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RME User Forum → ADI-2 & 2/4 Pro series, ADI-2 DAC series → Power Supply
Hi guys, just want to see has anyone here have change the stock SMPS to aftermarket LPS such as Uptone or Ciaudio? Do you guys hear the difference on SQ after the change?
The stronger you believe into it the better it sounds.
Please see the manual on page 10&11 (chapter 6: Power Supply).
If changing power supply changes the sound quality of a device, do not buy such a device...
You can read more there:
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/foru … dacs.7021/
Aiden,
In responding to your inquiry, I'm going against my better judgement. Nonetheless..
What do you find "lacking" in your RME that leads to you to believe that an Amateur Hobbyist Design Power Supply would improve upon? I hope you realize, that the RME is a Laboratory Grade Unit which is often the Reference to which all others are compared. It achieves this high status in part BECAUSE of it's Power Supply. Not "in spite of" it's Power Supply. Do you see where I'm going? 
Leave your Power Supply alone. Take your Wife out to Dinner. Spend your Money wisely, on things that matter...NOT VooDoo "Emotionally Engineered" bullshit Audio Accessories.
Enough from me.
Curt
Aiden,
In responding to your inquiry, I'm going against my better judgement. Nonetheless..
What do you find "lacking" in your RME that leads to you to believe that an Amateur Hobbyist Design Power Supply would improve upon? I hope you realize, that the RME is a Laboratory Grade Unit which is often the Reference to which all others are compared. It achieves this high status in part BECAUSE of it's Power Supply. Not "in spite of" it's Power Supply. Do you see where I'm going?
Leave your Power Supply alone. Take your Wife out to Dinner. Spend your Money wisely, on things that matter...NOT VooDoo "Emotionally Engineered" bullshit Audio Accessories.
Enough from me.
Curt
Curt,
Thanks for bringing up the questions and I am open freely to discuss will take your suggestions wisely. As I am very new to the ADI-2 Dac and the reason I want to upgrade the power supply is due to the fact that some audiophiles will think "power supply can improve the sound quality, stock psu isn't up to the standard" and I basically just follow on people comments and reviews to decide whether i need it or not. So far I am very happy on the SQ of ADI-2 Dac, just want to think of adding something to see if it can make it much more better. If changing the stock psu to one of those aftermarket unit which does not help, then i will just leave it as it is and enjoy with the current setup.
Speaking of the cable do you have any comments on the stock usb cable? This cable i ain't sure on how good the quality is, some people said a good quality of USB make a big different especially you can hear the soundstage expand wider and more musical feel. I don't have any extra usb cable from other brand so I can't tell if it will make a significant different. Happy to hear your thought and sharing.
Aiden
The forum contains already some threads in regards to this and similar topics.
The ADI-2 Pro / DAC supports a bit perfect test, with this you can test on your own, whether the digital transmission is "bit perfect" or not. Better than bit perfect (that every 0 and 1 of the digital audio stream has been transmitted properly) is not possible.
The bit perfect test is a prepared wave file for a certain sample rate.
You play it back in your favourite audio player.
This test file is being send "end to end"
- from the PC/application
- to the "DAC"
At the ADI-2 Pro/DAC the test pattern is being evaluated.
If you did not "stupid mistake" (e.g. turning down the volume of the application which alters the pattern), taking wrong driver, every normal USB cable should work... really.
It is absolutely unnecessary to spend more than around €10-25 for an USB cable. Simply take one which is according the specs (not longer than preferrably 3, at max 5m) and take one with simply good plugs and maybe 1-2 shields.
And in terms of power supply its the same. The power supply that RME delivers is 100% ok.
HiFi lives from selling people overprized cables and devices of questionable use simply to make money.
They use certain "limitations" of our brain, how it works ... If you tell somebody, that with this or that cable or device it will sound better, then he will believe and hear it. This phenomen is called psychoacoustic.
See also here and similar threads ..
https://forum.rme-audio.de/viewtopic.ph … 02#p154202
Please no additional discussion about HiFi Voodoo stuff and please use the search function of the forum.
There is no need and merit to discuss this topic to death over and over again.
Aiden,
The USB Cable supplied with your ADI-2.DAC is perfectly suitable and Bit Perfect. If it is long enough to meet your needs, then by all means use it. No need for "Electron Polishers", or "Interplanetary Flux Conditioners" 
Remember...you've entered the "No BS Zone" Leave the Audio Witchcraft for those "other" Forums which focus upon Fantasy, and Audio Outrageousness.
Peace!
Curt
Speaking of the cable do you have any comments on the stock usb cable? This cable i ain't sure on how good the quality is, some people said a good quality of USB make a big different especially you can hear the soundstage expand wider and more musical feel.
Please ask these people to explain which USB data bits that contain a digital audio signal define "soundstage" (whatever that is) or "musical feel". Which exact changes to the USB data signal quality would specifcally affect these qualities of the audio content (but not frequency response or so)?
Regards
Daniel Fuchs
RME
Daniel,
That would most certainly be the "BS Bit"
You can only laugh at these things....
Regards,
Curt
My opinion is that the power supply doesn't need to be changed as long as it works perfectly.
you can add more problems than improvements.
My opinion is that the power supply doesn't need to be changed as long as it works perfectly.
you can add more problems than improvements.
Yep. Just ask the Groups of SBT (Squeezebox Touch) users who destroyed their devices about 10yrs ago with "Oooops!" incorrectly Polarized "Audiophile Power Supply Mods"
Nothing "Holographic" there. Only Dark Screens, and deafening Silence.
If those who made the power supplies did not have basic knowledge, the result is obvious.
The touch had 2 upgrades ,the power and the clock .
Thank you for all your thoughts and great idea. As I am fairly new to the hifi world, sometimes is difficult to pick the right equipment and cables to match the system. There are many experts out there which gives lots of ideas on which brand of the equipment supposed to be match on the other brand of cables. And it is also difficult to do audition on every single one of them. At least the audition environment is not the same as my listening area in my home. I do find a hard time to pick the right equipment and all base on the reviews from the reviewers who wrote on those popular forums. Therefore I just base on my own judgement and do audition at the shop to see which should be trusted.
I won’t change anything for now as most of you suggested, and I do find this DAC is amazing with stock PS and USB. I got introduced by my friend who also using it, he said it can “beat” those DAC which worth 3K to 4K price range. I hope so if it does then I feel I paid for a very good value haha
Thank you for all your thoughts and great idea. As I am fairly new to the hifi world, sometimes is difficult to pick the right equipment and cables to match the system.
Being sceptical will take you far - especially on this forum, which is inherently more "Pro-Audio" than "HiFi". General consensus here is, that if we can measure it - it's valid! And if you can only "feel it", it's BS!
Discussions about cables, whether it's for speakers, interconnects or USB, will no doubt be more rewarding if you conduct them at a hifi-forum, but my advice is to save yourself some $$$ on tweaks, upgrades and whatnot - and spend you money on improving your acoustics instead.
For the record, i'm writing this as a full-time audio engineer that spends every day creating the music that other people enjoy! . The secret isn't amazing cables that widen the soundstage and separation between the instruments; if it was that easy, we'd all buy 20 cables and chain them together, until the soundstage was wider than the grand canyon.
....if it was that easy, we'd all buy 20 cables and chain them together, until the soundstage was wider than the grand canyon.
Now THAT is a Grand Idea!!
20 sets of Daidy-Chained Magic Cables, and an Equal number of Gourmet USB Dongles! One cannot fathom the magnitude of the improvement.
Curt
"Insist on only Genuine B.I. Parts, and Equipment!"
But let's not stop there!
After we've applied sufficient Magic to the Cabling, and Dongle-ized the hell out of the Data Path....let's introduce ANTI-Matter into the equation!!!
https://www.lessloss.com/blackbody-p-200.html
It's True Folks! People actually buy these.
As I am fairly new to the hifi world, sometimes is difficult to pick the right equipment and cables to match the system. There are many experts out there which gives lots of ideas on which brand of the equipment supposed to be match on the other brand of cables.
If these self declared "experts" were real experts they mostly would need to admit that there is no difference.
Of course they can't, this would mean there is nothing to gush about.
• This 100% true for all kind of cables.
• This is 98% true for most plugs - there are cheap chinese connector makes that aren't made to specs and use unsuited, soft materials that don't give reliable contact, these are the 2% fails.
• This is mostly true for electronics like DAC's and Amps:
If used within specs (e.g. amps not overdriven) the differences are so tiny that, in a blind A/B comparison, they are hardly, if ever audible even on the much lesser units compared th "high end".
Unfortunately these "experts" do not even know how to setup a blind A/B test, neither do they own proper equipment to precisely match the levels.
Finally some offer some amateurish measurements made on uncalibrated, wrong-used equipment - or just quote some illustres factory specs, misunderpreted, to justify their imaginaried findings.
This is true for the RME ADI-2 line too:
There are lots of much cheaper converters and amps out there that do sound the same.
But non of those I know offer a comparable feature pack.
If it wasn't that so many people spend so much money on fraudulent products, the case would be hillarious.
I invite everybody to come to my studio with whatever stuff and I setup a blind, level matched comparison to prove the above!
Poor Aiden.
I hope he realizes that none of this is being directed at HIM. Rather, this ongoing diatribe is directed with the upmost contempt at fraudulent "Hi-Fi" accessory products, and the Pseudo Science behind them. The Power of Human Suggestibility merely complicates the Formula.
So Aiden...if you're still looking in, just know that this Forum is largely populated with persons well-versed in the Sciences, and willing to immediately call BULLSHIT on Products with Unsubstantiated, and Shadowy Claims of Functionality. Whew! Without Data to back up the Claims...those things have a rather poor survival rate here.
Let's Move On!
Curt
"Insist on only Genuine B.I. Parts, and Equipment!"
Just stole the image. Could not help it.
Joachim,
My Son will be THRILLED to know that his work has gone International!
Laugh!!!
Curt
Aiden,
In responding to your inquiry, I'm going against my better judgement. Nonetheless..
What do you find "lacking" in your RME that leads to you to believe that an Amateur Hobbyist Design Power Supply would improve upon? I hope you realize, that the RME is a Laboratory Grade Unit which is often the Reference to which all others are compared. It achieves this high status in part BECAUSE of it's Power Supply. Not "in spite of" it's Power Supply. Do you see where I'm going?
Leave your Power Supply alone. Take your Wife out to Dinner. Spend your Money wisely, on things that matter...NOT VooDoo "Emotionally Engineered" bullshit Audio Accessories.
Enough from me.
Curt
What are the strengths and limitations of the RME smps power supply ,in regards to critical musical listening? No device or technology is perfect. As a new commer to RME DAC products, and a non-professional audio engineer(the target audience for the DAC), I suspect the smps power supply is a weakpart of the electronics systems/chain, Too much defensive talk on this forum , defending a $60 device. People coming to purchasing and using this device and technology for the first time are unsure of the smps power supply merits. We bought a German engineered precision electronic/digital music device, then also received a cheap Taiwan throw-away plastic dongle for a power supply.
Yuhasz,
Please describe to us what you have found "Lacking" in your exhaustive research?
Yuhasz,
Please describe to us what you have found "Lacking" in your exhaustive research? Else. Go away with this Bullshit.
Please help me understand the superior user benefits of your smps power supply. This is not BS, just a customer asking a sensible question. Being defensive is not a viable argument my friend in business.
Yuhasz,
Please describe to us what you have found "Lacking" in your exhaustive research? Else. Go away with this Bullshit.
Oh yes and I will be sending these emails, and trash talk samples , to the marketing and sales deportment in both the USA and Germany offices, and other audio forums..
Unprofessional behavior towards a customer and community forum, support behavior general. You are one opinionated individual and I hope you do not in any way represent the values of RME as a company..
What are the strengths and limitations of the RME smps power supply ,in regards to critical musical listening? No device or technology is perfect. As a new commer to RME DAC products, and a non-professional audio engineer(the target audience for the DAC), I suspect the smps power supply is a weakpart of the electronics systems/chain, Too much defensive talk on this forum , defending a $60 device. People coming to purchasing and using this device and technology for the first time are unsure of the smps power supply merits. We bought a German engineered precision electronic/digital music device, then also received a cheap Taiwan throw-away plastic dongle for a power supply.
The idea of the "German engineered precision electronic/digital music device" is to work equally well with essentially every power supply within the specifications. If the "sound quality" were to significantly change with the quality of the power supply, wouldn't that be a major design flaw of the converter? And if a "better" PSU were to significantly improve "sound quality" (but how?), why would we include one that does not let the ADI work at full potential? That would be entirely counterproductive.
That said, these really aren't throw-away supplies... They are adequate and reliable...
Regards
Daniel Fuchs
RME
Thank You Daniel.
I view my RME as an End Game. (Which it probably is...as there's quite a few Candles on my Birthday Cake... My hearing is still tested good tho!
A bit of Roll Off above 15khz...but)
ehhhh...whatever...
The RME is Brilliantly engineered, with every piece carefully selected to perform at the highest level. This includes the Power Supply...which sits quietly in my installation, and does it's job without fuss.
RME takes pride in the "completeness" of their products. As a User, I do the same.
As Daniel stated, anything less would be counterproductive in a Class Leading Product.
Curt
RME User Forum → ADI-2 & 2/4 Pro series, ADI-2 DAC series → Power Supply
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