The RMA process was very smooth. I contacted RME to begin the RMA process, in which they got me into contact with my local distributor. I then shipped my local distributor the DAC, and within hours of receiving it he diagnosed the issue and sent me out a replacement unit (which should arrive Monday).
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thank you for the update
it´s good to know, the company takes care.
As I have RME in my hometown, from what my local store told me, there should be a quick solution to most problems, if something occurs.
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You RMA’d your ADI-2? I’m glad RME RMA’d your DAC ASAP, b/c often RMA-ing gets FUBAR and is a PITA.
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Nice use of TLAs and FLAs, Andrew. It takes a little TLC to write like that.
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If I want a linear power supply for the rme adi 2 dac, would there be a difference between 12v or 15v? Assuming all power requirements are met.
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It’s not a useful thing to do (you won’t see a measurable difference in the unit’s output, nor is there any audible change*) since the VERY first thing the power-input on the RME ADI-2 DAC feeds is an internal SMPS.
15V vs. 12V won’t convey any advantage, but if you use a 15V supply the internal regulation on the RME ADI-2 DAC will need to dissipate more energy (heat), so it’s better to stick with 12V.
Supply needs to be capable of delivering 2A continuously.
–
*Tested with both a high-end lab supply (five-figure pricing), and batteries, and measured with various SoTA instruments.
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This was somehow the single one, first and last try by my local store staff, to let me spend 400 Euro on top the ADI 2 DAC fs ( 4493).EDIT: listen to an optional power supply thing
Me in person… I was invited to give it a try and could not make out any differenes.
I was told, about a fair amount of people swear it would make it a even more velvet source with a touch added sparkle plus a more defined imager.
Could not make it out, with a Moon 430ha as attached amp and the Utopia, Ether 2 and my Elegia.
Not that I would be sainted, with the best ears.
So maybe, though in this budget, I’d simply prefer a Chord Qutest and miss the ADI 2 on top functions, with the balanced out been the least important to me.
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Can anyone confirm which US retailers are carrying the AKM 4493 version. I don’t want to buy an unsold 4490 version. Sweetwater doesn’t say which version they are selling.
SweetWater have been shipping the 4493 version of the ADI-2 DAC FS since January 12th (that’s where I got mine, which arrived on the 13th).
There was a several week period prior to that were the unit was not available at all, so other than tiny boutique vendors, all of the 4490 units have long since been out of the channel.
If you look at the pictures of the unit there you’ll see it shows the new remote, which is one of two ways to tell which version you have. The other is the presence of the “SD LD” filter in the Filter settings.
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I picked mine up from Vintage King Audio. Sweetwater is also a great place to buy products like this. These two companies are who I talk to about Pro gear.
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Question for ADI-2 owners, how warm/hot does the unit get when at regular operating temperature?
They can get pretty warm, depending on exactly how you’re using them … but in pure DAC mode, at default settings, the latest version of the ADI-2 DAC sits at 92 ℉ - which doesn’t feel warm to the touch.
Turn on a bunch of DSP/EQ processing and that’ll go up. Drive low-impedance headphones, especially at higher levels, and it’ll go up more. I think going all out, with most of the functions in use at once, I’ve gotten the ADI-2 Pro up to 125 ℉ at its hottest point.
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Thanks Torq! I’ll be using it mostly as a dac, and was hoping it wouldn’t get hot. My current dac, the Ayre Codex, runs very hot. Like Asgard 2 left on all day hot.
The ADI-2 Pro runs notably hotter than the ADI-2 DAC.
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Would love to hear a comparison of the ADI-2 and Metrum Amethyst. I’m setting up a second system and looking for a good dac in the $1K range (BF2, Amethyst, and ADI-2 are main dacs on my radar now, but open to others). I only need dac capability, but am intrigued by the EQ ability of the ADI-2, as well as it’s overall flexibility. Will pair it with a ZMF Pendant or Phonitor E amp, and mainly using ZMF headphones (Atticus, Eikon, VC).
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Do you know that you prefer NOS sound over OS? If not, ADI-2 DAC all the way. I’m a slowly-recovering non-oversampling DAC lover. For what it’s worth, the Metrum Amethyst was one of the fastest DACs I ever purchased and sold. I couldn’t get along with it compared to a number of MHDT DACs or even older Audio-GD stuff. I really thought I liked it, then just didn’t find myself using it.
The ADI-2 DAC, on the other hand… well, it’s a technical marvel and is by leaps and bounds the most versatile DAC I’ve ever owned.
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i dont have much NOS experience. i did hear a soekris dac1321 that i thought was good, but not mind blowing. i thought given it’s bottom of the lineup status the higher end models might be worth a look. i’m trying to work out a trial of an amethyst as Zach has been quite complentary of them in the past. but if i’m buying blind, i’ll likely go Bifrost 2 or ADI. i do like the versatility of the ADI, that is really intriguing.
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I’ve had mine for a few weeks now. As a stand alone DAC, it’s right up there with the best. I prefer this over my last two DACs (Benchmark DAC 2, Oppo Sonica SDAC-3). I use it primarily for headphones, but also with a tube based system.
Both applications sound excellent. For headphones, really like the EQ and cross feed. Let’s be honest, NO headphone is flat in it’s playback response. The ability to EQ to get the best out the cans makes a difference, IMHO.
I’ve been pleasantly surprised by it’s sound with the tube audio system as well. Great clarity and dynamics.
Haven’t played much with the various filter options. From limited auditioning, the default setting sounds the best to me so far.
The built in headphone amp is OK, but the DAC sounds much better on headphones with my Mjolnir Audio Pure Bipolar.
Overall, very impressed. This is a keeper, to be sure
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The eq feature is definitely attractive and with a built in amp, great engineering and build quality seems like a super value…
I decided to go with the BF2, but the ADI was the other dac that was a finalist in my choices…