• Registered: 2022-04-14
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Topic: RME ADI-2 Pro - headphone socket is starting to malfunction ?

Hello.

There seems to be conflicting information on my problem so if possible I'd rather hear it from the horses mouth.

https://forum.rme-audio.de/viewtopic.php?id=28520   < this is happening quite a lot after an update, while I know it's safety feature of the soundcard it's beginning to annoy the hell out of me. On the one hand I've seen thread suggesting that the headphone socket is malfunctioning and needs to go back for a service and on the other hand I've seen threads saying that poorly mastered audio can cause this too ( if the lower bar is peaking ? ).

I've set up my daw with an eq on the master and I'm cutting the frequency at 27Hz which obviously is taking stuff away from the 25 Hz reading on the soundcard. This partially solves this but it seems that sometimes when I'm adding bass that the problem still persists to some degree.

https://i.postimg.cc/fTPDtWm2/Untitled.jpg

I've been experimenting with different settings to see if anything could be done about this but for obvious reasons I don't particularly want to switch this feature off knowing that it could save a chip. However, I've just switched on dual mode for the headphones and I'm now using PH 1/2. This morning I started working on music and it happened again while using using this different port that has never been used before. In using Ph 1/2 there seems to be less heat coming from the unit. Yesterday ( and yes I know this nulls the warranty...I'm actually qualified to do electrical repairs ) I opened the unit up and found that the two headphone replacement sockets were the wrong type so I've asked the place where I bought it from to see if they stock RME replacement parts.

Will this make a difference if the part is replaced or should I continue cutting the low frequency in the daw ?

What is the best way to go about alleviating this problem ?

Thank you in advance.

Dom.

p.s. if anyone in the UK is looking for two older versions of replacement headphone sockets please feel free to get in touch.

  • ning
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Re: RME ADI-2 Pro - headphone socket is starting to malfunction ?

Replacing the HP socket won’t solve the problem. Motherboard replacement is required.
To verify if it’s broken you can measure the idle energy consumption. If your unit needs more than 12Watts, it is definitely broken. That’s the easiest way. A Wattage meter socket should work for you. A multimeter (that can measure the current) works well too.

  • Registered: 2022-04-14
  • Posts: 9

Re: RME ADI-2 Pro - headphone socket is starting to malfunction ?

ning wrote:

Replacing the HP socket won’t solve the problem. Motherboard replacement is required.
To verify if it’s broken you can measure the idle energy consumption. If your unit needs more than 12Watts, it is definitely broken. That’s the easiest way. A Wattage meter socket should work for you. A multimeter (that can measure the current) works well too.

Thank you

4 Reply by ning (edited by ning 2022-09-04 17:44:23)

  • ning
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Re: RME ADI-2 Pro - headphone socket is starting to malfunction ?

You'd better tell us which error screen your unit runs into so people can find the potential cause.
if you are seeing "DC" error on screen, it may caused by your music content.
if you produce EDM or use a lot of synthesizers and set your DC Protection to On,
it  is pretty easy to trigger protection, as the detection is pretty sensitive.
Such error is reproducible --- replay your music with the same settings and DC Protection triggers again.

On the other hand, hardware failure usually gives "Overload" error message on screen.
Very rare occasions it will be "DC". If it's a "DC" error caused by hardware (which means the first op amp is burnt), it will be always there, not on/off.
"Overload" however, may also mean real overload --- If your headphone is hard to drive (low sensitivity, low resistance) and you listen with high volume,  you may put the amp to that state, and it's fully normal.

  • Registered: 2022-04-14
  • Posts: 9

Re: RME ADI-2 Pro - headphone socket is starting to malfunction ?

It's the DC error and yea I do produce dance music.

Thanks for your advice and hell ning, I really appreciate it.

6 Reply by KaiS (edited by KaiS 2022-09-05 07:28:44)

  • KaiS
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Re: RME ADI-2 Pro - headphone socket is starting to malfunction ?

ewan_kerr wrote:

It's the DC error and yea I do produce dance music.

Thanks for your advice and hell ning, I really appreciate it.

Switch on DC protection “Filter” in ADI-2 Pro.


See manual page 95, except:

DCP offers three settings. ON activates the digital sensing, mutes the respective output in case of found DC, and shows a warning screen. If the DC component in the signal disappears, the output is enabled again after a few seconds. OFF deactivates mute, with the phones outputs still protected by the hardware DC circuit. Sensing is still active and shows a smaller warning screen. The option Filter removes DC and infrasound, enabling a playback of even problematic audio signals in a safe way.

KaiS's Website

7 Reply by ewan_kerr (edited by ewan_kerr 2022-09-07 07:54:57)

  • Registered: 2022-04-14
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Re: RME ADI-2 Pro - headphone socket is starting to malfunction ?

KaiS wrote:
ewan_kerr wrote:

It's the DC error and yea I do produce dance music.

Thanks for your advice and hell ning, I really appreciate it.

Switch on DC protection “Filter” in ADI-2 Pro.


See manual page 95, except:

DCP offers three settings. ON activates the digital sensing, mutes the respective output in case of found DC, and shows a warning screen. If the DC component in the signal disappears, the output is enabled again after a few seconds. OFF deactivates mute, with the phones outputs still protected by the hardware DC circuit. Sensing is still active and shows a smaller warning screen. The option Filter removes DC and infrasound, enabling a playback of even problematic audio signals in a safe way.

Sorry about the late  reply. Thank you very much mate. I'll try this.

  • Registered: 2022-04-14
  • Posts: 9

Re: RME ADI-2 Pro - headphone socket is starting to malfunction ?

Really strange one this! Lately I've been going through quite a lot of USB to USB A cables because my Komplete A49 has been disconnecting when I'm loading up new synths in Ableton. After I did this it seems to have been the source of my problem which is really strange. I fired up a track I've been working on which has been triggering the DC message a lot, I'm listening to it now and it hasn't triggered it once.

  • KaiS
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Re: RME ADI-2 Pro - headphone socket is starting to malfunction ?

Not strange: lost data in transmission can cause DC.

KaiS's Website