Topic: ADI-2 DAC and smartphone connection and also room correction

Hi everybody here,
This DAC looks like a very good piece of kit.
I would like to buy Tidal and I would like to know if I could connect my smartphone to the DAC by the USB port and play Tidal? Would this be possible and also deliver me high-quality audio? Or do I need something like Bluesound node or Pro-Ject Ultra streamer?
Also is there a tutorial or video where you can see how to do measurements for room correction and use those measurements to set the eq on the DAC?
Thanks all.

Re: ADI-2 DAC and smartphone connection and also room correction

Happy RME ADI-2 DAC owner since one week.

No probs using an iPhone & Tidal connecting to the RME. You’ll need the Apple Camera kit.

Just tried it out for you, normally connected to Media PC & Roon.

3 (edited by Curt962 2019-11-10 17:56:32)

Re: ADI-2 DAC and smartphone connection and also room correction

Bliman,

Welcome to the Forum!   Here you'll find plenty of fine folks to help you along.

On the Room Correction matter, take a look at this Manifesto from recent times. 

https://forum.rme-audio.de/viewtopic.php?id=29041

We had a lot of fun, and got Users to do some real analysis of their Set-Ups, their Listening Rooms,  and the resulting Sound!!    Enjoy your new ADI-2 DAC to the Fullest!

Best Regards, and Happy Listening!

Curt

PS:  I heartily recommend reviewing your  Users Manual!  Do know that it updates frequently, and if you store the Manual on your Mobile Device, always having the most up-to-date information is a simple matter.  Never leave home without it. smile

Vintage 2018 ADI-2 DAC. "Classic AKM4490 Edition"
Cables:  Red, and White Ones.
Speakers:  Yes

Re: ADI-2 DAC and smartphone connection and also room correction

Thank you both and also thanks for welcoming me.
I don't have a Iphone I have an android phone. But I think that this don't matter. To connect it directly from smartphone to the usb of the dac. Thanks for testing it with an Iphone.
And Curt I will look at the link.

Re: ADI-2 DAC and smartphone connection and also room correction

I have a problem. I have been looking at how to connect my smartphone to the dac. When I buy one.
Now I have a Huawei P9 lite and it has no OTG function. The smartphone has a micro usb connection. The problem is that the RME Dac has a USB B connection and not a normal usb A connection. Does anyone know how I can connect my smartphone to the DAC so that I can listen to Tidal on good quality, without buying a separate streamer?

6 (edited by Bliman 2019-11-12 15:02:44)

Re: ADI-2 DAC and smartphone connection and also room correction

Would something like this work. https://www.amazon.de/dp/B000Q9O81C/ref … amp;sr=8-6
So I connect the charger cable from the smartphone (usb a one side and the other micro usb in the smartphone) to this adapter and then the usb cable of the dac  to the adapter.

Re: ADI-2 DAC and smartphone connection and also room correction

Bliman wrote:

I have a problem. I have been looking at how to connect my smartphone to the dac. When I buy one.
Now I have a Huawei P9 lite and it has no OTG function. The smartphone has a micro usb connection. The problem is that the RME Dac has a USB B connection and not a normal usb A connection. Does anyone know how I can connect my smartphone to the DAC so that I can listen to Tidal on good quality, without buying a separate streamer?

You could get a different cable such as this
https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/31WOdYWqwHL._AC_.jpg
Source: https://www.amazon.com/Yc-Degree-Standa … mp;sr=8-46

or an adapter like this
https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/4112T7JFA-L._AC_.jpg
Source: https://www.amazon.de/dp/B000L10A58/ref … 93V7B1C21E

Re: ADI-2 DAC and smartphone connection and also room correction

Thank you. Do you know if that will work?

Re: ADI-2 DAC and smartphone connection and also room correction

No but it is sufficient to make the connection.

Re: ADI-2 DAC and smartphone connection and also room correction

Does anyone know if it would work?

Re: ADI-2 DAC and smartphone connection and also room correction

Hi Bliman,

maybe you want to have a look here:
https://source.android.com/devices/audio/usb

That is: You need at least Android 5.0 and a USB OTG adaptor and then it should work!

The complementary information in terms of support from Tidal can be found on their support site.

If it doesn‘t work though, the only way I heard of is to use the two Apps USB Audio Player Pro
and  Bubble UPnP together. Google will provide you more info on that if needed.

But as already outlined above, you shouldn‘t have this problem with a brand new smartphone

RME ADI2-DAC FS | Intel NUC8i7
Rotel RB1582 MKII amp
Infinity Kappa 8.2i speakers
Audirvana player

Re: ADI-2 DAC and smartphone connection and also room correction

Alternatively, try to find a Chromecast Audio and use the optical output.

RME ADI-2 DAC fs, Quad 606-2 power amp, Quad 2805 speakers, B&W PV1d sub with Antimode 8033 Cinema

Re: ADI-2 DAC and smartphone connection and also room correction

Olli wrote:

Hi Bliman,

maybe you want to have a look here:
https://source.android.com/devices/audio/usb

That is: You need at least Android 5.0 and a USB OTG adaptor and then it should work!

The complementary information in terms of support from Tidal can be found on their support site.

If it doesn‘t work though, the only way I heard of is to use the two Apps USB Audio Player Pro
and  Bubble UPnP together. Google will provide you more info on that if needed.

But as already outlined above, you shouldn‘t have this problem with a brand new smartphone

Sadly I have a Huawei P9 Lite and it doesn't work with OTG sad .
I thought to do it cheap but it seems that this isn't possible.
I thought it would be easy just use an adapter (non OTG)and connect it to the dac. But I don't know if it works.
Maybe I have to buy a streamer next sad .

14 (edited by Olli 2019-11-13 08:46:32)

Re: ADI-2 DAC and smartphone connection and also room correction

@Bliman:

OTG support indeed is a must...
Are you really absolutely sure that your Huawei doesn‘t support it?
If not and if I were you, I would just order an OTG adaptor like shown above and give it a try. It is a no-brainer because it is cheap and you can return it if you buy it online.

If the smartphone is indeed not capable to switch the USB Mode to „Host“ via USB OTG, I would consider to buy an Intel NUC and use it with Audirvana which can be remotely controlled by your Smartphone. An affordable one with an i3 should already be sufficient. This is a much more flexible and versatile solution with bit perfect playback via RME MadiFace ASIO driver compared to a streamer.
For me it just works great and I can playback from nearly infinite sources controlled by the Mini PC.

RME ADI2-DAC FS | Intel NUC8i7
Rotel RB1582 MKII amp
Infinity Kappa 8.2i speakers
Audirvana player

Re: ADI-2 DAC and smartphone connection and also room correction

Olli wrote:

@Bliman:

OTG support indeed is a must...
Are you really absolutely sure that your Huawei doesn‘t support it?
If not and if I were you, I would just order an OTG adaptor like shown above and give it a try. It is a no-brainer because it is cheap and you can return it if you buy it online.

If the smartphone is indeed not capable to switch the USB Mode to „Host“ via USB OTG, I would consider to buy an Intel NUC and use it with Audirvana which can be remotely controlled by your Smartphone. An affordable one with an i3 should already be sufficient. This is a much more flexible and versatile solution with bit perfect playback via RME MadiFace ASIO driver compared to a streamer.
For me it just works great and I can playback from nearly infinite sources controlled by the Mini PC.

Thank you. Yeah I am sure. Thank you for giving me more options to consider.

Re: ADI-2 DAC and smartphone connection and also room correction

Olli wrote:

@Bliman:

OTG support indeed is a must...
Are you really absolutely sure that your Huawei doesn‘t support it?
If not and if I were you, I would just order an OTG adaptor like shown above and give it a try. It is a no-brainer because it is cheap and you can return it if you buy it online.

If the smartphone is indeed not capable to switch the USB Mode to „Host“ via USB OTG, I would consider to buy an Intel NUC and use it with Audirvana which can be remotely controlled by your Smartphone. An affordable one with an i3 should already be sufficient. This is a much more flexible and versatile solution with bit perfect playback via RME MadiFace ASIO driver compared to a streamer.
For me it just works great and I can playback from nearly infinite sources controlled by the Mini PC.

Could you please tell me what Intel NUC you have and how you set it up for streaming?

17 (edited by Olli 2019-11-16 21:39:21)

Re: ADI-2 DAC and smartphone connection and also room correction

@Bliman: Sure, here we go:
I have a NUC8i7BEH because I am using it as the Multimedia Center in my living room and so I wanted to be sure that I have some headroom in terms of performance. There are also versions with Intel i5 and i3 CPUs which give you the option to choose the one that fits your need and desire.
As NUCs are „Barebone“ machines, you will additionally need two SO-DIMM DDR4 modules matching your desired amount of RAM (I have 16GByte in total, so 2x 8GByte
DIMMs) and and an M.2 Mass Storage Module matching your needs (I went for an 1 TByte SSD with NVMe Interface).
Both are really easy to install. You just have to loosen 4 screws and the lid is open.
The HW is completed by wireless Keyboard and Mouse.

OS and SW:
I am using WIN10 and the Audirvana Player SW which perfectly supports the MADIface ASIO Driver and Tidal as well as local NAS-Streaming. Additionally there is a Smartphone App which can optionally be used to remotely control Audirvana. The ADI2-DAC is connected via USB. That‘s it.

All in all at least for me it is a perfect setup which gives you ultimate flexibility and so much more than just audio streaming because you have a full-blown PC which can be used for everything you are used to do like Webbrowsing (RME forum! ;-)), Emails, Video Streaming, Office Tasks etc. etc.

Hope that helps? Don‘t hesitate to come back if anything is still not clear to you.

Take care...
Olli

RME ADI2-DAC FS | Intel NUC8i7
Rotel RB1582 MKII amp
Infinity Kappa 8.2i speakers
Audirvana player

Re: ADI-2 DAC and smartphone connection and also room correction

Olli wrote:

@Bliman: Sure, here we go:
I have a NUC8i7BEH because I am using it as the Multimedia Center in my living room and so I wanted to be sure that I have some headroom in terms of performance. There are also versions with Intel i5 and i3 CPUs which gives you the option to choose the one that fits your need and desire.
As NUCs are „Barebone“ machines, you will additionally need two SO-DIMM DDR4 modules matching your desired amount of RAM (I have 16GByte in total, so 2x 8GByte
DIMMs) and and an M.2 Mass Storage Module matching your needs (I went for an 1 TByte SSD with NVMe Interface).
Both are really easy to install. You just have to loosen 4 screws and the lid is open.
The HW is completed by wireless Keyboard and Mouse.

OS and SW:
I am using WIN10 and the Audirvana Player SW which perfectly supports the MADIface ASIO Driver and Tidal as well as local NAS-Streaming. Additionally there is a Smartphone App which can optionally be used to remotely control Audirvana. The ADI2-DAC is connected via USB. That‘s it.


All in all at least for me it is a perfect setup which gives you ultimate flexibility and so much more than just audio streaming because you have a full-blown PC which can be used for everything you are used to do like Webbrowsing (RME forum! ;-)), Emails, Video Streaming, Office Tasks etc. etc.

Hope that helps? Don‘t hesitate to come back if anything is still not clear to you.

Take care...
Olli

First thank you for the very good and nice post. And also take care.
I am looking for streaming Tidal (when I buy it) and archiving my cd's to a hard drive and play them hopefully with my smartphone as remote (where I can choose the albums and songs), because my cd player is on it's last legs.
One of the main questions I am having is this.
If I put an operating system on the Intel Nuc and attach the external hard drive with my songs on it. And I do these operations with a monitor and keyboard. Is it then possible to disconnect the monitor and keyboard and put the Intel nuc (My main stereo system is upstairs and my computer is downstairs) upstairs so I can stream the music from the hard drive and do this with the smartphone? So that the Intel NUC is connected to the external hard drive and that is upstairs connected to my main stereo system with the RME as dac/preamp, but it is not connected anymore to a monitor or keyboard and then I control the music with my smartphone. And then when I like to put music on my hard drive. I just take it downstairs put music on it with the compûter and take it back upstairs?
A bit like here http://www.modelpromo.nl/Audio-Dandy_st … aphile.htm
Thank you very very much for helping me.

19 (edited by Olli 2019-11-16 21:36:25)

Re: ADI-2 DAC and smartphone connection and also room correction

Hmmmh, I think with the help of some smart configurations it for sure is possible to use a NUC as a headless streamer,
but to be honest: I find it unfortunate to do so because you can‘t benefit from the numerous other options the NUC could be used for like I already explained in my previous post.

So the question is: Do you have a TV in the same (listening) room upstairs? The NUC has a standard HDMI output that
you can use to connect to every standard TV which has an HDMI input. Another (inexpensive) wireless keyboard and mouse would complete the system giving you the full control over your system at any time!

By the way: I read most of the „Blog“ you provided the link to. I consider the (subjective) judgement that Audirvana „doesn‘t sound that good“ as pure nonsense. It is a bit perfect player and as such it “just“ transports the original ones and zeros to the DAC without any manipulation. So there is no way to do it any better. RME has a set of test files available for download that immediately provide the proof on the display of the ADI2-DAC as soon as they are played back with Audirvana. I performed these tests and every single of them has passed. If any player sounds different, it is not a bit perfect, but a “colouring“ one. Facing the fact that the ADI2-DAC comes with an excellent built in equalizer, I would always recommend to guarantee that the input to it is neither more nor less then the original and the „colouring“ and some compensation for the listening room that satisfy the individual taste can be done with the EQ!

RME ADI2-DAC FS | Intel NUC8i7
Rotel RB1582 MKII amp
Infinity Kappa 8.2i speakers
Audirvana player

Re: ADI-2 DAC and smartphone connection and also room correction

Olli wrote:

Hmmmh, I think with the help of some smart configurations it for sure is possible to use a NUC as a headless streamer,
but to be honest: I find it unfortunate to do so because you can‘t benefit from the numerous other options the NUC could be used for like I already explained in my previous post.

So the question is: Do you have a TV in the same (listening) room upstairs? The NUC has a standard HDMI output that
you can use to connect to every standard TV which has an HDMI input. Another (inexpensive) wireless keyboard and mouse would complete the system giving you the full control over your system at any time!

By the way: I read most of the „Blog“ you provided the link to. I consider the (subjective) judgement that Audirvana „doesn‘t sound that good“ as pure nonsense. It is a bit perfect player and as such it “just“ transports the original ones and zeros to the DAC without any manipulation. So there is no way to do it any better. RME has a set of test files available for download that immediately provide the proof on the display of the ADI2-DAC as soon as they are played back with Audirvana. I performed these tests and every single of them has passed. If any player sounds different, it is not a bit perfect, but a “colouring“ one. Facing the fact that the ADI2-DAC comes with an excellent built in equalizer, I would always recommend to guarantee that the input to it is neither more nor less then the original and the „colouring“ and some compensation for the listening room that satisfy the individual taste can be done with the EQ!

Thank you.
No I haven't got a tv upstairs. It is my bedroom and it is also the place where my stereo system is. I also have no desk or something. That's why I would like it to be as efficient as possible.
Yeah I have no clue about audirvana and such. It is difficult enough already.