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RME User Forum → ADI-2 & 2/4 Pro series, ADI-2 DAC series → incoming bit and SR
Curt, do you have a link ? the one from the manual is dead ? https://www.rme-audio.de/download/bit test wavs.zip
No, it still works.
Thank you ramses !
Well the windows media player passed with flying colors, but the Izotope player seemed to have issues ! All the 32bit tests landed on 16 or 24 ? in my manual it says ''Theoretically, the use of the 32 bit file is sufficient. If lower bits on the transmission path are simply truncated, the corresponding message appears with the respectively recognized bit resolution, ie 24 or16 bits'' Is this what I am seeing ? In the white box it says ''passed'' but not 32 bit ?
Lee. Very "Mobile" day for me today.
Short answer: Are you playing 32bit files? If not, don't worry. Either the Izotope, or Player Sftwr simply can't deal with 32bit.
*Edit: Lee, the 32bit test is quite likely to be of far greater interest to the Pro User in the Audio Production World, than it is to us in our home listening rooms. As the RME serves both types of users, the 32 Bit test is made available to us all.
Proof that it CAN be done:
Curt (abbreviated Version)
On USB this number is anything - source and output. The ADI can not know what the 'source file' itself is - there is an app between the file and the ADI that handles that (in your case YouTube plus Windows System Audio).
Please could you elaborate on your first sentence? Do you mean the number is meaningless if on USB input?
In my case I wanted to know if I was listening to mp3 by mistake rather than lossless, so I did a test and sent a known mp3, but the SR (bottom right) still says 44.1. Why is this?
I’m using various sources > iFi Zen Stream > RME ADI-2 DAC FS
Thank you for explaining simply since I don’t know much.
Curt, no I won't play them, but its good to know I have the capability ! also I realized the Izotope player is 32 float so I think the test result makes sense
Lee
MC wrote:On USB this number is anything - source and output. The ADI can not know what the 'source file' itself is - there is an app between the file and the ADI that handles that (in your case YouTube plus Windows System Audio).
Please could you elaborate on your first sentence? Do you mean the number is meaningless if on USB input?
In my case I wanted to know if I was listening to mp3 by mistake rather than lossless, so I did a test and sent a known mp3, but the SR (bottom right) still says 44.1. Why is this?
I’m using various sources > iFi Zen Stream > RME ADI-2 DAC FS
Thank you for explaining simply since I don’t know much.
The only indicator for lossy would be the Bit Rate, but ADI-2 cannot show Bit Rate, as the player’s software unpacks lossy formats like MP3 into lossless PCM.
So the unpacked MP3 through USB or SPDIF looks the same like from a lossless file.
ADI-2 does not get and see the MP3 format.
You have to look in your player for any type of indication.
You mix:
• Sample Rate, i.e. 44.1 kHz, 48 kHz, 96 kHz,
• Bit Depth i.e. 16 bit, 24 bit, 32 bit,
• Bit Rate i.e. 128, 256, 320 kBit/s for lossy; and 1411 kBit/s and up for uncompressed lossless.
There is no way to distinguish between lossless (PCM, WAV, Flac, ALAC etc,) and lossy (MP3, AAF etc,) by the Sample Rate or Bit Depth.
Thank you. That helps.
Curt, no I won't play them, but its good to know I have the capability ! also I realized the Izotope player is 32 float so I think the test result makes sense
Lee
@Lee. Not to leave you hanging...
Simply stated, I have only the most cursory knowledge of 32bit Floating Point. If you research it a bit, you'd find that it could provide a Mastering Engineer with a larger, floating "Canvas" upon which to work in creating a file, but one that will finally be rendered as 16, or 24bit. Maybe in some way this helps you recognize that 32bit (much like 24bit) is a Production Tool, rather than some unbelievably Resolving playback system without which we can not live.
Keep in mind also that our RMEs are 24bit devices!
Beyond that...
I think it's cool that my chain supports 32bit Data Transfer, but of what further value is this in my home? I have a 24bit DAC!
To me, the fact that your Izotope offers 32bit floating is of greater value in setting optimal levels when ripping Vinyl, etc...but does not translate into a glorious 32bit rendering of "never before heard!" musical details.
*Be wary of Audiophile hogwash. (ie: BS)
If your time permits, just maybe get the Izo OUT of the Playback Chain, and see the result.
To summarize, some Player Software/Devices pass the 32bit Test, while others don't.
Software, and Accessory brochures will often tell you that the product can move Heaven & Earth Really?
Well...the RME Bit Test is the Final Judge, and will quickly, and without reservation reveal who does what. 
Curt
I am MacOS user, Pine Player is good for bit test. 
If I play a 24/192 test tone (toslink) while audio midi setup of MacOS at 16/44, it will jump automatically to 24/192.
Curt, it says 32bit/768khz on the 1st page of the manual ! what does that mean ?
Lee
Lee,
My take is that the DAC chip itself is using 32bit mathematical processing internally for improved performance of the digital reconstruction filters.
Curt
Curt, it says 32bit/768khz on the 1st page of the manual ! what does that mean ?
Lee
Lee,
get the latest version of the manual in PDF format
- for ADI-2 DAC FS:
DE: https://www.rme-audio.de/downloads/adi2dacr_d.pdf
EN: https://www.rme-audio.de/downloads/adi2dacr_e.pdf
- for ADI-2 Pro FS R BE:
DE: https://www.rme-audio.de/downloads/adi2profsr_d.pdf
EN: https://www.rme-audio.de/downloads/adi2profsr_e.pdf
You PDF viewer has a search function, search for "768" and "32 bit".
Quickly you will find the information, that this device supports sample rates up to 768 kHz for high resolution recordings or PCM, DXD and DSD record/playback (manual ch 4).
ADI-2 Pro: audio from analog inputs will always be converted to a digital signal of highest resolution in 32bit, so that internal processing can happen in best quality. If the signal is already digital, nothing (no quality) will get lost.
Note regarding audio transfers through/from: iOS, AES, SPDIF and ADAT, this is limited to 24 bit, manual ch 31.14 (DAC) / 34.21 (Pro).
Thank you Curt and ramses
Hope I’m not hijacking the thread, but my question is related.
When a streamer sends its bit stream to the RME (via USB in my case), how does the RME know the native sample rate of that bit stream, and hence what SR to set its clock at? Is there a handshake of meta data (i.e. RME is told the SR), or does the RME detect the rate at which each word (16 bit or 24 bit, say) is arriving and it sets the sample rate based on this?
I may have got this totally round my neck, in which case please educate me.
Thanks
Hope I’m not hijacking the thread, but my question is related.
When a streamer sends its bit stream to the RME (via USB in my case), how does the RME know the native sample rate of that bit stream, and hence what SR to set its clock at? Is there a handshake of meta data (i.e. RME is told the SR), or does the RME detect the rate at which each word (16 bit or 24 bit, say) is arriving and it sets the sample rate based on this?
I may have got this totally round my neck, in which case please educate me.
Thanks
By coincident, recently I am digging into this matter, not exactly as you asked, but want to know what is inside a digital audio file, does it contains some kind of "metadata" that can be read by the decoder (DAC) to follow as slave, same as if we downsample or upsample a file at the computer, it will change the "metadata" and the decoder (DAC) will follow this new slave value.
We need some mentor(s) to educate us.
Crunchynut wrote:Hope I’m not hijacking the thread, but my question is related.
When a streamer sends its bit stream to the RME (via USB in my case), how does the RME know the native sample rate of that bit stream, and hence what SR to set its clock at? Is there a handshake of meta data (i.e. RME is told the SR), or does the RME detect the rate at which each word (16 bit or 24 bit, say) is arriving and it sets the sample rate based on this?
I may have got this totally round my neck, in which case please educate me.
Thanks
By coincident, recently I am digging into this matter, not exactly as you asked, but want to know what is inside a digital audio file, does it contains some kind of "metadata" that can be read by the decoder (DAC) to follow as slave, same as if we downsample or upsample a file at the computer, it will change the "metadata" and the decoder (DAC) will follow this new slave value.
We need some mentor(s) to educate us.
Audio Files on your storage medium, and Audio Streams are totally different things.
Open an audio file with a text editor (use a small one to avoid endless loading times).
In the header you can read some of the file properties like sample rate as plain text.
Opening “file properties” (right click) reveals even more, as a lot of cryptic header entries are translated.
So yes, a file contains the relevant informations.
Audio streams through USB are handled by bidirectional driver communications that incorporate all necessary informations.
Then there is stream through digital audio connection like SPDIF optical or coax, or AES.
This works unidirectional, the format contains basic sample rate information.
ADI-2 receives the stream, reads and measures the sample rate and adjusts it’s clock.
Johannes AU wrote:Crunchynut wrote:Hope I’m not hijacking the thread, but my question is related.
When a streamer sends its bit stream to the RME (via USB in my case), how does the RME know the native sample rate of that bit stream, and hence what SR to set its clock at? Is there a handshake of meta data (i.e. RME is told the SR), or does the RME detect the rate at which each word (16 bit or 24 bit, say) is arriving and it sets the sample rate based on this?
I may have got this totally round my neck, in which case please educate me.
Thanks
By coincident, recently I am digging into this matter, not exactly as you asked, but want to know what is inside a digital audio file, does it contains some kind of "metadata" that can be read by the decoder (DAC) to follow as slave, same as if we downsample or upsample a file at the computer, it will change the "metadata" and the decoder (DAC) will follow this new slave value.
We need some mentor(s) to educate us.
Audio Files on your storage medium, and Audio Streams are totally different things.
Open an audio file with a text editor (use a small one to avoid endless loading times).
In the header you can read some of the file properties like sample rate as plain text.
Opening “file properties” (right click) reveals even more, as a lot of cryptic header entries are translated.
So yes, a file contains the relevant informations.Audio streams through USB are handled by bidirectional driver communications that incorporate all necessary informations.
Then there is stream trough digital audio connection like SPDIF optical or coax, or AES.
This works unidirectional, the format contains basic sample rate information.
ADI-2 receives the stream, reads and measures the sample rate and adjusts it’s clock.
Thank you KaiS for explained it, even with the streaming.
Yes good explanation, many thanks Kai.
Johannes AU wrote:Crunchynut wrote:Hope I’m not hijacking the thread, but my question is related.
When a streamer sends its bit stream to the RME (via USB in my case), how does the RME know the native sample rate of that bit stream, and hence what SR to set its clock at? Is there a handshake of meta data (i.e. RME is told the SR), or does the RME detect the rate at which each word (16 bit or 24 bit, say) is arriving and it sets the sample rate based on this?
I may have got this totally round my neck, in which case please educate me.
Thanks
By coincident, recently I am digging into this matter, not exactly as you asked, but want to know what is inside a digital audio file, does it contains some kind of "metadata" that can be read by the decoder (DAC) to follow as slave, same as if we downsample or upsample a file at the computer, it will change the "metadata" and the decoder (DAC) will follow this new slave value.
We need some mentor(s) to educate us.
Audio Files on your storage medium, and Audio Streams are totally different things.
Open an audio file with a text editor (use a small one to avoid endless loading times).
In the header you can read some of the file properties like sample rate as plain text.
Opening “file properties” (right click) reveals even more, as a lot of cryptic header entries are translated.
So yes, a file contains the relevant informations.Audio streams through USB are handled by bidirectional driver communications that incorporate all necessary informations.
Then there is stream trough digital audio connection like SPDIF optical or coax, or AES.
This works unidirectional, the format contains basic sample rate information.
ADI-2 receives the stream, reads and measures the sample rate and adjusts it’s clock.
Great reply, thanks. So when receiving USB there should be zero time taken to ‘lock on’ and adjust to the stream and precisely matching it in terms of SR.
Near zero. USB asynchronous transfer runs on the DAC's internal clock, but uses a PLL regulated data transfer scheme between computer and DAC, so that PLL must lock first. That's very quick, though.
I understand- thank you.
How many seconds is buffered by the DAC? I guess it depends on sample rate, but is it measured in seconds or milli-seconds (or less)?
AFAIR a few samples only.
RME User Forum → ADI-2 & 2/4 Pro series, ADI-2 DAC series → incoming bit and SR
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