Any RME ADI-2 DAC FS owners here?

I have had one for a bit and it's not cold/dry but transparent.  If I play bad recordings then I get a bad result, good recordings get good results, etc as one should expect.  For the money, it's quite nice in my opinion.

The RME ADI-2 is an excellent AKM449X implementation, and for that sound it can certainly compete with some more expensive DACs. You may find it a little cold, analytical, and dry, but that really depends on your own subjective calibration point. Others won't perceive it that way, and there are other DACs that are even more so in that direction on the spectrum.

Whether or not the headphone output itself is powerful enough to bring out the best of your headphones will depend on the headphones you're using, but it is quite capable.

The biggest downside is the relatively complex UI and customization options. Most consumer DACs and headphone amplifiers have a few choices and a volume knob. The ADI-2 has a whole lot of settings and a bit of a complex interface; you could easily (mis)configure something and not know it or have a hard time undoing it.

@vineman55
You wrote that you had it for a while. Why didn’t you keep it and what did you replace it whith?

@nekoaudio 
I’m not afraid of all the options. On the contrary, they are one of the reason I’m curious of the DAC.
But maybe it’s not a DAC for me being a ”tube guy”. My amp, my headphone amp, my other DAC and my RIAA uses tubes. But with tubes both in the DAC and in the headphone amp makes the sound a little veiled. At least with my gear.

I've had my RME for about nine month's and I find the sound transparent and dynamic. Picked it over the Chord Qutest. I use the short delay slow and tweaked the top end w/the 5 Band Parametric EQ. Also to make your life easier go Audio Science forum on page 28 of RME ADI-2 thread is a four part video produced by RME on how to use your DAC. Excellent step by step instructions. 

@simna I wouldn't recommend the ADI-2 DAC if you want the sound of tubes. Unless you find you're getting enough of that with your other tube gear, and want to lighten it up a bit.

@simna   I still have mine...

RME ADI-2 Pro AD//DA owner here, I pair it with Audeze iSine 20 in-ear  planar magnetics, i like the combo a lot.  I also use the RME ADI-2 Pro AD//DA as a preamp for my power amp, works/sounds great, very detailed sound, i dont find it fatiguing.  I don't have extensive experience with other headphone amps or headphones, so take take the above for what its worth.

Thanks for your opinions. 

There are a few other DAC:s in this price range (more or less) that also are interesting; M2Tech Young, Mytek Liberty, NuPrime DAC-9 and Schiit Gungnir Multibit.

It’s a pity that the rme doesn’t have digital out so you could use just the EQ in it.

The myriad of options is a blessing and a curse. How do you prefer your Q? How about the QA? Sharp or NOS? WTF? I would love to find some user groups that discuss the effect of the parameters on the audio. Some parameters seem to make little difference. Or, am I not listening to the right kind of music to hear the difference? Anyway, if you have some suggestions for parameter settings, let me know. Otherwise, I'll just keep running back and forth from the couch to the DAC playing the beginning of the same song over and over until my wife cries, uncle.

BTW, the RME DAC is fabulous. Although I've not run it head-to-head with a much more expensive DAC.

Another user here. Very happy with the RME. I run mine with a Teddy Pardo power supply which took a fine DAC and made it better. Even with the stock PS don’t use the stock power cord as a quality cord is noticeable. In my system far from dry, clinical or sterile. It will not make poor recordings sound great but I can get through them now and I am running mine direct with no EQ or tone controls adjusted and I run the sharp default filter. Has great PRaT especially with the Teddy, and yes it’s very musical and will keep you up late.

I have had mine for about a month and love it.   It is the best DAC I've ever owned without question.   The bass is tight , deep, with great delineation....  kick drums and upright bass sound incredibly real.   Its well balanced , open , clear.   CLARITY....   in a word.  

The USB implementation works perfectly.   Plug a phone, tablet, computer and it automatically locks on and plays with no need for drivers.   

The adjustments possible are like nothing on consumer hi fi gear.  5 Band PEQ, Loudness, Bass & Treble, Phase, Channel Reversal, Headphone Cross-feed.... width....  pre sets to save your favorite config....  I could go on and on

Visit RMEs site and download the manual, it is 65 pages long....  

This unit replaced a NAD M51 which was a fine DAC , but the RME is superior and a huge value .

Almost forgot to mention you can record any Coax or Opt souce through USB via a computer,  any bit depth or sample rate .   

The headphone section is very good, if I didn't own the Quicksilver Headphone amp I would be very happy with it...

@adg101, which model of power supply do you use and what cable?  Does the cable have the locking connector?  I find I get intermittent connection if I don’t lock the stock cable (which I didn’t know I needed to do until folks here pointed that out to me).

I’ve been tempted to try a power supply upgrade.
Have you seen the power supply upgrade thread on the RME forum?  It is pretty interesting...

@ddafoe, this is the Teddy I have https://www.teddypardo.com/powersupplies/generic/teddy12-2.html 12V/2A with 2.1mm connector. The connector is not the locking type but it fits snug and I don’t see how it would just fall out as I’ve had no issue whatsoever.

Yes I’ve read through the threads about how the engineers designed the ADI-2 fs around the PS they choose se and there can be no improvement but that’s false. I run all my gear except my amp through a PS Audio P5 Power Plant and the Teddy still makes a noticeable improvement. The sound is fuller, deeper lower end, better PRaT and has a warmer sound overall but does not its speed or clarity. I get no intermittent drop in signal or anything... the umbilical cord that comes with the Teddy works great... no issues. 

I use a WyWires Sliver Juice II Digital Series power cord which I’m guessing has more of a shield over the standard PC. The WyWires feeds the Teddy Pardo and from there I’m guessing the umbilical cord is something made in house by them but seems decent. For coax digital cable from the RME to streamer or transport I use a Nordost Silver Shadow BNC/RCA Cable. Power cord on streamer which is a Bluesound Vault 2 I use a cable I made from VH Audio with Furutech plugs, two conductor shielded cable with shield tide to wall receptacle side. On Transport which I use a Cambridge 851C I use a Nordost Vishnu PC.
System sounds great and I experience no harshness or find it analytical. Do horrible recordings sound great now? No but I can at least get through them at a decent playback level. Forgot to mention I do have dedicated circuits with Audioquest Niagara wall receptacles which I feel every tweak I’ve made has brought a positive result. If you haven’t started with dedicated circuits that’s the place to start. I’ve invested in some room treatment products and looking to do more there as well as that’s probably the most important place to start.

The Teddy Pardo is a very nice product and I haven’t changed out the fuse which is real easy to change as it’s just a fuse holder on the case. Very happy with the Teddy and I can’t imagine running the RME without it after hearing what it does. It’s not too expensive and easily worth the cost for what you get and what it does. The plug is fine and again I see no way how it will pull out as it’s a snug fit. Hope this helps.

Forgot to mention that even with the stock switched power supply that power cords do make a difference. I have another VH Audio cable with Furutech plugs with the C7 IEC plug and that made a improvement, again with the stock PS which proved to me cords and a different power supply altogether will improve the RME. Same power cord is on my Bluesound as well as it require the C7 plug. If you haven’t tried a different power cord first I’d start there to see if you hear a difference or not. If your system is to a certain level to identify difference in cables and etc. you should hear a difference. If you don’t then the Teddy Pardo might not do anything but I bet it will.

Such a great DAC.....    I love it !!!     A little weird getting used to the 1/2  1U size form factor , it's way smaller than it looks but that is a small concession for such a capable device.

I've only owned the RME adi-2 v2 for 2 days using mac book pro stock USB cable with Acoustic Zen silver ref 2 going into pre. This is my first ever dac. I'm exausted I've stayed up past 3am listening to this little box last 2 nights. I was going to buy the Audio Mirror or Orchid but thought I would try this first with 30 day return. Try solid state and then buy a tube dac, I don't think this thing is going back to Sweetwater. I'm a turntable guy but this little box plays music. Big tight bass very open with wonderful transparent highs and information and I have not even adjusted anything accept for volume on dac. I find it far from sterile bright or digital. I plan on playing with settings this weekend but it sounds so good I'm scared to mess with it. I'm using Tital and Qobuz and love access to to unlimited music. This thing may be a keeper.

Enjoy !!! FYI, I re mapped remote keys 1 2 3 to allow me to toggle through some of the digital filters. I did this because sometimes I would accidentally hit key 1 putting the unit in mono mode... since its unlikely I’ll ever want mono I changed the key layout

Thanks for the info @adg101.   I already have a nice Shunyata Digital Alpha power cable so I ordered a  C7 to C14 Adapter Cryo Treated from Take Five Audio in Canada.   Once that comes in I'll swap cords and if I hear a difference I'll then consider the power-supply.

Who makes the adapter? Hopefully it’s high quality as cryo alone might not help. For others here reading I’d suggest if you have a power cord you’re wanting to use look at VH Audio and purchase a Furutech C7 plug. The C7 being just a 2 pole plug, I’d leave the ground and shield still tied to the wall plug but it will float at the C7 plug. If you’re cable is not shielded I’d suggest using one on all digital sources as well.

https://www.vhaudio.com/images/furutech-fi-8n.jpg

i had it, liked it but ultimately sold it to a friend who wanted a dac that drove headphones well

sound wise, wes/neko states it quite correctly -- it is a more analytical less warm sounding dac... some call it more ’transparent’

solid state vs tube amplification is an excellent analogy here... rme, chord, benchmark, brooklyn, topping are in the solid state camp -- lil leaner brighter faster sound ... metrum, sonnet, mhdt, audio mirror, denafrips (and wes's own neko unit) are in the more tubey camp. more bloom body texture of the sound

matter of taste and system matching which to choose

within the leaner camp, i would say the rme is a very well engineered, feature rich piece... does ALOT for the money, its SQ, if there is a failing, is that it images flatter and narrower than some of the others within its own catergory - but for headphone listening this may not matter much