It is a really nice combo DAC/AMP. It is much smaller then I thought it would be. I had one show up this week while I was in the Bay Area for work.
So far I have been using it to drive Rosson Audio RAD-0, Hifiman Ananda and HE-1000 SE.
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I’ve been considering the ADI-2 fs, Bifrost 2, and the Topping D90. I’d like to understand the differences between them (likely to be very small with ADI-2 fs vs. D90), and also how much value any of them add.
My FiiO Q5 has dual AKM 4490EN chips – these mobile chips are marketed as having “Velvet Sound” by AKM. Their smooth and creamy profile likely resembles both the ADI-2 fs and D90 too. Based on @Torq’s comments, there were extremely small differences when the ADI-2 fs went from the AKM 4490 to the 4493.
My gut tells me any improvements over 4490 DACs will be subtle without focused concentration. This is a situation where I’d really love to compare all of them side by side…
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My sugestion would be, if you have the chance, to try the RME with your setup, i think that you would be surprised about what this tiny little black box can do!
For me i´m in love with my setup.
RME ADI-2 DAC FS which i run connected to an Auralic Aries Mini (All music files stored on a SSD) to my Hedd Type 20´s and i think it can´get much better than this.
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Right now if I was going for a compact DAC/AMP solution that can drive all but extreme needs headphones. I would start with RME DAC/AMP combo.
I wish Univeral Audio built a DAC like this, RME build quality is not totally up to there level yet.
I would like to match level of RCA output to that of Topping D90.
I use the D90 in DAC mode which disables volume control.
What Ref level / Volume should I use on RME DAC ?
It seems that 8 dBu will output 2 volts.
http://www.sengpielaudio.com/calculator-db-volt.htm
Hello. Just ordered the ADI-2 DAC fs. I have been reading more on it, and it says is has a analog & digital volume… I couldn’t find any better explanation than that, what does that mean?
I will be using the XLR out, not for headphones.
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It has 4 selectable reference output levels, in 6 dB increments, that are implemented as physical, analog, attenuators. The can be fixed at a given output level, or if you turn on “Auto Ref Level” (chapter 19.3), the unit will automatically switch between them as you turn the volume dial, as necessary. Intermediate volume steps are handled purely in the digital domain, in 0.5 dB increments.
In practice this means one of two things:
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Leave the unit on “Auto-Ref Level = On”, and let the unit worry about the best combination of analog and digital attenuation.
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Pick a fixed Ref Level, and let the unit do all its attenuation in the digital domain.
If you’re feeding non-pro/studio level gear, you’ll be best off starting with a fixed reference level, of -5 dBu (RCA) or +1 dBu (XLR) and seeing how you go, as if you set this too high you’ll overload the inputs on whatever you’re feeding and cause them to clip (which is obvious when it happens as it sounds awful and clearly distorted).
Pro/studio gear will usually tolerate the highest reference level of +13 dBu (RCA)/+ 19 dBu (XLR), depending on exactly what the gear is.
Since I am driving an external headphone amplifiers with mine, I choose a fixed reference level setting that lets me put the digital volume control at 0 dBU, and do the volume control on the headphone amplifier.
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Tank you Torq. I think I understand, it is a bit new to me. I am going to be using it as DAC and Preamp in one of my home systems. Never used a DAC with anything more than source and power buttons… (Schiit Modi MB and similar) But I am good with electronics, and I am not worried about being able to figure it out.
One of my worries is somehow selecting the wrong thing and sending full volume through to the amp & speakers… (Mark Levinson 532H & Tekton MOABs, both on order). I will be using XLR, someone else told me to make sure and pick +1 as well.
Just curious, why do you not use the RME’s headphone section?
Various reasons, including that the my ADI-2 DAC and ADI-2 Pro are not part of my primary headphone nor speaker rigs.
Beyond which, it can’t drive the SR1a at all - which is the bulk of my headphone listening. And I do most of my non-SR1a listening via a Woo WA234 MKII setup (tube amp).
My remaining solid-state driven listening is usually direct from my sources … DAVE, for example, has a direct output from the DAC to the headphones with no amp involved (just an internal current buffer). And even the best amp in the world can only add distortion, noise and coloration (even if it’s at inaudible levels). So unless I need more power than they can cleanly provide (which is really only with the HEDDPhone or the LCD-4 with particularly dynamic music), I’m not using an amp at all … and when I am, the Phonitor X does a better job than the RME’s outputs.
So the headphone outputs on the RME units are generally used for convenience/monitoring and comparison (as I have one of each in my review-reference setup for consistency).
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On the belief (possibly mistaken) that most amps were designed to deliver their best sound at about 10:30 on the volume control, here’s the 3 step process I use.
With “Auto-Ref Level = On,” I first set RME at a fairly low volume level (e.g. -35)…second, turn my amp up from zero to 10:30 or 11:00 on its volume control…and third, increase RME’s volume (clockwise, toward zero) until I get the sound level I want through my headphones.
There’s no design correlation with where the volume pot is positioned on an amplifier and where it sounds its best. Since the input signal level will be different with different sources, and the pots have a fair degree of variation, it wouldn’t make sense to do so.
In most amplifier designs, all the volume dial does in control how much of the input signal level makes it to the gain stage … otherwise known as attenuation.
The amount of power an amplifier will output doesn’t so much depend on where the volume dial is, as it does what level of signal, relative to the input, reaches the gain stage.
So if I have 50% attenuation dialed in on the volume dial for a 4V input signal, and 0% attenuation dialed in for a 2V input signal, the gain and output stages will be doing EXACTLY the same work for a given load.
Which means there’s no “correct” or even “consistent” spot on the dial for any given amplifier - it’s ALWAYS dependent on the input and output as well. In other words, a different source or a different load will shift the apparent sweet-spot on the volume dial.
You can take the volume control on the amplifier effectively out of the circuit by simply turning it up to full and using the RME’s variable output to feed the amplifier. That gives you the purest analog path you can get for a given pair of devices. And the amplifier isn’t working any harder than it would otherwise be for the same SPL on the same load.
I would either go with pure digital attenuation (i.e. as described immediately above), or pure analog. Mixing the two is more likely to yield the worst of both worlds than the best.
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But my amp goes to 11!
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For $2,000, I’ll design you one that goes to 12 …
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Best laugh this morning! Thanks Ian.
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It has sustain for weeks!
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There is also something I had read about on the official RME forums:
https://www.forum.rme-audio.de/viewtopic.php?id=27866
When an external amplifier is connected
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if Auto-Ref Level is on, with Loudness on as well as EQ, at 0.0dB on the RME dial, the post-FX meter may display OVR to indicate an overloading of the output signal (in this case, to the line outs) on certain tracks.
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if this happens, they recommended reducing the volume on the RME by a few dB in order to avoid feeding the DAC chip too high of an input level and possibly adding some kind of distortion.
I would think this applies to most of the newer, “loudness war” victims such as pop music and possibly some rock/heavy metal tracks that give you the brick wall effect.
Although, as @Torq had mentioned, the easiest way to get around this would be to max the external amp and use the RME volume instead.
I do this with my ESP-95X as it is a lot easier than fiddling around with those dual volume knobs on the energizer all the time.
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Thank you Torq.
As you’ve done in the past, please be patient with me, because I’ve become old, never was much good at understanding technical things, and sometimes need extra help.
To get the most from my two RME’s, it’s probably best for me to set them at “Auto-Ref Level=On” and trust the machines to make the optimum setting adjustments.
My sources are CD Players that connect to the RME’s with Life-a-Tech glass optical cables. And none of the CD Players have adjustable outputs, and my amps aren’t adjustable for signal strength either.
So the question is this. For good quality sound, how should I adjust the volume of both the RME and the Amp–and in which order?
Thank you.
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Without knowing specifically what amplifier(s) you’re feeding from the RME unit, and how they’re connected, it’s impossible to say.
Here’s that info.
RME 1.
XLR connection to Sennheiser HDV 820.
RCA connection mostly to WooAudio WA6…other times connected to Burson Soloist.
RME 2
XLR connection to Schiit Jotunheim.
RCA connection to Beyer A20.
Also, all cables are Cardas Cross, except XLR to Sennheiser HD 820 is Moon Audio Black Dragon.
Personally, with all of those units, I’d go one of two ways:
Set the RME units to “Ref Level” -5 dBu. Turn the volume dial on the RME until the display shows 0 dB. Use the volume controls on the respective amplifiers to adjust actual listening level in normal use.
If you can’t get the listening level you want doing that, up the “Ref Level” to +1 dBu and try again.
OR:
Turn the volume ALL the way down on the RME, set “Auto Ref Level:” ON. Turn up the volume ALL the way on your amplifiers, and then use the RME’s volume to set your desired listening level.
I suspect the first approach will yield the best overall result with the amplifiers in question. It’s also the safest approach (much lower potential to accidentally wind up with hearing-damagingly loud output).
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