Topping E70 randomly went to MAX volume..

[computer-audiophile]

Are there any quality DACs w/ analog pre amp included rather than digital?

Volume control with a potentiometer will take place after the actual DAC in the output stage of the device. Therefore, the term preamplifier is not applicable.

 

[Sokel]

No disrespect as I know you’re a legend in the audio game, but I don’t feel as if the question was answered in that thread. I was told to either use passive attenuators or the -5 dBu fixed ref level where I lose the advantage of Auto Ref.

I think the question is why is the ADI-2 DAC different in this regard.. what protections have been put in place to stop it defaulting to 100% volume when utilized in NORMAL use, not with attentuators or slightly sub-par settings.

Perhaps I’m overthinking this off of one bad experience with a low quality control Topping unit and the RME “just works”, but yeah suppose I’m looking for some confidence that I wont nearly lose my hearing with this unit.

I see you're thinking of going higher for this.why don't you get a nice real pre that will give you peace of mind plus much more options and then hook whatever you need on it.
You'll keep your budget and your sanity.

 

[MaxwellsEq]

Are there any quality DACs w/ analog pre amp included rather than digital?

You can be reasonably confident you are safe if the volume control is physical (not remote) and the lowest setting has the pointer at about 7 o'clock and is at its maximum at about 5 o'clock. You can have this with a motor driving it controlled from a remote, but there's a risk it gets the volume up signal and not the volume down signal!

If the volume control doesn't have a stop - i.e. it goes round and round, more than 360 degrees - you are at some level of risk.

 

[strea]

Decided I'd go with the ADI-2 DAC. Lots of praise around its reliability and MC's comments here were a decision maker as well.

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

Sure it can. I use the original AEON with it, and unless you want to enter real basshead territory (at least +20 dB gain below 60 Hz plus earth-shaking volume) it is fully ok. Nice. Original AEONS had 92dB/1mW sensitivity. New AEON 2 are quite a bit harder to drive 86 dB/1mW (into 13 ohms...

audiosciencereview.com

Will provide an update once the full setup is finally complete, thank you all for the help and information.

 

[aka_Z]

It's ugly

 

[Deleted member 48726]

This fits the purpose for avoiding such problem in the future-->

Review and Measurements of Schiit Sys Passive Pre-amp/Switcher

This is a measurement and review of the Schiit Sys switcher and passive pre-amp. It retails for just $49 plus shipping which is reasonable. The unit is on loan from a member so not new. I will do a teardown later but for now, there are just two inputs, one output, and a volume control in...

www.audiosciencereview.com

 

[aka_Z]

I have set volume/attenuation on the active speakers to the level that max volume coming from Topping or anything else connected to the DAC cannot be too loud or burn the speakers.

 

[strea]

I have set volume/attenuation on the active speakers to the level that max volume coming from Topping or anything else connected to the DAC cannot be too loud or burn the speakers.

I can't be bothered to go Topping again after hearing of 3 people having their volume max out to 100% while not even touching the units over the past couple weeks. What other cheap parts are they using in their quest to top the SINAD leaderboard? And frankly I wonder how their SINAD is when not at 0dB.. how do their units perform at say -30dB where people often listen at low volumes?

 

[Tks]

Decided I'd go with the ADI-2 DAC. Lots of praise around its reliability and MC's comments here were a decision maker as well.

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

Sure it can. I use the original AEON with it, and unless you want to enter real basshead territory (at least +20 dB gain below 60 Hz plus earth-shaking volume) it is fully ok. Nice. Original AEONS had 92dB/1mW sensitivity. New AEON 2 are quite a bit harder to drive 86 dB/1mW (into 13 ohms...

audiosciencereview.com

Will provide an update once the full setup is finally complete, thank you all for the help and information.

You won't be disappointed. The only known issue some units develop, is the encoders begin to skip unless you spend 10 seconds moving it around and it stabilizes. I'm so lazy to send mine out for repair (and also scared wondering what the cost for parts and labor are going to be since I'm well out of my warranty period).

 

[aka_Z]

I can't be bothered to go Topping again after hearing of 3 people having their volume max out to 100% while not even touching the units over the past couple weeks. What other cheap parts are they using in their quest to top the SINAD leaderboard? And frankly I wonder how their SINAD is when not at 0dB.. how do their units perform at say -30dB where people often listen at low volumes?

I'm not defending Topping, just suggesting a way to protect the speakers. With this fail, Topping definitely ruined reputation.

 

[MaxwellsEq]

I can't be bothered to go Topping again after hearing of 3 people having their volume max out to 100% while not even touching the units over the past couple weeks. What other cheap parts are they using in their quest to top the SINAD leaderboard? And frankly I wonder how their SINAD is when not at 0dB.. how do their units perform at say -30dB where people often listen at low volumes?

This has absolutely nothing to do with low quality parts. It's far more likely to be firmware or software (and most importantly quality testing). @amirm measures linearity of DACs so you can easily determine the accuracy of the DAC right the way down to more than -100dB. Modern DACs whether Topping or RME measure pretty much identically at -30dB.

 

[Trell]

You won't be disappointed. The only known issue some units develop, is the encoders begin to skip unless you spend 10 seconds moving it around and it stabilizes. I'm so lazy to send mine out for repair (and also scared wondering what the cost for parts and labor are going to be since I'm well out of my warranty period).

RME did release a firmware update that reduced/fixed that problem, as I recall, if this is your problem. Fortunately my ADI-2 DAC FS that I bought a couple of years ago never had that problem.

Another issue is with some units of the ADI-DAC FS that uses the ESS DAC IC have a high frequency tone (10 kHz+, if I remember correctly) that can be heard by some when the screen has a certain brightness. There is a simple hardware fix, so you'll have to send it back to RME or one of the distributors.

In any case, RME don't abandon their users to their own devices. All manufacturers have some issues and it's important how they deal with it.

Firmware Update ADI-2 DAC 66 / 47 and ADI-2 Pro 259 / 111 (Page 1) — ADI-2 & 2/4 Pro series, ADI-2 DAC series — RME User Forum

Firmware Update ADI-2 DAC 66 / 47 and ADI-2 Pro 259 / 111 (Page 1) — ADI-2 & 2/4 Pro series, ADI-2 DAC series — RME User Forum —

forum.rme-audio.de

>>>Encoder jumping and direction errors: This firmware includes a new logic unit that intelligently detects and eliminates encoder switching contact errors. In addition, there is a variable filter with levels 1 to 5. Default is 1, which is largely similar in feel to the previously used filter. Higher values lead to an attenuation of very fast changes. Strongly jumping or backward running encoders can in most cases be used normally again with the setting 3. Very fast, short rotations can be replaced by medium-fast rotations after a short period of familiarization.<<<

 

[strea]

This has absolutely nothing to do with low quality parts. It's far more likely to be firmware or software (and most importantly quality testing). @amirm measures linearity of DACs so you can easily determine the accuracy of the DAC right the way down to more than -100dB. Modern DACs whether Topping or RME measure pretty much identically at -30dB.

Thanks for the correction, still a noob so I def don't fully understand the methodology.

 

[strea]

RME did release a firmware update that reduced/fixed that problem, as I recall, if this is your problem. Fortunately my ADI-2 DAC FS that I bought a couple of years ago never had that problem.

Another issue is with some units of the ADI-DAC FS that uses the ESS DAC IC have a high frequency tone (10 kHz+, if I remember correctly) that can be heard by some when the screen has a certain brightness. There is a simple hardware fix, so you'll have to send it back to RME or one of the distributors.

In any case, RME don't abandon their users to their own devices. All manufacturers have some issues and it's important how they deal with it.

Firmware Update ADI-2 DAC 66 / 47 and ADI-2 Pro 259 / 111 (Page 1) — ADI-2 & 2/4 Pro series, ADI-2 DAC series — RME User Forum

Firmware Update ADI-2 DAC 66 / 47 and ADI-2 Pro 259 / 111 (Page 1) — ADI-2 & 2/4 Pro series, ADI-2 DAC series — RME User Forum —

forum.rme-audio.de

>>>Encoder jumping and direction errors: This firmware includes a new logic unit that intelligently detects and eliminates encoder switching contact errors. In addition, there is a variable filter with levels 1 to 5. Default is 1, which is largely similar in feel to the previously used filter. Higher values lead to an attenuation of very fast changes. Strongly jumping or backward running encoders can in most cases be used normally again with the setting 3. Very fast, short rotations can be replaced by medium-fast rotations after a short period of familiarization.<<<

Do ADI-2 DAC's ship with the latest firmware already installed or is that something I'd have to do upon receiving the unit? Plan to buy new from either Sweetwater or directly from RME.

 

[Trell]

Do ADI-2 DAC's ship with the latest firmware already installed or is that something I'd have to do upon receiving the unit? Plan to buy new from either Sweetwater or directly from RME.

You don't buy directly from RME but from one of their distributors or dealers.

That firmware, or later, is already installed on new devices as it was released December 2021. My guess is that it'll have the newest firmware but you can, of course, check that yourself when you receive your ADI-2 DAC. And that check can be done from the menus on the device.

With your ADI-2 DAC you'll get a printed manual, but the latest one can be downloaded and searched for information. It's many pages, but then it has much functionality.

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

 

[Zensō]

Do ADI-2 DAC's ship with the latest firmware already installed or is that something I'd have to do upon receiving the unit? Plan to buy new from either Sweetwater or directly from RME.

Sweetwater sells a ton of these, so you should be good. Firmware updates on RME products are very easy so you'll be fine either way.

Congrats on your purchase. I've been using RME interfaces for years and I wouldn't use anything else at this point. Great company...

 

[lewisrassel]

Not sure what happened but all the sudden the E70 went from -30db or so to 0db. Basically blew out my ears for a few seconds and it was stuck on 0db, I couldn't even lower it. Tried spinning the volume control on the E70 for a few seconds, it was locked at 0db. Afraid to put my windows volume back to 100 now. The only thing that saved me finally was muting Windows volume.
Nox Vidmate VLC
What the hell man.. this sucks.

Luckily this has never happened with my Genelecs and GLM. I once had this glitch with my car audio system when I was calibrating it and my existing tinnitus got worse for a couple of days after that episode.

 

[MAB]

Which thread? I'd like to read..

I've had this setup for 5 days or now so and haven't had any issues with the E70, not sure how this issue came out of no where. Even worse was that the volume control LOCKED to 0db regardless of me trying to turn it down instantly.

Think I'll leave my Windows volume at 50% for a couple days, make sure it doesnt happen again.

Topping D70S fried my speakers...

I don't know why but today when I switched on the Topping D70S the volume was at -0db. Of course, i never set the volume so high, and usually the dac reminds the volume of the previous time, but not today. Result: the amplifier fried the tweeter of one loudspeaker. I don't know what the Topping...

www.audiosciencereview.com

 

[buxtehude]

Decided I'd go with the ADI-2 DAC. Lots of praise around its reliability and MC's comments here were a decision maker as well.

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

Sure it can. I use the original AEON with it, and unless you want to enter real basshead territory (at least +20 dB gain below 60 Hz plus earth-shaking volume) it is fully ok. Nice. Original AEONS had 92dB/1mW sensitivity. New AEON 2 are quite a bit harder to drive 86 dB/1mW (into 13 ohms...

audiosciencereview.com

Will provide an update once the full setup is finally complete, thank you all for the help and information.

These problems are not exclusive to Chinese DACs
Have a look at these. ADI-2 DACs aren't exactly perfect.
https://forum.rme-audio.de/viewtopic.php?id=31545
https://forum.rme-audio.de/viewtopic.php?id=29667
https://forum.rme-audio.de/viewtopic.php?id=27870
https://forum.rme-audio.de/viewtopic.php?id=29856

 

[strea]

These problems are not exclusive to Chinese DACs
Have a look at these. ADI-2 DACs aren't exactly perfect.
https://forum.rme-audio.de/viewtopic.php?id=31545
https://forum.rme-audio.de/viewtopic.php?id=29667
https://forum.rme-audio.de/viewtopic.php?id=27870
https://forum.rme-audio.de/viewtopic.php?id=29856

All good.

I ended up going Genelec completely digitial w/ GLM and their own Genelec volume control. Everything ships in tomorrow. Been quite the process, but hopefully everything ends up well