RME ADI-2 FS DAC Review 

I have a new found respect for audiophiles. I used to think you guys were kinda nuts but what I recently realized is that you guys are like the wine connoisseurs of Audio. Details, taste, flavor, strength, separation, after taste, all that matters to you guys. I make and mix music and use the pro fs r to monitor. My first DAC and man this thing is unbelievably useful. Wait! Am I turning into…. An Audiophile??????

You sir are just pure class. I could watch you just for that. But the content is also informative for other true audiophiles. Cheers.

I am a relatively new member of your network and I wanted to let you know that out of the mini audio RU-vid presenters I find that I am more engrossed in your presentations than any other but I listen to. I don’t lose my concentration and look for the bottom line when I am viewing your reviews. You are so specific yet understandable and exactly what you mean with the technical terms that you use that it is a pleasure to be a new listener. You have a gift that many other reviewer‘s just don’t possess. I do have a few other favorites but I am very happy that I found your network. This review in particular left me with indelible audio technical information stamped in my brain and I thank you for your abilities to communicate with your audience.

Great review! Thank you for putting so much time and effort into producing this.

An excellent review, one of your best. Precise and to the point. Thank you

Hey Tarun , I saw countless reviews about RME Adi 2 but your review is the best among all .. thanks for a deep drive.

Thank you Tarun a great review I could watch you doing reviews all day. Would just like to say that RME have got 4 or 5 videos showing how to navigate this DAC.

Another top notch review, love this channel. Cheers from stateside

Excellent review. Very concise, straight to the nuts and bolts without over inflated jargon. Thank you kindly sir.

Absolutely fantastic review! Up there with the best I’ve ever seen of anything. Bravo.

Great review! I love your content, I really enjoy your calm yet precise manner of speech. You're able to cover complex topics easily without delving too deep into the weeds of very technical details, I think you strike a great balance between the two that therefore appeals to a wider audience. I've had this DAC for almost a year now and I couldn't be happier with it. It seems to pair well with different amp and speaker setups, and on my Elac Vela 407s it sounds best with the slow filter which seems to provide clarity while still sounding very neutral. The sharp filter at least to me sounds a bit too bright, and can be a bit fatiguing in comparison. But using the parametric EQ to boost the highest frequencies slightly works well and also let's me take full advantage of the AMT tweeters on the Vela's. Keep up the great work! I'd also highly recommend that you audition some of Elac's higher end speakers like the Vela's as they are woefully ignored by a lot of audiophile reviewers in favor of popular brands like KEFs. Having auditioned both brands of speakers in the same price range, at least in my opinion I don't think the KEFs come close in terms of being natural sounding and overall listening enjoyment, I'd be curious to hear your opinion as you've listened to a much wider variety of speakers than I have.

Hi Tarun, great insight as always. I’ve just upgraded my amp again with R-C snubbers on the two bridge rectifiers. If ever anything was going to confirm my prejudices that high quality components and clean power matter, this mod is it. So for me, your comment about the Pontus II being a step above was all I needed to hear. It’s on my wish list for 2022. Cheers, Mark

Beautifully explained and well reviewed, as always. Thank you so much for this review.

A comprehensive run down on a fantastically measuring unit... But reading through the comments what I really want to mention/compliment is the quality and sometimes the humour in your replies, Tarun I think you've been a class act since the beginning... But lately REALLY putting out some of the best content.

This is one of the best reviewers there is, everything is delivered perfectly. I have had the adi 1yr, I liked it so much I have 2. I agree wholeheartedly your description of sound ect.... another dac I own is mdac plus which I thought was good, until i heard adi. Full marks on your presentation first rate.

Thank you Tarun. Because of your review, I have now purchased this item. I put the purchase through last night. Can't wait for it to arrive!

Great review as always 👍

Excellent review Tarun.

This is a great presentation, technical but not dry, thanks man, and I've just subscribed on my first view.

Thank you Tarun, fine job here so a comment for the algo. You pretty much sum up much of the current state of the DAC price point through this review which is right on the money. Think the parametric EQ feature is beyond divine as it is like owning multiple devices. The firmware upgrades are amazing as others have noted. I think this DAC / preamp is a superb match with tube amp monoblocks and applying the "slow" filter. While not encouraged, running this via pure battery power takes the sonic performance higher. Timely review and well done Tarun.

Great review, you explain yourself really well. I have this DAC and it's a big improvement on the inbuild Hegel DAC and I love the features that come with it. RME have just released a firmware upgrade for this and their Pro version DAC with some new features. I wont link their RU-vid video, it's easy enough to find RME Audio but here's the bullet points. - Intro - Enhanced Balanced Screen - New Encoder Filter - Digital DC Protection - Extended Horizontal Meter - PEQ including Bass/Treble - Swapping EQ Presets - Select EQ Preset via Remote - Additional Colors for the Analyzer Screen - Lock Keys - Auto Standby - New Toggle Options (ADI-2 Pro Only) - Loopback - Analog Out to USB record (ADI-2 Pro Only) - Permanent Dual Volume Screen (ADI-2 Pro Only) - Selectable DC Filter (ADI-2 Pro Only)

I love my ADI-2! Thrilled that you rated it Highly Recommended. FYI - if you want to use it with a pre-amp, you can lock the volume for fixed level output (pg 62 of the manual). The tricks it has are mind-blowing.

Thank you Tarun for another great review. As always highly informative and the comparisons are always extremely useful. In fact, the comparison portion of your reviews is the feature I most appreciate. As to your question of the day: I'm starting to look for a DAC and would prefer to not have the EQ/DSP functions. To my ear these always have some sort of sonic artifact. To those folks who do like EQ/DSP, hats off to you. The question sort of comes down to what's your favorite ice cream flavor (or flavour to you Brits).

Fantastic review Tarun and thank you. I read quite a lot, and watched a fair few reviews of this DAC before I bought one nearly a year ago, and your piece about it is the clearest and most concise explanation of the functions of the unit, and description of the sound it produces that I've seen. Great stuff.

Have had this DAC for a year now and I cannot listen without the EQ for bass correction and the loudness feature, and it also sounds really good as a DAC only. Simply a bargain at the price.

I love this dac and owned it for 2 years. I only sold it to upgrade to the pro version. The pro has the added features of analog input and digital (AES) output. Pair this dac with a competent streamer and you will be rewarded with clear and precise output. It functions very well as a preamplifier and the parametric equalizer is awesome (one of the best you’ll see on any dac) and there are easy to access knobs for bass and treble. The features go on and on - the manual is like a mini book and it’s a challenge but we’ll worth it if you stick with it. German precision at its best! Great video, one of my favs!! To answer your question at the end, I would choose the ADI. You will notice that it’s the preferred choice by many users who own active speakers for the very reason that you mention, that it’s an all rounder that does everything like a Swiss Army knife. Also there is no coloring of the sound unless you want it via the parametric eq. Also as mentioned by others you forgot to mention the headphones outputs where again it shines. You can read more from other posters on this. This is a five star product and people watching this should consider this dac.

Very good, sir. The discussion of digital filters was very informative. I just received a Denafrips Ares 2, but the ADI-2 looks like a solid performer with many settings options. The Parametric EQ certainly adds some value. Thank you, for the review.

Nice review, cheers!

Excellent review!! Thank you

Another great review thanks

Another superb review. I've heard this with a Luxman integrated and whilst not price appropriate it was a great marriage. The ADI can perform at this level, especially with the tuning that you can achieve. Personally I'm learning towards a fully functioning complex with all the bells. Modern signal processing is at a point where it can be used very effectively on problem recordings (like many of my Reggae tracks) or not at all, your choice. Mr John Darko also supports your findings about this DAC AND so do I.

Another stellar review, Tarun! Really excellent content and very relatable for other audiophiles. I have a Topping D90 and enjoy excellent resolution (probably quite similar to the SMSL) but it falls down on soundstage as you indicate for DACs in this price range. My Primare CD32 has better soundstage but slightly less detail resolution. So I stay with the D90 for its foundational bass and use a gentle filter with the oversampled input from the Primare. My 3-box Exposure amp (VIII / XI / XII) steps up to the challenge every time, what an excellent product they make. And the KEF Reference three fours with Townshend Supertweeters deliver from 40Hz all the way to ultrasound for a gripping yet airy experience. Recently acquired music from Chris Jones and Allan Taylor in a new-to-me style gives the system a satisfying shakedown with deep bass, vocals and acoustic guitar. To quote a well-known hamburger chain, I'm lovin' it. All the best, Rob in Switzerland

Great review! Just ordered one of these to use with my nearfield monitoring setup consisting of KEF Reference 1 being driven by the Benchmark AHB2. Not gonna lie here, the ability to "correct" the room with a built in PEQ is pretty clutch....the adjustable bandwidth really lets you target those modes.

Another great review Tarun! Your insightful analysis of this DAC has me very intrigued! The best sounding sub $1000.00 DAC that I have auditioned at this point is the Aune S8. I preferred it to the Denafrips Aries 2 by a small margin. With this review I now have another DAC that is a must audition. Thanks again for your excellent work!

This DaC wore you out! Another informative excellent review

Great video as usual Tarun.. Really enjoyed it.. I have the version with the AKM chip ...love it to bits and really loved the PEQ. Of course there are better (very subjective and more expensive DACs, of course 😁) but this for me, is it. Thanks

Great review!!!

Thanks as always for the honest, real world reviews and considered perspectives. I'm a fan Tarran. I hope I've spelled that right :) I think there is definitely a place for DACs with the facilities of the ADI-2. Its knocking on the door of DSP plus active speakers in some respects. Not a bad thing in my experience. What I really related to was the point about some DACs not having so much depth of soundstage. I have a Mojo, whilst it's not perfect you are right in that it gives depth of sound stage that is beyond what you expect at its price point. I get that the ADI-2 has it's strengths in other areas. I'm still looking for the DAC for me.

Best review of this DAC so far! It was not an easy win because you came relatively late. Thank you!

With all of the DAC reviews out there these days, it's difficult to get excited by one but this one did that! All of the features are there but my favorite is the one in the EQ where you can control or smooth out the slope of the frequencies. As someone who has been doing digital color correction for 30 years, I immediately saw the logic and benefit of that for audio but since I've never seen it before in this context I didn't know how cool that would be! As a general audiophile hater of tone controls, as long as this doesn't add any noise or otherwise degrade the signal, I think I'd like this feature... especially if they could add the room correction you also called out.

Thanks for the excellent review ! I’ve owned this dac for a year or so and love it. I’m running the balanced outs directly into a new Nad C298 power amp , sounds excellent ! I flip the switches on the back of the amp to unbalanced when I’m using my HT or TT. With the excellent implementation of the loudness feature, bass and treble (adjustable frequency range) EQ, balance and numerous other features there’s nothing that’s comparable to it.

Great video. I am using this DAC as a pre amp into the Willsenton R8 and I can confirm it sounds fantastic. For the first time in 10 years I don’t feel I need to upgrade my system.

Currently I run a couple Schiit dacs but love the idea of the eq in this unit. Great feature for the price point 👍

Great review Tarun 👍🏻 Waiting for best hi-fi product of the year 2021 video.. 😄

😊 enjoyed that as usual

Thanks for the excellent impartial review, this is my first standalone DAC, previous one is the built in Dac on a marantz 8005 sacd player, The marantz dac sounds a bit muddy and seems that it has more bass, but it's just not controlled as well as the RME. I can confirm your review, it pulls out all the details and is transparent, does not add anything to the sound. The parametric eq is very well implemented and very useful, with a slight tweeking i can get the best out of my system, yes some eq does help in my opinion. Waiting for the audiopheliacs to bite my head off now, lol. Next will be a r2r Dac.

Thank you for another intelligent review. If I bought all the gear you review so well the bank account would be rather red!

i have watched numerous reviews of this DAC and honestly your review was the most in depth one compared to all of the others. when other reviewers review this DAC they review it as it is STOCK without any changes to the EQ, so essentially when they compare it to for example the chord qutest many say that the RME has much more precise detail, but the qutest is warmer. what they completely ignore and not mention is that the RME is completely neutral BUT it is the only DAC (at least in this price range) where you have near complete control over the tonality of the DAC itself - if its too cold or harsh sounding you can tune it in to be warmer, if it lacks a tiny bit of warmer highs you can tune it in. the flexibility with the RME is insane. the only department where the RME is lacking is in the depth of soundstage, it apparently it is not "far enough" when compared to the chord qutest or the schiit bifrost 2. i do wonder however how well would the RME pair up with a warmer sounding amp like the solid state Jotunheim 2 or the tube Schiit Lyr2. what i'm trying to build is a highly detailed and precise setup with a slight warmth and very detailed mids and highs (non harsh). what i want to do is to completely balance out my HD800S's with it and add in a little more warmth to it. my other headphones include the drop HD6XX, B&O H9 3g, M50X, DT990, and i'm also planning on getting the Sundara in the future as my first planar magnetics. at first i was actually considering a schiit stack consisting of the bifrost 2 + jotunheim 2 + lokius EQ. them i watched a review comparing the bifrost 2 to the RME and that got me also interested in the RME due to its flexibility and potential upgrade path by adding in different amps with warm characteristics. i wonder what do you think i should do? should i get the RME and use it standalone with a couple of tweaks through its internal EQ? should i get the RME and pair it with a Jotunheim 2 or Lyr2 to add in some warmth to the sound? (will be using it balanced if that's the case - with Jotunheim 2 that is) or should i just get the Bifrost 2 and pair it with either the Jotunheim 2 or Lyr2 and add in the Lokius?

I picked this up a couple of days ago to feed into an XTZ Edge A2-300 powering a pair Tannoy XT6Fs and I couldn't be happier! I've yet to fiddle with the settings as it sounds so good out of the box (huge upgrade from my Audiolab 6000a, even when running as a pre into the XTZ).

I just purchased that DAC. Not a lot of seat time yet but I’m very happy so far.

I feel very blessed to have the RME ADI-2 in my life, I just made a video about my journey as a producer, from low to high-end converters.

I just chose the Denafrips Ares 2 over the RME ADI-2. I really like the stripped back approach that Denafrips has, I feel I most likely would get tangled up in trying all those settings and features and wind up unsure of the products real sonic performance. I should add that I stream from a Mac Mini and I have a Mini DSP SHD Studio connected before my Hegel H80 takes over the amplification. So no need for room correction or remote. In addition, I really like watching your content Tarun, in a class of its own. Keep up the fine work! Greetings from Sweden. 🙌🏾👏🏾

RME's track record and purposeful pro audio approach are very hard to beat. It is practical and utilitarian in design, looks and feature set. Its preamp is outstanding. EQ, excellent. You can save EQ profiles for different devices (such as headphones). DSP room correction would be dandy, but RME is not in the audiophile business. MiniDSP offers this, but it's a much less neat solution.

Thanks for this review and some of the info about pre ringing, aliases etc. it would be great if you could do a vlog specifically about DACs in general and explain all these things in detail for the layman. I still don’t understand fully about the filters and upsampling despite watching dozens of these reviews, many of which seem to assume quite a bit of knowledge - although I often feel unconvinced that the reviewers really know their stuff here. An explanatory vlog from you would be much valued!

Another great video, Tarun. In a fairly short period of time, you've become something of a gold-standard for audio gear reviews on RU-vid: well done! Can I make 2 very trivial comments? 1/ Why do you say "Kay-Gees" rather than "kilos" or "kilogrammes"? 2/ I think the drop-shadow on your captions is a bit too far detached from the text and doesn't quite look right. Looking forward to more of your videos!

An excellent review again Tarun, thank you. With the additional features and the comments here, I'll be bookmarking (so to speak) this video. Actually Dean Martin sang about "pre-ringing" in the song "Sway".... "I can hear the sounds of violins Long before it begins..." (Sorry)

Heaving good experience with RME audio interface l would trust this brand for converters and overall sound quality.

In your closing comments you mentioned dac's with dsp and preamp features. I'd love to see you review the Minidsp Shd unit. It's really intriguing to me because I've recently become interested in dsp eq software and/or room correction. I'd like to start experiencing with it in my setups. Thanks Tarun👍

Seriously detailed and informative review Tarun. I wonder how you would compare the ADi2 to the Chord Qutest. I know you touched on the Mojo but the Qutest should offer you more of the same in terms of resolution and a natural sound? I actually have the Chord Chordette 2Qute and love the warm analogue sound this gives me. But as is the case with us Audiophiles i'm looking to upgrade sometime next year. thanks

I really enjoyed your review Tarun! I have been using the RME for about a year now and still really enjoy the sound. I have it hooked direct into my Anthem MCA20 amp and stream music from my Blusound Node2i, and listen to physical media via my OPPO 103D. Like I said, I still really enjoy the sound, but we always seem to wonder how we can male it sound "better" LOL. I know you mention in your video that the pre amp function works good and should be good enough to hook up directly to an amp, which like ai mentioned is how I currently have mine setup, but aim wondering if I added a pre amp like the Shiit Freya? Do you think this would be worth a try? Tks again for your great reviews! I hope you hear your thoughts. Tks! Vince from Eastern Canada.

Wow, excellent review. Immediately subscribed. I am thinking of buying this DAC just for its audio enhancements. How good is the PMEQ on this? Is there any volume degradation or distortion when the PMEQ is engaged?

What a serious and wonderful audio channel, congratulations, sir! Do you have any comparison comment between Pontus II and Chord Qutest in terms of sound reproduction?

This is one of the best looking dac. I love those green bars ..just classic

Nice review as always, have you considered a review of suitable control units for use with DACS, not everyone wants to use a computer or laptop etc.?

wonderful review! i am hoping to acquire this during the upcoming holiday season. i have been doing my research, but haven’t yet been able to answer this- for my music production work, i like to quickly and frequently switch between my headphones and speakers to get alternative perspectives on sound design. is it possible to keep headphones plugged into the front jack, with speakers going out through the back, and to quickly mute the speakers while raising the volume of the hp jack?

I know it's stupid, but I really like the idea of having a RIAA and a balanced DAC in the same box. Like the MyTek Brooklyn. Room Correction would also be a HUGE plus

as usual another fine review thanks to our host ! lm trying to get my hands on that dac here in ontario canada , not so easy to come by ??

All of your video’s are just so well done. Not sure if you’re familiar with the Musician Pegasus DAC. Take a look sometime and you’ll be surprised at how much it resembles a Denafrips DAC and supposedly gets very good reviews. Merry Christmas from Texas!

I’m a purist and a minimalist. I know that could be interpreted as contradictory. I believe that there distinct advantages of having individual components executing single and specific functionality. I have a dedicated preamp, so don’t need one integrated into my DAC. I have and luv the Denafrips Venus 2! That having been said I know of friends who have DACs with integrated preamps and they work well and, price appropriate, sound impressive. My concern would be, that the multi-functional component develop issues, then you’ve lost the use of a major part of your hifi rig. I have the utmost respect for Denafrips and what they’re trying to achieve with their line of ‘high value’, ‘high performing, ‘well built’, ‘premium’ components. Excellent video. Keep up the good work.

Good review. Good feature set on the RME DAC. Gave up on whizz bang DACs a decade or more ago. Prefer a simple TDA type DACs "that were voiced" back when the developing engineers had turntables and FM tuners at home and at work for reference. I like a phase coherent sound as a start point.

Tweaking is great so functionality is a pro for me. Nice bit about the filters. I just picked the one that sounded best to me in my DAC (AK4493 chip) and that was the slow roll of (no delay) Sharp roll off made me nervous.

i almost bought one of the RME dac's in the adi lineup, nice to know i had gotten a great unit. instead i opted to by minidsp shd studio, an all digital unit so i could use my older dac's and gain more dsp options, but it require pc to install software, that is better than a small screen on a dac.

Well Pontus 2 dac just arrived so that answers the question. Thank you for your review, informative as always and with comparisons that bring context. Looking around the net some time ago i found custom settings for the EQ for use with specific headphone models. Those who will use it as a headphone amp should google this.

Hi Tarun, thanks for another great video. How do you feel the ADI-2 FS compares to the Denafrips Ares II for natural, organic sound reproduction and soundstage depth? Cheers 👍

I had this for two months, sold it due to the flat soundstage. Everything u mention is 100% true and that makes u stellar reviewer m8 cudos. since you mentioned your review of the D1, you should try the smsl D2. it would be the perfect comparison of AKM chip and r2r design if u bring Pontus to the game. I hear the D2 has an r2r flavour with lots of detail and dynamics without being slow. Price tag about 1200 quid I think

Hi Taran… I like a lot your videos and the way you see audio. So I want to ask advice about this. I own a chord qutest, Harbeth 30.2 speakers and a local valvular amplifier (i live in Argentina) and I need a source mainly for tidal. I currently use a notebook with Roon. Someone can bring me a streamer from Europe ..a small one…and I wonder which will be the best. My options till now are sotm sms200 neo, sonore microrendu, Allo signature bridge, minidsp shd, blue sound node. Can you bring me an advice? Thanks a lot in advance

Nice review! Maybe sometime în the fluture you will review some product from Rockna. A comparison Rockna Denafrips would be nice to see. Good luck!

Thank you very much for this review, Tarun. I am wondering how there can be differences in soundstage depth between DACs. According to my experience soundstage depth is primarily determined by the recording, the room, the speakers and the speaker positioning. It would be interesting to understand what from a physical point of view determines the illusion of soundstage depth...

Thanks for the review. What model are the ProAc speakers?

Great review. How does it compare head to head with Ares II. You mentioned compared to Pontus II it’s a no contest. How about the very similarly priced Ares II?

In the beginning of the video I had an odd feeling that I'm looking at the bold version of Javier Bardem, speaking with higher pitch voice and thick British accent 😄 Great review, thanks!

I have the RME and really like it. I chose it for the functionality. I use it as a pre-amp, so the control functions are necessary for me. I also like to be able to mess with the sound a little, especially with rock and metal music, which I listen to a lot. Sometimes the production value isn't the greatest in those genres, and this DAC will expose that, so it is nice to be able to "clean it up" a little. My room isn't great either so sometimes you have to mess with the bass. I haven't watched in a while, another great video. Thank you, you do such an excellent, professional job on all of your videos. I watched this to possibly learn something I didn't already know or help me understand a couple things better about my DAC. There is a lot of noise out there in this hobby, but you are a trusted source of information for me.

Excellent discussion of the filters. The discussion of the compromises are perfect examples for people who thing digital has it all over analog as to why it is not so. These issues as well as large volume changes per bit in pcm mode and imperfect sampling of complex music (when the signal is no longer perfect waveforms) all contribute to less than perfect sound. Both analog and digital have compromises. LOL. As soon as I hit play after writing this you commented how analog sources have their own problems. You know your viewers too well. LOL.

I have had mines 2 years almost, i use it with a battery power supply significantly improving already excellent performance

Thanks for yet another great video! For reference sound (linear and neutral and natural) to mix and master dialogue and acapella in a small studio. No extra bells and whistles needed, just want the best possible reference audio. What would you recommend? 1. RME ADI-2 DAC FS 2. TOPPING A90 + D90 3. Or another option?

Can i use this DAC to mix and master ? with my active jbl monitor. I do not need to récord , i will keep my actual audio Interface. Or need to upgrade to the pro ??

I have this DAC, and I wish to cut down on boxes in my advancing years, make things simpler. Are there any suggestions on potential active speakers to go with it in a 4x3m living room?

5:58 The statement about aliasing perpetuates a common misunderstanding. Aliasing occurs in the sampling step of the audio chain. In this context in A/D in the recording studio (although, since samples can be analogue as well as digital, it can equally occur in an analogue sampler). If the samples are aliased then no amount of filtering in the DAC or anywhere else can do anything about it. Technically, the filters discussed in this clip, are 'anti-imaging filters'. They attenuate spectral images (AKA replicas).

More of a higher quality, less options for the money listener. Interested in hearing the denafrips dac. This dac reminds me of the mytek that was many reviewers reference dac a few years back. How do those two compare?

How come mine does display the frequency analyzer and meter?

Hello! I want the best dac/amp for gaming. For me the most important thing is imaging and depth. Which one would you recommend?

I am interested in some input from you using your consultancy service that you mention. How do I go about coordinating this? I have some specific questions regarding streaming that I have been unable to obtain an answer through other sources.

Hi Tarun, good review as always! I own an ADI-2 for about a year now. I‘m feeding it from a MacBookPro running Audirvana via CAt7 to an Allo USBridge Signature with moOde OS . With USB cable into a Intona USB Isolator via USB to DAC. The RME is running in preamp mode connected with XLR cable to my Anthem P5 amp. I ca n agree with many statements, that it can sound a bit flat. Same as you, I have a Chord mojo and thought at the beginning, the Mojo sounds fuller with deeper sound stage. But, this is just the SMPS that comes with the RME. Even all members on the RME forum denied that a LPS would make a difference. A good power filter and a better power chord with the SMPS made already a noticeable difference. Now I build a DIY LPS and the RME outperforms the Mojo in all aspects by far!! The graininess is gone and the sound stage depth increased noticeable. LPS is a must for the RME to perform top notch ! Same applies for the USB signal. Without the Intona USB filter, it still has some grainy sound. To give you a hint how sensitive the RME (as all other kind of audio equipment) to the quality of power is, a change of a single capacitor in my 12 VDC LPS is immediately noticeable. After 10x 1000uF Silmic II caps I can easily plug in any kind of additional caps with banana plugs. Tried various film caps, like Mundorf supreme, Obligato, Auricap, Dynamic Caps, Black Gate NX, Cornell Dublier, etc. Sorry to say, but all of them have a different sound signature and it can be heard in the RME

Have you ever thought to review the ifi Audio Pro iDSD? I’ve been wanting to add it to my system for years and am still saving up for it. I’d love to know your opinion before I take the plunge and purchase it.

I’m between this and the denafrips ares 2. The EQ is a really nice addition for me since my primary source is just an iPhone. My eq options are limited to whichever streaming service I’m using has built in. I have a 3rd party Spotify app with a 10 band eq that’s decent enough but it’s gui and overall functionality are not very good so it would be nice to not use that. The amp is a nice bonus I guess, I have nice tube amps so I’m not sure if I would use it but maybe for edm or watching shows? If pairing with a woo wa7 into some ZMF Verite Closed headphones which do you think you would go personally go with? If there is a 3rd option in the same price range like the ares 2 + a cheaper dap or network streaming device I’d be open to that as well. Any thoughts at all would be greatly appreciated as I’ve been researching for weeks and am just really stuck on this decision on how to finalize my chain.

That was very helpful, thanks! Have you perhaps tried to drive the Exposure XVIII monoblocks straight from the DAC pre section? I happen to own the XVIII monos, but lack the XIX pre, and am wondering if the RME could perhaps pull it off as a pre.

I'm getting this and a pair of Sennheiser HD800S as my first high end set up. Think I'll be happy?

Pure dac for me. I know myself...id mess around and tinker with the RME so much, id forget why I wanted a dac in the first place.

Would greatly appreciate a detailed review of the Denafrips Terminator 2 Plus, with its sibling the Gaia compared to your favorite DACs and if able both coupled to the Athena preamp and Athena Amp siblings too….thanks for awesome content, detail and far better than the usual.

Got it just today. Tried the Loudness mode and i cant go back to normal mode ever. It was like removing a veil covering the speakers. Lots of settings to tinker with..