap compared to Canadian prices ($1600). I've been looking for one as well. Let us know if they actually ship it.
 

onslash

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@geek101

Aeon Closed have a flat impedance of ~12 ohms, so it's really important your headphone amp has 1 ohm output impedance or less.

Both ADI-2 and Atom do, so both tick that important box.

One cool feature ADI-2 has is Bauer crossfeed DSP, built-in: http://bs2b.sourceforge.net/

I really like Bauer crossfeed DSP with headphones and it's cool that ADI-2 has it built-in, for any input.

I've considered the same combo you have but built-in Bauer crossfeed DSP is enough to make me go with RME.

ADI-2 has other DSP options built-in also. It's quite feature packed.
Actually no , planar headphones don't low output impedance like dynamic headphones. They just need an amp capable of high current.
 

Majestyk

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@Majestyk - that's crazy-cheap compared to Canadian prices ($1600). I've been looking for one as well. Let us know if they actually ship it.

Got my ADI-2 DAC today via Fedex. This is definitely a great deal for Americans who won't (or shouldn't) pay any additional fees or duty. For Canadians it's probably not going to be a savings bonanza since Fedex charges PST & GST plus a hefty brokerage fee.

That being said, I really lucked out because I was only charged $44 CAD at the door. I looked at the invoice and the item was declared for some crazy low price. Not sure if that was a mistake or not. I was fully expecting $300+, which still would have been decent since the Canadian price is a around $1800 after taxes.

So all toll I paid $1214 Canadian. Not bad. :)

Things you should know when ordering from Absolute Music...

-First time orders can only be paid via Paypal. They do this for address verification. So you're going to be charged before the item ships. My item shipped 24 hours after ordering.

-Before ordering, be sure the item says IN STOCK. (Right now it says 1 IN STOCK)

-After you make a purchase, their system sends you two emails. One to confirm payment and to let you know the item is being prepped for shipping. The second is the shipping confirmation with tracking. For some reason I didn't get the second email. But after contacting them (in the wee hours of the morning) they got back right away with all the particulars, plus the tracking.

EDIT... Just noticed the price has gone up £100. (As of September 7)
 
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bricksie

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Thanks Majestyk - that is a great price! The one thing I'm worried about is a warranty return - I would suspect that you'd have to send it back to GB to get warranty coverage. But saving that much money - pretty much acts like insurance anyway :) I noticed that lots of European dealers won't sell outside of Europe - I wonder why this one does?
 

Majestyk

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Yeah, hopefully I won't need warranty service. I suspect some dealers aren't allowed to ship outside certain jurisdictions. I notice some dealers ship overseas via ebay, like Sweetewater ships outside the US.
 

Majestyk

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Thanks Majestyk - that is a great price! The one thing I'm worried about is a warranty return - I would suspect that you'd have to send it back to GB to get warranty coverage. But saving that much money - pretty much acts like insurance anyway :) I noticed that lots of European dealers won't sell outside of Europe - I wonder why this one does?

Just an FYI... There is a 5-Year Warranty sticker on the shrink wrap of the ADI-2 box (the ones from the UK) with a URL to register. I contacted the distributor first just to see if I should bother filling it out, since I'm in Canada. I honestly didn't think I'd be eligible for the full 5 years. Anyway, they replied back and told me that I am indeed eligible.

So there you have it. A nice 5-Year Warranty. Of course I would have to pay for shipping to and from Absolute Audio, but I can live with that.
 

bricksie

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Nice! I'll have to see what the North American warrantee is...
 

Majestyk

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Oh yeah, forgot to mention that the UK units come with a UK plug. (Makes sense). So you have to replace it with the US version. This is just the power cord I'm talking about, not the switching adapter. I did some digging and found out the US cord that comes with the ADI-2 is 10A (125V). This is the exact picture here...

US Plug.jpg

I ordered this one here. It's only a foot long but that's all I needed since the cord on the other end of the switching adapter is fairly long.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01CKJDBT0/ref=ppx_od_dt_b_asin_title_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
 
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