Topic: Firmware Updates ADI-2 Pro 185 / 89 and DAC 26 / 24
Firmware 185/89 (Pro) and 26/24 (DAC) address several issues, improve operation and add new functionality.
Fixes / Improvements, Pro & DAC
- When switching between an SPDIF input signal at 44.1 kHz and a USB playback at high sampling rate, or vice versa, USB PCM audio can become distorted, USB DSD would be muted. This has been fixed within the virtual USB clock design.
- The USB Sample Rate (SR) shown in the Status Overview screen is now the real USB sample rate, no longer the current clock rate.
- When changing between two EQ Presets where one had a high cut at a low frequency, and the other one had a high cut with a very high frequency, a short click sound occurred.
- Using Dual EQ will now correctly show left or right channel settings when scrolling through the graphical EQ presets, and also shows L or R in the title bar when scrolling starts on non-Dual presets.
- New option in SETUP – Options - Display: Show Vol. Screen, On/Off. This option disables the volume screen that is shown when changing the volume through the big Volume knob. The current volume value is still visible in the status bar, but screens like the Analyzer are no longer hidden during volume changes.
- The current Loudness values of Bass/Treble boost are now taken into account for the AutoRef Level switching thresholds.
- I/O menu – Volume now shows the correct values at lower settings
- The vertical AutoScroll (push and hold encoder 1 or 2 to move up or down within the menu) reacts and works much quicker
- Improved (fine tuned) the Volume knob behaviour to prevent bigger steps of volume changes when turning the knob with slow and medium speed
- Total Reset: The combination of pressing encoder 1 and 2 plus the VOL key will now also erase the EQ curves
ADI-2 Pro only:
- The digital trim gain for the analog inputs is now set separately for left and right channel.
- Dual volume linked mode (both Phones outputs in use, selection marker on both) is no longer lost after power off/on.
- Added 'PEQ+B/T+LD 1-4' as action to the Remap Function Key list
ADI-2 DAC only:
- FPGA firmware 26 fixes a left channel click when switching from USB playback at more than Single Speed to SPDIF at 44.1 kHz (added reset when changing clock mode).
New Feature Pro & DAC
- Ability to lock the analog output level to a specific value. This feature is usually known as fixed output level (in contrary to variable/adjustable). So far all analog outputs were always adjustable by the Volume knob. The new firmware adds an entry Lock Volume in the I/O menu of the analog outputs, down at the bottom where Volume and Balance can be set. With Lock Volume active, the Volume knob can no longer be used to change the output level. The Volume adjustment within the menu still works, and is used to set the 'fixed' output level. The Lock state is indicated in the VOL screen, Volume screen and the status bar.
For example if the analog output should operate like a typical HiFi unit @ 2 V output level (equals +8 dBu), set the hardware Ref Level to +13 dBu and Volume to -5 dB. On the DAC a setting of +7 dBu and 0 dB volume would be as good as that and offers highest Signal to Noise Ratio. More examples:
1 V (0 dBV, +2.2 dBu): Pro Ref +4 dBu, Vol -2 dB. DAC Ref +7 dBu, Vol -5 dB
0.775 V (0 dBu, -2.2 dBV): Pro Ref +4 dBu, Vol -4 dB. DAC Ref +1 dBu, Vol -1 dB
0.5 V (-3.8 dBu, -6 dBV): Pro Ref +4 dBu, Vol -8 dB. DAC Ref +1 dBu, Vol -5 dB
0.315 V (-10 dBV, -7.8 dBu): Pro Ref +4 dBu, Vol -12 dB. DAC Ref -5 dBu, Vol -3 dB
Note that most analog reference levels (except 2V) usually offer a lot of headroom. Therefore matching the levels to 0 dBFS might result in too low volume. Also note that the above table is no longer valid when PEQ and Bass/Treble are in use. The digital level will be higher and might even overload, which can be clearly seen on the output's level meter. Volume has to be further reduced then.
As usual all manuals German/English have been updated with the latest changes:
https://archiv.rme-audio.de/download/adi2dac_e.pdf
https://archiv.rme-audio.de/download/adi2dac_d.pdf
https://archiv.rme-audio.de/download/adi2profs_e.pdf
https://archiv.rme-audio.de/download/adi2profs_d.pdf
Firmware downloads:
Win:
https://archiv.rme-audio.de/download/fu … ce_win.zip
Mac:
https://archiv.rme-audio.de/download/fu … ce_mac.zip
Next post: how to update the firmware
Matthias Carstens
RME