Benchmark too has a nice lineup with their HPA4 and AHB. High SNR amps from RME could be a killer..

I forgot one thing. It would be nice to use the power supply for a Babyface & ADI-2 at the same time.

I don't know which part of the device needs how much power. It would be nice to disable parts I don't use very often like the headphone output, if this brings down the energy consumption considerably. A better energy management would be a nice update.

Working from home office since the start of the pandemic the ADI-2 often runs for 12 hours a day and bringing down the amount of heat it radiates into the room would be welcome in the summer.

OK, then my own whishlist :-)

Totalmix

More ranges for ADC and DAC could also be useful for me (but not for everyone, I guess).
Say, 0, 4, 9, 13, 19, 24, 28dBu.
The 28dBu output is already there in the ADI-2 Pro fs R, if you use the phone balanced out.
On the input, it would allow using some mic preamps to their full capacity.

A choice between impedances could also help with some tricky cases: Normal and High (>100k) for the input (to use the device for instruments... or as a voltmeter/oscilloscope), Normal and Low (<30) for the output (to drive low impedance device from the output. Or even headphones with current limitation)...

Also, the ability to programmatically interact with the device from a PC .Net app : retrieve or set parameters or measured data, backup and restore the configuration (if possible in XLM format)... The last point would also be welcomed for pro users that move from one location to another, I guess.

Oh ! Last but not least: give us DUREC as well ;-)

If you don't ask... ;-)

At Superbooth RME rep said they have enough chips secured for launch. Apparently production is underway or about to start very soon. Price will be above the current ADI-2, release is aimed for fall.

My guess is that the 2/4 will clock in around 2250.-. Street probably 2k.

Euros - not idea about dollar price.

I am waiting too. Happy with my BFP but if truly possible to implement a crossover with the 2/4 I'm all in.

With the mile long x-mas wishlist of features these products will probably disapoint some, and cheer others. As Ive just ordered the current PRO, im making some thoughts about the new 2/4.

Buying points:

1. Dedicated x-over functions.

2. Upgrade to the already excellent auto ref volume control(will some of those extra relais do that)

3. Pricing that doesnt compete with a UFX+

4. PSU should have more than one 12v out, pref. 3.

5. Some way to configure 2/4 from a PC

6. Upgraded IEM out. RME could put one above the pentacon connector. The DAC´s IEM out
    sounds a bit anemic compared to driving my Sennheiser ie400´s from phones out.

supporting crossover will need changes to the current spectrum analyzer as it is now calculating the post DSP spectrum for a selected stereo output. in a crossover situation half of the spectrum will be empty.

I have crossover implemented in raspberry pi,  transfer DSP-ed data to my ADI-2 (using headphone 3/4 for sub) and already face this situation, and I have to write my own spectrum analyzer...

> Maybe the signals can be combined for the spectrum analyzator. Color coded for differentiation. I dont know whats possible or not

It is possible. But good result is hard to achieve given the limitation of processing power.
One has to select what to compute very smartly.

I have a working version already running on my Pi.
But it currently only works for my cutoff frequency and I have to make sure no other filters are after the crossover step.
Generalize it would take quite some effort.

to walk away from the problem,
I would just show the pre DSP signal.
And in a lot of cases pre DSP signal actually make sense. If I room EQ 1khz to 5 db lower why showing that in the spectrum—that 5db is to correct room response, right? In audience’s respective he/she’s not hearing that sound pressure 5db lower.

Do we know if it will come with a remote control?

Don't really understand the humour. Yes or no would have sufficed. The remote will be important for me as I sit 2 1/2 meters back from the rack and monitor in my mastering studio. If it's not gonna have one, then I will buy the ADI-20Pro FS R BE tomorrow.

Did they say which DAC chips in particular?

ESS or AKM?

Baba,

As the Remote has been a very useful accessory for so many users, I feel it quite likely that a new RME would include that.   

On Sushi Sets?   I Did "get it" 

A bit of Comic Relief in a fun way.  I only wonder if the 3kgs of Rice is Organic, Sustainably Harvested, Fair-Trade, and Non-GMO!

(But not really...  )

Curt

I really think it doesn’t matter.
Features and sound are on par for both chip-families.

RME even took the extra mile to add missing DAC filters and adapt the gain headroom for the ESS in ADI-2 DAC.

People tend to have a fixation on the spec figures (often without knowing what they stand for), but in real world application a few dB more or less here and there have zero influence on the sound - in the extreme high quality range that is reached.

E.g, who is aware that doubling the power is just 3 dB louder (but doubling the temperature for the speaker’s / headphone’s driver temperature, which can fry it)?

Practically other features than chip specs make a night and day difference - in sound - compared to most of the myriads of DAC’s out there.

Just one example what makes the ADI-2 family unique.

I couldn’t live without the easy to use EQ anymore:
It changes great headphones with little flaws in tonality into simply - great headphones.

Other solutions exist for EQ, but they aren’t universally usable, limited to a single source, not available in certain configurations, etc.

This is where the rubber meets the road.

The new hardware opens the field to extend the possibilities where the current version has reached it’s limit.

>  And made sure that the lower ref levels reach the max in SNR by attenuating at the output (including the self noise of the output opamps).

Do you mean the lower levels are done passively? what about the HP out +1 output? also passively?

> AD is ES9822Pro, DA is 2*ES9038Q2M.

exactly what I guessed. this could make the device a super good measuring device as well.

> full coverage and one step more (+1, +7, +13, +19, +24 dBu).

that's so awesome! I like the +1 level!

> The TRS on the rear can be switched from source DAC 1/2 (default) to source DAC 3/4 (another relay).

even better than we thought about:)

> There is more to say about the 2/4 Pro SE. Stay tuned.

Seems it's time to sell my ADI-2...

i don't have the DAC but I guess its iem output has independent power supply, probably done by a linear regulator or high precision op amp.
it also uses a different headphone buffer (1622), whose noise level is much lower than the 1688. So DAC's IEM port is not relavent here.

existing Pro's hp amp's and XLR's noise is higher than the noise of the DAC at lowest level.
that's why at +7dbu the HP outs do not get full DAC SNR (118db vs 120db).
its noise level is only -111dBu.  To reach DAC's IEM output you'll need -121dBu noise level. old DAC's IEM has -118dBu noise.

It's possible to reach that low noise level by 1) more slave buffers in parallel but this solution does not scale. 2) choose the master op amp smartly. so instead of using the first 1688 it can use the 1602 before the 1688. 3) better slave op amps such as 1656, and you get more power as well

of course, better power supply and layout design will be helpful as well.

end of 2022. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V6txgP7xLlQ at 0:30

i am not in a hurry though... I still have half a year to sell my ADI-2

The control OPA of the feedback loop defines the noise, not the power output chip.
Less gain - more negative feedback - can bring the headphone amp’s noise down.

I bet RME will find a solution , but passive attenuation won’t be it.

well, well! 1622, 666 or 5429. Are we competing with the imaginary fire ants now. Numbers for DAC and PRO, already f**** beautiful. What can it do that we doesnt have already. Chase for SNR into the sky is useless. We need controll in digital domain. Bigger FPGA, more computing power, filters, plug-ins. 10-band PEQ, room corretion, tube warmifiers, psilocybic stereo expanders. If I wanted the best SNR I would go to audio (p)sience review and check out toppin 90 whatever. I have the DAC, PRO and UCXII. Give me a reason to slush out another 2k!? RME has the edge an all of these guys, get your dick out of your pants, please!

But can you do this with almost no processing latency?

This is where the DSP / FPGA, vs. a CPU solution, had it’s point ever since.

depending on what you mean by latency.

If you means longer latency, then yes, as my toy project runs as a separate relay device. Even if you integrate it into the system, a realtime ARM chip could still have slightly longer latency than a FPGA and DSP solution (but should be close).

if you mean processing speed, then modern ARMs process the audio *much*, *much* faster than realtime and fpga/dsp chip so in theory can guarantee any hard time limit. CPU code is also much easier to write / maintain than FPGA/DSP code.

Also for many algorithms, long delay is not avoidable. Convolution for instance, will delay the audio to hundreds or even thousands of samples.

btw I'm not saying a fpga is not useful. FPGA can do various tasks such as running the usb interfacing code, and do the internal routing to the ad/da chip. They could co-exist.

We are talking about latency in a few dozen of samples. Surely not in the magnitude of ms.

If you have daw and usb driver and OS in between the latency of having an arm chip processing audio instead of dsp/fpga  chips  in audio interface is completely negligible. also true in a discrete convolution processing case where usually thousands of samples is needed. In this case an ARM chip can certainly outperform a DSP chip at the same price.

The latency in the above post’s context is the direct monitoring latency. You feed aes or analog signals to the unit and how long do they come back in aes/analog out. To match ADI-2 performance ARM may be possible but I have limited knowledge on it. People with more knowledge can share their experiences. in theory (fast processing speed up to ghz, limited cpu pipeline length) it should be possible.

Sorry, if its the wrong thread. Im interrested  to buy the DAC FS. But with this Pro prototype news I am super unshure whether to wait as there will be an DAC SE? follow  shortly after.

Anything known in this direction?

I just dont want to spend 1k€ on a soon end of life product.