• From: Copenhagen, DK
  • Registered: 2008-06-27
  • Posts: 91

Topic: ADI-2 Pro feedback

Dear RME!

I'm a long time customer (since the HDSP 9652) - my rig is currently composed of a RayDAT, 2 x ADI-8 QS and a FireFace 400 UC - and - as of yesterday a brand new ADI-2 Pro!

I'm absolutely loving the (sound of the) ADI-2 Pro, which serves as my new main converter / monitor-controller / "foh" eq .. and with this usage-scenario in mind, i have a few "easy" implementable suggestions regarding functionality ..

In order of importance:

1) I'm using the A2P to even out a few bass problems in my studio - and this task would be a cakewalk ~ *if* the range for each eq-band was full-range! Currently there are only 2 bands that reach below 150hz - and I speculate the frequency-range limit of the bands are strictly by control-design .. so could this limitation be lifted somehow? I'm well aware of the ringing artifacts of sharp filters ..

2) An operational mode where the presence of phones in the 1/2 output - in combination with the mute-function - triggers a dedicated eq for the output - or in other words: the corrective eq i'm using for my speakers is unwanted when 1/2 is used as an additional headphone output ..

3) The Vector Audio Scope from DigiCheck as a visualisation on the display as an alternative to the spectrum analyzer - very useful in evaluating clipping from limiters (please disregard the whole discussion about the loudness war) ..

4) Volume-ramping for main-output when unplugging phones from 3/4 in combination with main-mute ..

.. but most of all - thank you (!) for a producing an amazing product! I feel it's quite perfect for me, but if you'd like to reach beyond the current customer-potential, consider a model with 2 x balanced stereo out, to eat into mastering territory for the poeple needing an analogue i/o loop + balanced monitering!

Best,
Rune Borup / FishCorp
Copenhagen, Denmark

Rune Borup @ FishCorp
Producer / Engineer / Composer
RayDAT > 2 x ADI-8 QS | AES+SPDIF > ADI-2 Pro

2 Reply by MC

  • MC
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Re: ADI-2 Pro feedback

Nice suggestions!

1) is not possible and has been explained in this forum already (DSP resources).

2) really makes sense, I'll put that on the list.

3) Not possible due to no DSP resources left.

4) Is that really necessary? I don't think so...and it would make the unit even more complicate for us. But I'll check if it is possible.

Regards
Matthias Carstens
RME

MC's Website

3 Reply by MC

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Re: ADI-2 Pro feedback

1) We managed to add it.

2) We did it. Thanks for the suggestion.

4) Maybe not necessary, but so nice and smooth in firmware 141/76 smile

https://www.forum.rme-audio.de/viewtopic.php?id=25454

Regards
Matthias Carstens
RME

MC's Website

  • jchan
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  • Registered: 2011-01-17
  • Posts: 52

Re: ADI-2 Pro feedback

Great new firmware indeed.

Some thoughts on improvement though:

Check the usage of "off" "mute" and "Volume numbers" and where and when they are shown.
To me it seems pretty inconsistent and confusing.

Also a bit of confusion when in "1+2 3+4 line->phones" mode:

In dual volume page the volume set with B T is different from the one set with Volume dial.

Im so confused I can't really elaborate. Just giving a first bump on this smile



Maybe

5 Reply by MC

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Re: ADI-2 Pro feedback

You need to think more hard wink

> In dual volume page the volume set with B T is different from the one set with Volume dial.

In that mode the Volume dial controls both at the same time, it is not different. If you changed between front and back you get two different volume values, one for Main Out 1/2 and one for Phones out 1/2 - which is clearly labeled in the Vol Screen.

> Check the usage of "off" "mute" and "Volume numbers"

We did, that was a lot of work to make them always show the most correct and related label. If you think more hard and use the unit while trying all this you will better understand why it makes sense the way it is implemented. If not describe the exact situation and I will try to explain. Note that we have mute states, off states (usually disconnected via relay) and DSP (volume) based mute/off states as well.

Regards
Matthias Carstens
RME

MC's Website

6 Reply by Basken (edited by Basken 2017-05-09 14:22:25)

  • From: Copenhagen, DK
  • Registered: 2008-06-27
  • Posts: 91

Re: ADI-2 Pro feedback

MC wrote:

1) We managed to add it.

2) We did it. Thanks for the suggestion.

4) Maybe not necessary, but so nice and smooth in firmware 141/76 :)

https://www.forum.rme-audio.de/viewtopic.php?id=25454

MC - i really tip my hat to you guys! All my RME gear over the years has turned out to be great investments, and the ADI-2 Pro seems to be the purchase that just keeps on giving! Thank you so much!

I bought the ADI-2 with the seconday purpose of replacing my ageing monitor-controller, and now with the customizable buttons a handy 'mono' switch is once again at my fingertips. Which makes me dream of a tiny little feature ..

I wonder if it would be possible to also monitor sides only? Preferably still fully decorrelated, but i guess this could be optional. Maybe this could be implemented as a "cycled options" kind of thing, going through "Stereo > Side Mute > Mid Mute". Since the unit already does M/S encoding, i figured this might not be a totally unreasonable request to implement ..

Once again, thanks for an amazing product!

Best,
Rune

Rune Borup @ FishCorp
Producer / Engineer / Composer
RayDAT > 2 x ADI-8 QS | AES+SPDIF > ADI-2 Pro

7 Reply by jchan (edited by jchan 2017-06-01 16:19:59)

  • jchan
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Re: ADI-2 Pro feedback

Nasty snap/click in right channel when waking iMac from sleep.

And also when rebooting..

Is it a problem with the ADI or the iMac?

  • jchan
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Re: ADI-2 Pro feedback

So, any news on this problem? Pretty nasty click / snap waking up, booting, powering up etc, right channel only.

9 Reply by MC

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Re: ADI-2 Pro feedback

Still unsolved. You can avoid this by not changing the sample rates all the time upon power up etc., by making sure the Preamp mode is set to 44.1 kHz (Default is 192 kHz).

On the Mac the problem can still show up as the Mac initializes the unit with 768 kHz for a short moment during power on.

Regards
Matthias Carstens
RME

MC's Website

  • jchan
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Re: ADI-2 Pro feedback

Okay thanks for confirmation, at least I know the device is not defect. I'm on a Mac so its doing this basically every boot or wake. It's nice if it's fixed but I can always turn the speakers off when coming back to the workstation.

Best,

Johan

11 Reply by MC

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Re: ADI-2 Pro feedback

This issue is addressed in firmware 189/83, just released.

Regards
Matthias Carstens
RME

MC's Website

  • From: Copenhagen, DK
  • Registered: 2008-06-27
  • Posts: 91

Re: ADI-2 Pro feedback

Hi Guys!

Still incredibly happy with my ADI-2 Pro! One small suggestion, motivated by a very loud surprise the other day.

The adi is feeding my powered speakers directly, and thus i am using the "Auto Ref Level" function to get the maximum bit depth from the converters. However - the volume readout at the bottom of the screen doesn't really indicate what reference level is currently active, so "-3" could equal anything from  +1dBu to +21dBu in the analog domain. The only way to really know is to adjust the volume until a change in reference level occurs.

Would you - as an option of course - consider implementing an "absolute" scale for the volume value? Perhaps the current dBu equivalent of 0dbfs?

And while were talking visual feedback .. i feel the stereo level meter at the bottom could also present more relevant feedback. What if - again as an option - you could display the input level (pre-attenuated) at a compressed scale, to quickly evaluate limiter dynamics / headroom? Or perhaps switchable to a correlation-meter instead? That would be great use of those pixels! big_smile

Best,
Rune / FishCorp

Rune Borup @ FishCorp
Producer / Engineer / Composer
RayDAT > 2 x ADI-8 QS | AES+SPDIF > ADI-2 Pro

13 Reply by MC

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Re: ADI-2 Pro feedback

> The only way to really know is to adjust the volume until a change in reference level occurs.

Whenever you change the volume the Volume screen is shown which includes the current Ref in the second top line. So I don't understand this request.

An absolute level indication was on our list as option, but has been cancelled, as it is only a nerd feature for technicians (us), and nobody ever asked for it.

Regards
Matthias Carstens
RME

MC's Website

  • From: Copenhagen, DK
  • Registered: 2008-06-27
  • Posts: 91

Re: ADI-2 Pro feedback

MC wrote:

Whenever you change the volume the Volume screen is shown which includes the current Ref in the second top line. So I don't understand this request.

My request is to be able to look at the volume level on the display, and determine how loud the converter output will be *without* having to turn the volume knob! There is a big difference between "-5.5" @ +4dBu and +24dBu.

Suggestions (when "Auto Ref" is enabled):

- Display the value as dBu @ 0dbfs input ~ definitely my preferred choice!
- Append the current reference level to the channel title (eg. "Main Output 1/2 @ +4dBu")
- Expose whatever value you are already using to calculate Auto Ref

I can't find a single reason for displaying a volume level that has the potential to be 20db off in the analog domain, when the reference level is floating ..

Rune Borup @ FishCorp
Producer / Engineer / Composer
RayDAT > 2 x ADI-8 QS | AES+SPDIF > ADI-2 Pro

15 Reply by MC

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Re: ADI-2 Pro feedback

The information that you look for is part of the so called Dark Volume screen. We will think about the dBu option again.

Regards
Matthias Carstens
RME

MC's Website

16 Reply by MC

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Re: ADI-2 Pro feedback

Here you go:

https://www.forum.rme-audio.de/viewtopic.php?id=26367

Regards
Matthias Carstens
RME

MC's Website

  • From: Copenhagen, DK
  • Registered: 2008-06-27
  • Posts: 91

Re: ADI-2 Pro feedback

MC wrote:

Here you go:
https://www.forum.rme-audio.de/viewtopic.php?id=26367

Brilliant! big_smile .. Vielen dank, good sir!

Rune Borup @ FishCorp
Producer / Engineer / Composer
RayDAT > 2 x ADI-8 QS | AES+SPDIF > ADI-2 Pro