RME ADI-2 Pro Discussion Thread

Discussion in 'Headphone Amplifiers and Combo (DAC/Amp) Units' started by k.e., Nov 5, 2016.

  1. bartzky

    bartzky Acquaintance

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    @Cellist88: The ADI DAC wasn't specifically designed for the Andromeda, but they absolutely had IEMs like the Andromeda in mind. The Andromeda still is something like the hissing-benchmark, but there are other IEMs that are not far off. If your device is silent with Andromeda, it will be silent with probably everything else. So that's the goal.
    It may be that people prefer the Andromeda from about 2 ohm or whatever, but what you generally want is a near 0 ohm output. Raising the OI is easy, as @Riotvan already mentioned. Lowering the OI is much more complicated. So it makes more sense to go for 0 ohm OI, as some IEMs might need this, and leave it up to the user to raise the OI afterwards, if they feel so.
     
  2. mitochondrium

    mitochondrium Friend

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    @atomicbob

    that looks quite enticing. At the moment I am thinking about dac1421 or ADI-2 DAC which here in Europe are roughly the same price. I know different feature sets, but I am a DAC with USB input only user.

    Any chance there happens to be another teaser concerning the jitter performance of the ADI-2 PRO availablr from you?


    Pleeease
     
  3. atomicbob

    atomicbob dScope Yoda

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    The dScope and HpW-Works data collected so far on the ADI-2 Pro is incomplete. I also may have inadvertently used the NOS filter on the ADI-2 Pro for jitter measurements while Lin was used with DAC1541. Repeat measurements are in order. Then there is the matter of ADI-2 Pro measured at +19dBu while DAC1541 was measured at +8dBu. So the two measurements aren't as comparable as one would want at this time.

    For my own purposes I am keeping the ADI-2 Pro and await shipping on the thrice delayed DAC1421. Good things come to those with patience.
     
  4. mitochondrium

    mitochondrium Friend

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    Thanks atomicbob for your fast reply

    In rme's manual you can find a jitter measurement on page 75:

    https://www.rme-audio.de/download/adi2pro_d.pdf

    where the 11 kHz signal seems to be quite broad in the low signal strength region but then the x axis has a different scal compared to your measurements (I guess picoseconds whereas your graphs show frequency).
     
  5. Hrodulf

    Hrodulf Prohibited from acting as an MOT until year 2050

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    Why cripple a device to account for a single headphone? Can't you dial in the tonal changes from the Zout via EQ?
     
    Last edited: Dec 21, 2017
  6. atomicbob

    atomicbob dScope Yoda

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    RME measurement is relative frequency on the x axis, centered around the frequency of interest which is 11.025 KHz.

    Here is a jitter measurement using HpW-Works. Note the same information presented with the x axis both relative and absolute. No jitter spurs to be found. Widening of the base occurs below -140 dBFS. Very low indeed.

    ADI-2 Pro 11.025 KHz Jitter - balanced output - ref +19 dBu - x axis relative to 11.025 KHz
    20171221 ADI-2 Pro Bal inferred jitter - ASIO - centered Fs.PNG

    ADI-2 Pro 11.025 KHz Jitter - balanced output - ref +19 dBu - x axis absolute frequency
    20171221 ADI-2 Pro Bal inferred jitter - ASIO.PNG
     
  7. mitochondrium

    mitochondrium Friend

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    Merry Christmas to all

    atomicbob did you already try the adi’s usb input? Is it a valid implementation or is a DDC highly recommended? I am not concerned by the last 5 % of performance but there are DACs galore which just slap the XMos chip into their devices without giving to much thought to its proper implementation.
     
  8. jowls

    jowls Never shitposts (please) - Friend

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    FWIW my laptop is fussy as all hell with USB. I had dropouts/pops with Schiit Gen 2 & 3 but ADI-2 Pro is rock solid.
     
  9. atomicbob

    atomicbob dScope Yoda

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    Those teaser measurements were made with USB input. I haven't tested the SPDIF on ADI-2 Pro yet. I am listening this moment using USB directly to ADI-2 Pro and evaluating an Osram A1834 output tube in my recently PS mod'ed BH Crack with a Tungsram e80cc driver tube.
     
  10. mitochondrium

    mitochondrium Friend

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    Hi,

    so USB input seems a valid option. Probably due to the announcement of the DAC version (with improved Steady Clock) the price of the Adi-2 Pro has gone down significantly in Europe (1412 Euros instead of 1599 at Thomann). A little off topic the price of dac1421 will increase significantly in January.
     
  11. abhinit90

    abhinit90 New

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    This little beauty is making me rediscover my music all over again.

    What stumped me is that it's a no BS, total professional piece. No gimmicks, no nothing. I was stumped that there was no USB cable in the box and I had to scrounge for one. Thankfully I had one else I wouldn't have been able to listen to it on the first day.

    I love tinkering and I'm really liking all the features that are inbuilt. Already updated the unit to the latest. I like how eq and other dsp functions are implemented.
     
  12. SineDave

    SineDave Friend

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    @atomicbob I take it this wouldn't benefit much from an Eitr then?
     
  13. atomicbob

    atomicbob dScope Yoda

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    I haven't measured the ADI-2 Pro spdif input performance yet. But my ears have been being rocked with ADI-2 Pro usb input into a PS modified BH Crack (non-speedball) with tubes mentioned above. HD650 and my IVS system slightly retuned for this setup.
     
  14. cskippy

    cskippy Creamy warmpoo

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    Wow @atomicbob thanks for the measurements! This suddenly is on my radar, seems to be an outstanding performer.
     
  15. atomicbob

    atomicbob dScope Yoda

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    The usual set of dScope measurements is about half finished. They have been pre-empted a few times, like for the ZDT Jr. and a few others that are in the can but not yet posted. Was hoping to catch up over winter break; more than a week of family and friends visiting also pre-empted activity in this area. Tonight I'm just enjoying listening to the system mentioned above.
     
  16. uelover

    uelover New

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    I have ordered the Schiit Eitr and am awaiting to see whether there will be any improvement/difference in sound over the USB input.
     
  17. Azimuth

    Azimuth FKA rtaylor76, Friend

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    I remember doing a DAC shootout for a client (pro audio company) who chose the RME ADI-2 over a host of others. Other ones we tried were Lynx, Benchmark, Mitek, and a couple of others. Now granted, this was back in 2004 or so. The A/D section and the D/A section just sounded phenomenal. This was using 1/2" analog tape at 30 ips into a computer at 24/48 and back. The differences between each of them was very apparent.

    What is funny is when we were all done and he plugged in just the output of the tape straight into the monitor feed, and my jaw dropped. I was like, "I want that!", and he was like "Now you see what I am after." So we plugged in the ADI-2 feed in again for comparison and it was the only one that kept up with the depth, but was just missing the finest details. It sounded like something else plugged in the chain in there. Not surprised at all this unit finally show up on a hifi forum.
     
  18. Thad E Ginathom

    Thad E Ginathom Friend

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    Wow, I was sure that must be a typo, but I guess not! (SoS review, 2005). I was using one of their PC cards then, and it was already an obsolete-model bargain. This company goes way back
     
  19. Azimuth

    Azimuth FKA rtaylor76, Friend

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    It was a different looking box back then. No LCD display:

    [​IMG]

    The new one is the ADI-2 Pro. Same concept, but they added the LCD display and some more internal routing options as well as upgraded the A/D and D/A chips, but kept with AKM.
     
  20. Azteca

    Azteca Friend

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    I’m fortunate to have an ADI-2 in a stereo mobile recording rig at work. Beautiful piece of equipment, though mostly sidelined by newer gear for my needs. Now I use the ADI-2 Pro on my work desk every day to mix. I haven’t used it as an A/D yet but I’m sure it’s just as good if not better than the ADI-2. RME doesn’t screw around.
     

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