You have an ADI-2 DAC FS, right? In that case you just wasted your money. The DAC's internal headphone amp has less distortion, less noise and much more power than the RNHP. Plus using an external headphone amp disables all the nice protection mechanisms that the ADI-2 DAC includes.

1st of all, could you kindly confirm what RME product you bought ?

ADI-2 FS ?

or
ADI-2 DAC FS ?

In both cases use smth like a "Mic Cable" with XLR plugs on both sides for a balanced connection.

I read the Rupert Neves information this way, that its "calibrated for" +4 dBu, but it also tell that the maximum input level is +22.8 dBu.

So on the outputs of the RME product I would propose a static setting of +4 dBu reference level. And the ADI-2 DAC FS I would set to +7 dBu. I do not think that it makes a big difference to turn down the volume by -3 to exactly match the +4 dBu.

Also, when told that the RME likes to use auto ref level and then leave the external amp on max volume, someone in another forum says this:

“That is not the same as fixed output.

Anyway, amps are designed to be driven fully- that is, the input should be at full output (0 dB) or close to it. That's where they perform best. If you control volume at the source, your amp has very little signal to work with and you're hearing the worst your amp can deliver.

You risk blowing your brains out or destroying equipment if you run amps on max. There is really no good reason to do that. It may seem convenient, but it's wrong in every objective way.

I agree and will add that I have the gain trimmed 50% on my class D amp that feeds LS50's. At Odb the volume (on the ADI2 DAC) is at the highest volume I would give these speakers (and yes the amp is way over powered for the speakers).

my suggestion to is turn Auto Ref on, Set the DAC volume to Odb and with the RNHP volume encoder at its lowest setting listen and gradually raise the volume on the RNHP till you think it is just too loud and leave it there ( mark its position). then in the future, use the volume encoder on the ADI2 DAC and leave the RNHP encoder alone”

So what do the RME people here say is the best advice to follow ?

Thoughts?

Thanks in advance!

Oh, yes. I’m sorry. I was confused. I have the DAC version. Here https://imgur.com/a/OqYMhzL

Thanks.

Do you have the RME ADI-2 fs DAC as well? If so, what external amp do you like to use with your Planar Magnetic headphones?

Very nice!!

Two different approaches to use ADI-2 with external amps, how to set them up:

CASE 1, analog volume control:

To maximize ADI-2's dynamic range (S/N ratio) it's best to have ADI-2’s volume control at 0 dB, using the external ANALOG AMP’s volume control to set listening level:

• Set external amp's volume control to middle position or some above.
• Switch OFF ADI-2's "Auto Reference Level".
• Set ADI-2's volume control to 0 dB.
• Select the reference level that fits best to your loudness demands.
• Use the ext. amp's volume dial to control the final loudness.

• Once you start to use any of ADI-2's DSP functions like e.g. the EQ:
- Compensate possible level boosts with ADI-2's volume control until the Level Meter does not show overs.
- Or switch back On “Auto Reference Level" and let ADI-2 calculate the best value.

CASE 2, digital volume control:

If you want to use ADI-2's digital volume control to set listening level, ADI-2 DAC / (Pro) has a clever option that increases the usable dynamic range by 18 / (20) dB: "Auto Reference Level":

• Switch ON ADI-2's "Auto Reference Level".
• Set ADI-2 DAC's (Pro's) volume control to -18 / (-20) dBr.  (1)
• Set ext. amp's volume control (or passive attenuators) slightly above your normal listening level.
• Use ADI-2's volume control to set the final listening level.

Now ADI-2 automatically adapts the reference level for best fit to your loudness demands, while maximizing it's DAC's dynamic range.

If your external amp does not have a volume control, use variable passive attenuators to fit the level:
https://forum.rme-audio.de/viewtopic.ph … 42#p120442

SIDEMARK:
(1)
The volume figures change from dB to dBr when Auto Reference Level is “ON”.
The dBr relates to the highest Reference Level then.
There is some control range and digital headroom above, that is reserved for intersample peaks or weak digital signals.

With “Auto Reference Level “OFF” the dB-figures (without r) relate to the manually choosen reference level.

You're welcome!

This type of question arises here very frequently.
The above intends to condense the necessary information into a universal answer.

The decision depends on the other equipment you want to connect, e.g. a CD Player, Turntable etc., via a Preamp maybe.

Soundwise there is no audible difference out of ADI-2, both versions are far better than what’s needed.

In theory Case 1 has the slightly higher dynamic range, and Case 2 the cleaner signal path.

Practically the power amp is the bottleneck, almost no power amp in existence has a dynamic range of 120+ dB, which in fact is, again, not needed anyway
The typical “audiophile” tube amp has just 70 dB or less S/N Ratio!

Finally it boils down to what’s more convenient.

Hey!

I found this thread and I wanted to ask for something related to this. I bough a Rupert Neve RNHP amp last year and I am fairly happy with it. I was wondering if there is any DAC (preferrably same price or cheaper than the amp) that will make a great combo with this amp? My headset is a Sennheiser HD 660S. Is there any dac worth buying in that price range that would improve this setup to a point where its worth the money? Thanks.

I dont see the point of this. With the Neve or the ADI´s you go from one opamp output to the other!? If you want something special get a tube- or class A/AB transistor amp to complement. I see alot of people on different fora trying to "improve" the sound of the ADI series. They usually have some problem with the digital volume control.

When I first got the ADI 2 DAC Fs. I set volume to Hipower all the way. Now I use auto reference level all the time. Not a "techie" I will not try to comprehend the underlaying technology other than its derived from RME´s Totalmix 42bit, its NOT a MS-windows volume control. Moreover the progressive loudness control is a dream to use playing at between -35 to -50 with sensitive phones or IEM´s. At these settings the sound gets softer and warmer without loosing the "bang". Anyway, that´s my pref. anyone should be able to find their sweetspot with this ingenious device.

All the internet noise had me a bit scared when selecting my headphone amp, now I realize I need nothing else. Better to spend money on a new headphone set. Im saving up for a STAX

Connect the ADI to the STAX energizer. Set energizer to some fixed volume setting and use the ADI for volume out. In theory, haven´t tried it yet. I have some experience with a similar connection to an integrated power amp, which works nice. Setup will be for best sound to answer ur question. You get energizer models with integrated DAC, tube output stage etc. I´m considering the entry level model. Around 800 euros(with phones). It has class A output. Really sweet sound.

No other way around it before RME ships with integrated EL energizer I guess. Point is I dont think u need to get alot of other haedphone amps to get good sound out of the ADI using only the dac section, while on alot of forum post Ive read there is some understanding/anxiety that the ADI need some other volume or output stage. I think this is a misconception. The DSP based solutions of the DAC fs has so many qualities.

An electrostatic headphone on the other hand would inevitably have to have a specialized preamp/energizer.

OK, my understanding was, that the amount of AD/DA conversions or "number of circuits" in the analog domain should be best minimized. But of course there are several ways and as the ADI-2 is working transparent, non-colorizing the sound, this should be possible.

Otherwise if there is a Stax with optical SPDIF input you could use the ADI-2 Pro, if I remember right features like dynamic loudness work also over the digital output. To be checked ... that was from memory. But maybe Stax doesn't offer digital inputs ... I don't know .. also to be checked ...

Very few STAX amps have DA-conversion built in.
Non of the full size desktop ones, as far as I know, only a portable one (D-10) and the semi-portable D-50.

Happy_amateur is completely right.
In general the headphones model makes the difference, the amp contributes 5% to the sound, at best, even if it’s a tube one.
STAX headphones are a different league, TOTL at affordable price, they eat much more expensive headphones for breakfast.

EQ, like the one in ADI-2, is the key to give a setup the final touch.
Most headphones, and listeners, like a bit of bass boost.
This site gives a good starting point:
https://github.com/jaakkopasanen/AutoEq … er/results
Their settings are mostly based on 10 band EQ, but for my taste their setting above 2kHz don’t make too much practical sense (are your personal ears shaped the same way like their measurement set - no!).
So use their lower band settings only and usually 5 bands are sufficient.

The handling of the STAX anps is no different to a regular analog speaker or headphones amp, one can still use these approaches for level setting:
https://forum.rme-audio.de/viewtopic.ph … 21#p161721

BTW: A STAX SRM-1/MK2 Professional, used and good condition, is one of the best and most affordable E-stat amps available.

KaiS: Thnx for the tips and links. Gonna dive into this autoEQ stuff

If you’re out for a cheap solution I do a heresy and suggest:
Qudelix 5K, the poor man’s, portable ADI-2.
I won’t say anything more, and @MC may delete this posting if he doesn‘t like it.

I never once experienced the situation you describe, "subbass out of focus"!? All my RME gear could be summed up "tight, top to bottom" Ofcourse your remedy is another chinese box