Thanks. I downloaded unzipped and installed: driver_madiface_win_09680.zip. All is fine as far as Win7 is concerned and the DAC plays.. But it is producing a strange ticking sound. Obviously something is still wrong with this driver.

I solved the problem, sort of.. I use an Intona high speed USB galvanic isolator in the USB path which electrically isolates the computer from the DAC. The Intona works without problems with the Macmini and ADI-2 DAC but it causes a strangely distorted ticking sound with the Win7 laptop and ADI-2. I removed the Intona and now sound is normal. Too bad I can’t use the Intona with the Windows driver. I wonder why.. Must be a driver issue..

Nice that you found it. BTW .. If you would have mentioned the Intona in the 1st post, then I would have proposed to try it without as the 1st thing. There is always a chance that its not so "transparant" as it claims to be for whatever reason (other components, firmware, damaged, ..).

I tried the other Win7 laptop (DELL) and the ADI-2 DAC now works with the Intona! So someting is wrong or different with the other laptop (HP). I'll try to figure out what the problem is. Thanks for the help.

You need to manually set the DAC to 96 kHz in its Settings dialog, all explained in the manual. If you use Roon with Tidal you can use ASIO, then it will work under Win 7 automatically. Otherwise it also works with Windows 10, without the RME driver. All explained here in great detail (firmware update 17).

Well, I updated the ADI-2 firmware to the latest version and I updated Windows 10 (on a Lenovo laptop) to version 1803. The ADI-2 is recognized by Windows 10 alright, but I can't get the DAC to play in WASAPI exlusive mode in Tidal or Foobar2000. It only plays in shared mode, with the sample rate dictated by Windows. In Tidal I selected "Speaker : (ADI-2 DAC (54681350))" with "exclusive mode" and "force volume" options set, but the ADI-2 still plays the Windows sample rate and reacts to the Windows volume control. In Foobar2000, with the latest WASAPI plug-in (version 3.3), I selected "WASAPI (event or push) : Speakers (ADI-2 DAC (54681350))" and when I play a track I get an error: "Unrecoverable playback error: Unsupported stream format: 44100 Hz / 16-bit / 2 channels." When I select "DS : Speakers (ADI-2 DAC (54681350))" in Foobar2000, the DAC plays but (again) in shared mode.

Now if I go to Control panel > Sound > ADI-2 DAC (54681350) > Properties, the "Enhancements" tab is missing! So I can't disable sound effects, which I know is necessary for WASAPI exlusive mode to function. I found on the web that this can be a problem with audio drivers after a Windows 10 update. So I uninstalled the Windows USB audio 2.0 driver (via device manager) and restarted the computer to reinstall the driver. I did this several times. I also reinstalled the Realtek and Intel audio driver, but to no avail. I can't get the Enhancements tab to show in the ADI-2 DAC's properties dialogue.

Is there a solution to this problem or should I ask this on a Microsoft forum?

OK, I didn't know the missing Enhancements tab was normal in CC mode. No RME driver was ever installed on this computer. It had a Schiit Audio driver installed, but I uninstalled it before the Windows 10 update. All sample rates (44 to 384 kHz) are available on the Advanced tab (all 32 bit). The sample rate selected here shows in the DAC's display when I click the test button and with other audio applications (Tidal in Exlusive mode, Foobar2000 in SD mode).The Exclusive mode options on the Advanced tab are both checked..

I have what appears to be the same issue with my Pro Fs BE. Totally clean setup with the latest Win10, tidal doesn't change the sample rate and I have to change it manually with the windows dialogue (44.1-384 32bit). I can't seem to get the sample rate to change in any (non-ASIO) program outside of the windows sounds sample rate.

I also had issues with foobar WASAPI, though that attempt was a while ago.

I can provide an extensive description of my OS setup if needed. I am currently using the madiface driver as I need to manually change the sample rate anyway so there appears to be no downside.

I had the exact same problems with Windows 10 1803, that's why I did a clean Windows10 1809 install (the Home edition). Are you using Win10 Professional or Enterprise edition?

Okay, I restarted the computer and Foobar2000 works with Output set to WASAPI PUSH Speakers ADI-2 DAC at 32 bit! 24/96 files play nicely and the ADI-2 displays the correct sr. You said you used WASAPI Event is that correct? Here WASAPI Event produces distorted sound.

It then seems that the problem with the Windows Tidal app not playing the correct sample rate is a problem of the Windows Tidal software..

OK, all problems solved. Thanks for the help. A question still is, why doesn't the RME WASAPI driver do automatic sample rate switching? Any other WASAPI DAC driver I know does this, even in Windows 7 and with Tidal.

Well, I would be quite happy with a simple, single-client, 2 channel, WASAPI driver for the ADI-2 DAC that does automatic sample rate switching.

Anyway, since I stream most of my music from Tidal, which is almost entirely 16/44.1 (except for MQA encoded material), I decided to use the RME driver for Windows and set it to 44.1kHz. It plays in WASAPI exclusive mode but there are many dropouts which correspond to the Diagnostics counter of the Settings app (one error every few seconds, not crc5). What does this mean? Transmission or receiving errors of the computer or of the DAC?

When I remove my Intona from the USB chain, things improve with a single 4 meter AudioQuest Cinnamon USB cable but still there are many dropouts. Only when I use a 2 meter or shorter USB cable between computer and DAC, the dropouts completely disappear. I replicated this behavior with 3 different Windows laptops with the RME driver.

Now the USB setup with the Intona in place seems to work fine with my Mac Mini and with the Windows USB Audio 2.0 driver. No dropouts. What could that mean? Is there actually the same number of transmission/receiving errors but do the native OS X audio driver and Windows driver somehow repair those errors instead of producing audible dropouts?

No one? Regarding the Diagnostics error counter of the Settings app, the manual says: "If the unit detects a record or playback error the number shown will no longer be 0. An audio reset is performed automatically." (p. 41) Could that possibly refer to playback errors at the DAC's  end of the USB chain? I ask this because I suspect there may be a problem with the USB interface of the ADI-2. Thanks.