• JBW
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Topic: ADI-2 Pro FS R as Interface

Hello,

I understand that the ADI-2 Pro FS R is not an audio interface. This said, I would like to use it as such for one specific purpose... getting an electric guitar signal into a DAW. I am looking for recommendations on the "best" way to accomplish this.

The backstory here is that I used to use my ADI-2 Pro FS R with a Fractal Axe-Fx III via AES into the FS R. That accomplished the goal, but the Axe-Fx was overkill for my overall needs. I now want to remain "in the box" and use DAW plugins for electric guitar. (FYI, I use fairly low output passive pickup electrics only.)

I don't need a mic-pre b/c I don't have any use for mics.

I have considered buying a Babyface Pro FS, but that seems like a waste. That would give me TotalMix, but I'm not so certain I need that. I'm not totally opposed to this solution, but unless there is a major advantage I am not considering here for my basic needs, it seems like overkill. (Any thoughts?)

Is a great DI with a Hi-Z input the solution?

Any/all feedback, recommendations or otherwise would be appreciated.

Thanks very much.

2 Reply by vinark (edited by vinark 2023-02-23 14:22:28)

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Re: ADI-2 Pro FS R as Interface

Is a great DI with a Hi-Z input the solution?

Partly, but it also needs a healthy line level output. So a cheap mic amp with hi Z input seems most logical.
Also if you get a babyface pro fs you could easily sell the ADI-2. They sound identical, only the ADI measures a little better, but the baby has  very good numbers too.
Interesting if your main goal is guitar, guitar has a very high noise floor and very high distortion even when clean, so any 16 bit converter can already capture it faithfully. Better specs (converters) don't increase the capability to capture the magic of your guitars tone at all.
It is all in how faithfully can your guitar amp software create this magic (and how well you play lol)

Vincent, Amsterdam
https://soundcloud.com/thesecretworld
BFpro fs, 2X HDSP9652 ADI-8AE, 2X HDSP9632
  • waedi
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Re: ADI-2 Pro FS R as Interface

There is no "best" way.

A simple and cheap solution is to use just cables and adapters to connect the guitar directly to the computer with no interface at all.
The headphone socket of almost all computers is a combo connector for headsets.
it has a mic input and the computersystem audio preferences has a mic preamp fader to boost the signal into the green.
Of course the Babyface has better converters and many options and is a great tool.
For myself I would take a Babyface Pro FS.

M1-Sequoia, Madiface Pro, Digiface USB, Babyface silver and blue
  • JBW
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Re: ADI-2 Pro FS R as Interface

Thank you vinark and waedi,

The reason I have the ADI-2 Pro FS R is that I am an audiophile and primarily use it to listen to music through high-end studio monitors and, at times, headphones. This is why I don't really want to part ways with it in favor of a Babyface Pro FS solution. This said, I know the Babyface alone could likely satisfy my needs.

Thanks again for the feedback.

  • waedi
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Re: ADI-2 Pro FS R as Interface

The ADI-2 is also an interface it has Class Compliant functionality and you can record the guitar over it in best sound quality.

M1-Sequoia, Madiface Pro, Digiface USB, Babyface silver and blue

6 Reply by KaiS (edited by KaiS 2023-02-23 15:11:36)

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Re: ADI-2 Pro FS R as Interface

JBW wrote:

The reason I have the ADI-2 Pro FS R is that I am an audiophile and primarily use it to listen to music through high-end studio monitors and, at times, headphones.

If you have an active guitar (with a battery built in) you can try direct connection to ADI-2 Pro’s input.
Even if you have to boost the level some, later in your DAW, quality will be high-class.

For other git’s a preamp of some kind is necessary, can even be a guitar stomp box or one of those tiny, tiny home-amps from Marshall and the like.

This one has a headphones out on the left side, with a adapter connectable to ADI-2 Pro’s analog in.

https://thumbs.static-thomann.de/thumb/padthumb600x600/pics/bdb/104122/9637065_800.jpg

KaiS's Website

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Re: ADI-2 Pro FS R as Interface

I've decided to buy a Babyface Pro FS and test it against the sound quality I get for Hi-Fi listening v. the ADI-2 Pro FS R. If I like the Babyface enough I'll part ways with the ADI-2.

Thanks again for the feedback.

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Re: ADI-2 Pro FS R as Interface

KaiS wrote:

For other git’s a preamp of some kind is necessary, can even be a guitar stomp box or one of those tiny, tiny home-amps from Marshall and the like.

If I did use a preamp of some kind - guitar pedal or otherwise - into the ADI-2 Pro FS R is it possible to damage it if the signal is too hot? Does it have any protection circuitry or the like?

Thanks.

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Re: ADI-2 Pro FS R as Interface

JBW wrote:
KaiS wrote:

For other git’s a preamp of some kind is necessary, can even be a guitar stomp box or one of those tiny, tiny home-amps from Marshall and the like.

If I did use a preamp of some kind - guitar pedal or otherwise - into the ADI-2 Pro FS R is it possible to damage it if the signal is too hot? Does it have any protection circuitry or the like?.

Here’s MC’s (developer’s) answer:
https://forum.rme-audio.de/viewtopic.ph … 25#p195725

The mentioned 20 V peak is way above what stomp boxes or the tiny amp’s headphones out can send.

So don’t worry, keep your ADI-2 Pro and try.

KaiS's Website

10 Reply by JBW

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Re: ADI-2 Pro FS R as Interface

KaiS wrote:

Here’s MC’s (developer’s) answer:
https://forum.rme-audio.de/viewtopic.ph … 25#p195725

The mentioned 20 V peak is way above what stomp boxes or the tiny amp’s headphones out can send.

This is over my head.

Thanks for your feedback.

11 Reply by Babaluma (edited by Babaluma 2023-02-23 16:03:51)

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Re: ADI-2 Pro FS R as Interface

Any good active DI, preferably with some gain, will be just what you need. I use the one built in to my mic pre for exactly your purpose.

https://musicwall.app/hermetech

Babaluma's Website

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Re: ADI-2 Pro FS R as Interface

Kais says; unless you connect it to the output of a power amp it is impossible to damage the inputs

Vincent, Amsterdam
https://soundcloud.com/thesecretworld
BFpro fs, 2X HDSP9652 ADI-8AE, 2X HDSP9632

13 Reply by JBW

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Re: ADI-2 Pro FS R as Interface

Babaluma wrote:

Any good active DI, preferably with some gain, will be just what you need. I use the one built in to my mic pre for exactly your purpose.

You use it directly into an ADI-2 Pro analog input?

Thank you.

14 Reply by JBW

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Re: ADI-2 Pro FS R as Interface

vinark wrote:

Kais says; unless you connect it to the output of a power amp it is impossible to damage the inputs

Thank you.

15 Reply by Babaluma (edited by Babaluma 2023-02-23 17:21:50)

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Re: ADI-2 Pro FS R as Interface

JBW wrote:
Babaluma wrote:

Any good active DI, preferably with some gain, will be just what you need. I use the one built in to my mic pre for exactly your purpose.

You use it directly into an ADI-2 Pro analog input?

Thank you.

Not ADI-2 Pro but ADI-2/4 Pro SE, but I assume their analogue inputs will be pretty much equivalent.

The chain is:

Guitar (low output passive single coil pickups) - Elysia Skulptur (mic preamp with hi Z DI input and some gain, balanced output) - Pro 2/4 (balanced inputs) - PC running Neural DSP Tone King Imperial II amp modeller.

Works a treat and sounds great, very low latency at 96k. I've used various other passive and active DIs over the years, active seem to work best with passive pickups in my experience. The only things to be concerned about with DIs are:

1) How they are powered if active. Some only work with 48v phantom power coming from a mic pre they are connected to, so you'd also need a pre. If you have a spare pre or mixer channel with phantom, you'd be good to go. Some have built in power (like my old Avalon U5). Some can be phantom or battery powered (like the ones from Orchid Electronics).

2) Having enough gain. This will really depend on your setup, but for example just a straight passive guitar pickup to an active or passive DI (with no gain) to the Pro 2 input may not be ideal, level wise. Remember a DI converts a low level unbalanced pickup signal to a low level (mic) balanced signal, and the Pro 2's inputs will be expecting a much higher Line level signal. You might need to crank the Pro 2 or the software's input gain up high, boosting noise as well as signal etc.

Ideal situation for you, IMO, if you don't want a full preamp, but want the best sound, would be an internally powered active DI such as the Avalon U5 or similar, but it might not be much cheaper than buying a full pre. Alternatively some effects boxes can act as DIs and convert guitar to Line level, effectively acting as a DI/Gain combo, my Eventide H9 can do this, maybe you already have something around that could do it?

https://musicwall.app/hermetech

Babaluma's Website

16 Reply by JBW

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Re: ADI-2 Pro FS R as Interface

Babaluma wrote:
JBW wrote:
Babaluma wrote:

Any good active DI, preferably with some gain, will be just what you need. I use the one built in to my mic pre for exactly your purpose.

You use it directly into an ADI-2 Pro analog input?

Thank you.

Not ADI-2 Pro but ADI-2/4 Pro SE, but I assume their analogue inputs will be pretty much equivalent.

The chain is:

Guitar (low output passive single coil pickups) - Elysia Skulptur (mic preamp with hi Z DI input and some gain, balanced output) - Pro 2/4 (balanced inputs) - PC running Neural DSP Tone King Imperial II amp modeller.

Works a treat and sounds great, very low latency at 96k. I've used various other passive and active DIs over the years, active seem to work best with passive pickups in my experience. The only things to be concerned about with DIs are:

1) How they are powered if active. Some only work with 48v phantom power coming from a mic pre they are connected to, so you'd also need a pre. If you have a spare pre or mixer channel with phantom, you'd be good to go. Some have built in power (like my old Avalon U5). Some can be phantom or battery powered (like the ones from Orchid Electronics).

2) Having enough gain. This will really depend on your setup, but for example just a straight passive guitar pickup to an active or passive DI (with no gain) to the Pro 2 input may not be ideal, level wise. Remember a DI converts a low level unbalanced pickup signal to a low level (mic) balanced signal, and the Pro 2's inputs will be expecting a much higher Line level signal. You might need to crank the Pro 2 or the software's input gain up high, boosting noise as well as signal etc.

Ideal situation for you, IMO, if you don't want a full preamp, but want the best sound, would be an internally powered active DI such as the Avalon U5 or similar, but it might not be much cheaper than buying a full pre. Alternatively some effects boxes can act as DIs and convert guitar to Line level, effectively acting as a DI/Gain combo, my Eventide H9 can do this, maybe you already have something around that could do it?

Thanks so very much for your detailed feedback. It is appreciated.

17 Reply by JBW

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Re: ADI-2 Pro FS R as Interface

Babaluma wrote:

maybe you already have something around that could do it?

I do have some pedals that could serve as a preamp but for this effort I just want a desktop unit of some sort. I actually started to look into 500 series units a few days ago. There are a number of nice options for certain. That Elysia looks interesting. My only issue with these is that I would need to find a one slot vertical chassis for power, etc. I'm not sure there are any strong options for vertical one slots. I see plenty of 3 slots.

Thanks again for your help.

18 Reply by ramses (edited by ramses 2023-02-23 18:28:27)

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Re: ADI-2 Pro FS R as Interface

As an alternative solution.

I would get an RME recording interface and integrate the ADI-2 * into this recording solution.

https://www.tonstudio-forum.de/blog/Ent … our-Setup/

Get a recording interface like e.g., BBF Pro FS, UCX II, UFX II … as you need.

You can't get a better digital mixer than TotalMix FX.

I am always plugging my e-guitar into the Instr input of my UFX+.
From there I route audio to the two Marshall amp (stereo setup) and external effect loops.
By this, I build a parallel effect loop and loop in Lexicon PCM 81 and PCM 91 as I like for either recording, DAW work or both (PCM81 for guitar, PCM91 as external effect in Cubase).

UFX II / UFX+ (successor) have for the Instr inputs (according to manual) a wider gain range if this is of interest.
The others, UCX II and BBF Pro FS, should also do well.

BR Ramses - UFX III, 12Mic, XTC, ADI-2 Pro FS R BE, RayDAT, X10SRi-F, E5-1680v4, Win10Pro22H2, Cub14

19 Reply by KaiS (edited by KaiS 2023-02-23 18:35:10)

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Re: ADI-2 Pro FS R as Interface

JBW wrote:

I do have some pedals that could serve as a preamp ...

If you have fitting cables (jack-jack) handy, plug them in and start to play.
You will soon forget about other solutions once you caught fire smile

KaiS's Website

20 Reply by JBW

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Re: ADI-2 Pro FS R as Interface

ramses wrote:

As an alternative solution.

I would get an RME recording interface and integrate the ADI-2 * into this recording solution.

https://www.tonstudio-forum.de/blog/Ent … our-Setup/

Get a recording interface like e.g., BBF Pro FS, UCX II, UFX II … as you need.

You can't get a better digital mixer than TotalMix FX.

I am always plugging my e-guitar into the Instr input of my UFX+.
From there I route audio to the two Marshall amp (stereo setup) and external effect loops.
By this, I build a parallel effect loop and loop in Lexicon PCM 81 and PCM 91 as I like for either recording, DAW work or both (PCM81 for guitar, PCM91 as external effect in Cubase).

UFX II / UFX+ (successor) have for the Instr inputs (according to manual) a wider gain range if this is of interest.
The others, UCX II and BBF Pro FS, should also do well.

This is just overkill for me. With a separate interface I am paying for things I would never use; multiple mic pres, ADAT functionality, monitor/headphone control, etc.

My guess is that for the same money, or less, I can get a better sounding preamp/DI than the instrument input on a Babyface Pro FS, or similar unit. Maybe I'm wrong.

Thanks for the feedback.

21 Reply by JBW

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Re: ADI-2 Pro FS R as Interface

KaiS wrote:
JBW wrote:

I do have some pedals that could serve as a preamp ...

If you have fitting cables (jack-jack) handy, plug them in and start to play.
You will soon forget about other solutions once you caught fire smile

You might be right.

Thank you.

22 Reply by KaiS (edited by KaiS 2023-02-23 18:48:26)

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Re: ADI-2 Pro FS R as Interface

Lo-Fi is what electric guitar is all about.

The best sounding stuff for guitars has tons of own “life” built-in.
Pure, clean “Hifi” is uninspiring.

KaiS's Website

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Re: ADI-2 Pro FS R as Interface

JBW wrote:
Babaluma wrote:

maybe you already have something around that could do it?

I do have some pedals that could serve as a preamp but for this effort I just want a desktop unit of some sort. I actually started to look into 500 series units a few days ago. There are a number of nice options for certain. That Elysia looks interesting. My only issue with these is that I would need to find a one slot vertical chassis for power, etc. I'm not sure there are any strong options for vertical one slots. I see plenty of 3 slots.

Thanks again for your help.

No worries, I have the Elysia Skulptur Qube, it's 2 x Skulptur preamps in a lovely shielded metal case with PSU. I was looking for a small, portable, high quality, all in one solution and it works great, but it is two channel. You may want to do stereo stuff one day though... wink

The other thing I was looking at was the Camden EC2, they do a single channel EC1 box too (in 1/2 rack or 500 series), and I hear great things about them:

https://www.cranborne-audio.com/camdenec1

https://musicwall.app/hermetech

Babaluma's Website

24 Reply by JBW

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Re: ADI-2 Pro FS R as Interface

Babaluma wrote:

No worries, I have the Elysia Skulptur Qube, it's 2 x Skulptur preamps in a lovely shielded metal case with PSU. I was looking for a small, portable, high quality, all in one solution and it works great, but it is two channel. You may want to do stereo stuff one day though... wink

The other thing I was looking at was the Camden EC2, they do a single channel EC1 box too (in 1/2 rack or 500 series), and I hear great things about them:

https://www.cranborne-audio.com/camdenec1

I'll look into that.

Thank you.

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Re: ADI-2 Pro FS R as Interface

JBW wrote:

Hello,

I understand that the ADI-2 Pro FS R is not an audio interface. This said, I would like to use it as such for one specific purpose... getting an electric guitar signal into a DAW. I am looking for recommendations on the "best" way to accomplish this.

The backstory here is that I used to use my ADI-2 Pro FS R with a Fractal Axe-Fx III via AES into the FS R. That accomplished the goal, but the Axe-Fx was overkill for my overall needs. I now want to remain "in the box" and use DAW plugins for electric guitar. (FYI, I use fairly low output passive pickup electrics only.)

I don't need a mic-pre b/c I don't have any use for mics.

I have considered buying a Babyface Pro FS, but that seems like a waste. That would give me TotalMix, but I'm not so certain I need that. I'm not totally opposed to this solution, but unless there is a major advantage I am not considering here for my basic needs, it seems like overkill. (Any thoughts?)

Is a great DI with a Hi-Z input the solution?

Any/all feedback, recommendations or otherwise would be appreciated.

Thanks very much.


I know this is an old post but I want to chime in just in case you still need help. Many people often forget that you can use an analog mixer with the ADI- Pro or any AD/DA without Hi-Z inputs or preamps.  Just send that mixer's out to the ins of your ADI-2. I've been doing this way before I got into RME equipment and even when my old Mackie faithful died, I just bought an cheap used Allen and Heath Zed10 for 250 bucks. It works even better than my Mackie did. it has an interface on it that I don't use. I just use it for Guitars/Pedal chains and some vocal mic/pedal chains.