This whole discussion is getting ridiculous!
Instead of appreciating an innovative device at 249$ such as the Topping M62, people are starting a shitstorm against it solely based on assumptions. In addition the same people are praising things like de-emphasis and a few dBs of headroom as the greatest innovation on earth.
@little-endian mentioned that he prefers RME for its long product cycles. However the ADI-2/4 Pro SE was discontinued after not even three years! It looks like RME finally realized that their customers are not willing to pay a 700$ uplift for a few minor updates.
He also is concerned that RME is not able to come up with some real innovation such as "OTA stuff", without introducing lots of bugs. Maybe he is right, but many other companies have already proven that it's feasible.
I remember, when Apple introduced the iPhone, many Nokia die-hards questioned the necessity of touchscreen, internet access and email. Instead, they thought that 160 characters using SMS was fully sufficient. Hopefully, the same story won’t happen to RME.

Guys let's face it, the whole world is moving towards smart, connected and intelligent devices!
Just look at the traditional car industry. Today they are struggling to survive against the Chinese competition. Wait until 2026, once the Chinese companies are revving up their engines going broad.
The main reason for the decline of the traditional OEMs is their arrogant behavior.

Hence, I really hope that RME isn’t making the same mistake and will come up with a truly INNOVATIVE product at a competitive price to celebrate their 30th anniversary :-)

Happy New Year!

And what? To be discontinued in production does not mean to be discontinued in support. RME supports its HW for decades.

And Topping M62.... Will it be produced for at least one year? And for how long will it lasts (be usable)? Maybe that ADI-2/4 Pro SE will show to be cheaper solution in long run. One might need to buy few M62s (and like) while just one ADI-2/4 Pro SE would cover the same period of usage.

You started it this way, so you can't complain now if others don't agree with you.

I wouldn't want to get on your bad side.

It's your whole set of "arguments" that is misleading here.

Why are you deliberately overlooking the "SE" part of the model name? The ADI-2/4 Pro SE was in the first place a limited-edition product, which RME was very clear about since the very start. And, BTW, I have yet to see an official RME statement that it has indeed been "discontinued".

If you are buying a product to later sell it at a margin in the first place, then you are not the target market segment. This is called scalping, isn't it?

But I have good news for you. RME gear does not depreciate nearly as quickly as your beloved half-baked and flawed Guangzhou products with silly names, let alone the ADI-2/4 Pro SE. To the contrary, being a limited-edition model, it could even grow in value over time.

For the intended use cases and target market — no, there is very little to improve on, if at all. You are free to use any other product that fits your personal needs better, but this does not make an excuse for you to engage in foul and undermining behavior on this forum.

A good culture of discussion thrives when trolls are banned online and IRL. Reported for making threats of physical violence.

So, is it worth waiting 2-3 months for any upcoming announcements from RME?

I am in the market for one of these interfaces: do I buy one now or wait? Will I be bitterly disappointed when a new model is released soon?

Didn't you read this or other threads? What answer do you expect from this forum?

The current models have been discontinued; new models have not been announced yet.
Currently only RME knows what will happen and when.

The best answers as of now are

1. If new models are being announced, you might be disappointed not to have waited. On the other hand, the existence of newer models does not make the current models bad in any way.

2. As it is anyway difficult to get the current models because they seem to be sold out (at least at Thomann), you can also wait and observe for a while what happens.

3. See bejoros answer above.

The RME reference converters are a very successful product, and many efforts have been made by RME to implement wishes from customers, so that it would, IMHO, make no sense to stop this product line.
As I mentioned already, since Corona, we should have learned to wait patiently. There can be many reasons why products or deliveries are being delayed.

Good money means approximately ~80% of "street price", depending on condition.
Which means, depending on the model, around €200 - €400 loss.

First of all, we should all stay cool. In my opinion, there is no point or need to feel personally offended just because one doesn't share the same viewpoint or argues about specific definitions.

If there is any epidemic besides Covid, it's today's over-sensitity, easiness for getting pissed for no real reason and the decline of discussion culture.

Also you are welcome to elaborate on this, in this case what of my statement were misleading from your point of view.

The product cycle as a whole for the ADI-2 series with rather minor tweaks I would consider to be relatively long, but - granted - not as long as the Benchmark DAC1 back then.

I don't know about the SE in particular. The discontinuation of the manufacturing itself doesn't necessarily mean though that there won't be any support or updates.

That is remarkable though is that RME discontinues certain products while not having announced new ones. The communication here could certainly be better in order to not even give room for such (negative) speculations.

That greatly depends on what comes next. Could also work the other way around with the ADI-2/4 Pro SE becoming a collectable.

Of course it is possible, but the care which is required in order to do so rises.

As far as Oren Harari and I are aware, even electric light bulbs don't require an update for the update to update and update and fix and update after an update.

Again, smartness being a premise which is yet up to prove itself.

Good for you. In case of the G5, it is well known that it had several issues upon release (posterization with DV and HDR, gritty SDR) and an update in between which reduced the maximum brightness in certain modes which had to be fixed by yet another update, perfectly supporting my sarcasm about it.

No one is denying that. More powerful EQ, better display, better build quality (compare to the Benchmark DAC1 which personally feel more valueable in my opinion).

However, that was hardly the original topic of RME having competition which might be cheaper (but lacking other things).

I think we can agree on that there is no perfect product so one has to choose the one(s) which suit the needs best.

Also a very good point. I was perhaps wrongly assuming a sort of Apple-style announcement where the new units are rolled out within a short time of being publicised! It's a little odd to discontinue the entire ADI DAC line and have zero communications about what is coming next, isn't it?

Hmm … to take a several hundred Euro hit or not on a sale/resale … lots to think about! Thanks again.

When is the next big pro audio  exhibition, maybe there will be an announcement at NAMM Jan 20th-24th?

This was a reply to @afxz not you. I f you need more bands, this device is not for you. Maybe a future device is. Or from another brand. @afxz is doubting if to buy now ar wait. But if the device has what you need then there is no reason to wait. Audio quality will not improve, that is all I am saying.

Exactly.

You do need to mention if you have a Phono preamp!

@ vinark

yes, i'm sry, gear will be custom and RIAA will be digital as KaiS mentions below. For sure we provide some amplification so as to reach the proper mv (or Volts)  needed by the a/d stage

@ KaiS

for the source we intend to take care as much as possible. we will  buy a turntable at the level of  technics sp-10r (probably that one) and all associated equipment should be at this level. after the cartridge there will be an amplification -only- stage without RIAA just to get to the levels needed by the A/D.

here comes the catch: from previous experience i know that each A/D IC varies its performance depending on the input level. There is a certain level which should be the optimum.
From another forum that i read years  ago i remember a member stating that one of the high-end AKM Ic's, while being able to take a high V signal, it's best (practical) performance was at around 250mv.

of course we can make different amplification stages and decide on owr own but i would like to know 1) which A/D IC does this unit comes with and 2) if someone has experience with what i mention (particularly the ADI-2/4 Pro SE since you mentioned it's the best) by recording in different levels.

also i would like to ask -since you mention you have had many chains- if you have ever used converters from dangerous or acoussense and what is your opinion on these. i have to mention that i never intended to go analog on RIAA. the custom amplification will be tailored to the specific cartridge and A/D we will choose. If the RME didnt have this option (which comes handy obviously) RIAA would be done later on a PC program.

thank you very much for your time gentlemen i appreciate much!

this is great news, i also watched the video RME has, this unit is really with TOP engineering!

so now this unit is discontinued and we have to wait until the new model comes out?

Official confirmation at last! Thanks MC.

It was always labelled as a Special Edition (SE), so I am not so surprised it has been discontinued. I am very happy I pre-ordered one before they were released, and have been extremely happy with it over the last five years or so, but am also excited to see what RME will come up with next.

i will wait the next version since i can wait a few months. i sincerely hope they implement dirac room correction. this would be end game stuff. unfortunately dirac license isnt flexible for pc desktop. when you need to have more than one pc a device with inherent the capability is crucial.
having a 2.4 or even a 2.2 playback system i think is very important today for proper room management.

speaking of midfield operations.

praying for the best -:)))

That's a very unrealistic hope. You can't imagine how many DSP/hardware resources would be necessary for this feature alone? Not to mention the higher unit's price, making it unattractive for most potential customers.

And Please...no rubber stick on feet. I like to stack my boxes and the feet keep sliding off when I pull the boxes out to make connections. The ADI-2 FS and UCX2 should be a little more robust. I understand people rack mount but I think they look nice stacked on a desktop. These products are too nice looking for this.
I like the feet on the ADI-2 DAC FS. Those should be on all small form factor boxes.

i wont dispute on the dsp resources, i will just say that my team has made 10s of production pcb boards and as such i do understand large scale economics for ordering production batch PCBs for 500-1000+pcs.

I will surely agree on the higher unit price 100% and that potential customers may be put off.
Also the PCB may be larger which may need a different chassis. But companies can keep the existing lines and also produce
an enhanced version. ofc if there isnt the customer base to buy it should never be implemented.
think of this idea as just my 2c-:)

In the light of this conversation i understand that smaller upgrades will be made but anything is really welcome (as the feet pointed out by another member). Though i didnt know RME as a company, from the short time i have searched the products i see behind people with love, deep knowledge, advanced technical capabilities, passion and urge to satisfy customer needs.

The adi 2/4 is really a unit of great implementation and as such i must say that i trust 1000% that the new unit will be better to the things that matter the most because the people behind know and understand better what is it to be done.

I believe only the black edition has the rubber feet, the Pro SE has the same feet as the ADI-2 DAC FS.

Is there any specific reason for the change in feet between the ADI-2/4 and the Pro Fs Black, for instance? Just curious as to the rationale!

I've received my Pro FS Black now and am very happy with the unit (although I know nobody asked)! To my ears the headphone output sounds noticeably better than the Babyface Pro FS I had on my desktop previously. I've used the Pro FS Black with both some 64 Audio U12Ts and an old pair of HD600s. With the large over-ears especially, I can notice a lot of difference. EQ'ing them on the RME has added a new lease of life to my cans and definitely improved their low-end performance.

I'm curious about the 2x front outputs in balanced mode, but considering the Pentaconn adapter here in the UK retails at £50, I'll hold back for now. I don't think I'll see a huge benefit to running the U12ts in that way ...

Next project is to EQ my old Adam A7Xs with some much-needed room correction! Having used the DSP-enabled Genelec monitors for the last few years, I find the uncorrected Adams almost unlistenable.

Looking forward to the next generation and what it offers!

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005008744949683.html

I see around £12...