• Registered: 2023-09-08
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Topic: ADI 2 PRO FS wiring vu meter.

Hello everyone,

I'm new to this forum. I'm sure you could help me on this specific question.

I'm planning on buying the ADI 2 PRO FS and I want to connect one of its outputs to some Vu meters I'll build in a near future.

The things is, the vu meters I want to build will certainly have 1 stereo inputs and one stereo outputs. It could be RCA, jack or XLR depending on the board I will buy. My speakers are Genelec 8361A and I will wire them to the XLR outputs of the ADI 2 PRO.
As I want to avoid placing the vu meter between the speakers and the RME, how can I possibly wire them ? (assuming that there is a real loss in quality when placing the vu meter in between - maybe you can correct me on that ?).

Thanks for your future answers and I'm very proud to be a future RME owner haha.

Have a nice day
Regards
Théo

2 Reply by waedi (edited by waedi 2023-09-08 16:49:47)

  • waedi
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Re: ADI 2 PRO FS wiring vu meter.

The Genelecs have XLR outputs, why not use those ?
The sound quality then will not be influenced and the VU-meter will still receive a good signal.

M1-Sonoma, Madiface Pro, Digiface USB, Babyface silver and blue
  • Registered: 2023-09-08
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Re: ADI 2 PRO FS wiring vu meter.

waedi wrote:

The Genelecs have XLR outputs, why not use those ?
The sound quality then will not be influenced and the VU-meter will still receive a good signal.

I thought it was XLR outputs for the subs ? It will work doing that ?

  • waedi
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Re: ADI 2 PRO FS wiring vu meter.

yes it will work, it is the same signal as from the ADI-2.
The Sub is filtering the frequencies for his demand.

M1-Sonoma, Madiface Pro, Digiface USB, Babyface silver and blue
  • Registered: 2023-09-08
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Re: ADI 2 PRO FS wiring vu meter.

waedi wrote:

yes it will work, it is the same signal as from the ADI-2.
The Sub is filtering the frequencies for his demand.

Alright thanks for these information ! Have a nice day
Regards

6 Reply by KaiS (edited by KaiS 2023-09-08 17:42:53)

  • KaiS
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Re: ADI 2 PRO FS wiring vu meter.

The Genelec‘s XLR outputs are AES Digital feed-through, not even sure if they are decoupled.

The speaker signal chain isn‘t the best place for metering anyway.


I‘d buy a cheapo $10-$20 DA-converter with adjustable headphones output as meter driver and connect it to ADI-2 Pro’s SPDIF digital out.
This way a simple Germaniun diode or bridge rectifier is all that‘s needed to connect the VU.
Selecting pre FX for ADI-2’s  SPDIF out gives a volume-setting independent signal.


If you go for a standard characteristics VU-meter, there‘s no way around something like this, the audio (el-cheapo DA) can be connected directly to those:
https://www.canford.co.uk/Products/58-3 … ETER-R32AF
https://www.canford.co.uk/Images/ItemImages/large/58-376_01.jpg

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Re: ADI 2 PRO FS wiring vu meter.

Why not use the 1/4" unbalanced outs (I believe they are independently buffered), or the HP outs if you want a separate level control for the VU's?

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  • KaiS
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Re: ADI 2 PRO FS wiring vu meter.

Randyman... wrote:

Why not use the 1/4" unbalanced outs (I believe they are independently buffered), or the HP outs if you want a separate level control for the VU's?

Works, but the TRSs share the signal path with the XLRs.
Would only make sense if ADI-2‘s DSP and volume control would not be used.

As suggested, an independent DAC with volume control and headphones output is much more flexible.
Doesn‘t need much quality, just 192 kHz sample rate capability, in case.

€13,99 this one e.g.:
https://www.amazon.de/Wandler-TEAMPD-Ko … 5&th=1

https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71wzs9LisKL._SX522_.jpg

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  • ex192
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Re: ADI 2 PRO FS wiring vu meter.

Hi everyone.

I added a VU meter via DA-converter with adjustable volume to the toslink-out of my ADI-2 PRO FS as described in this thread.
Having a RPi4 as Roon-endpoint connected and a Phono Preamp to Analog Input i operate the Pro in DAC-Mode and switch to Source Analog when listening to Vinyl.
Dig Source Output is set to Main Ouputs.

Strange to me is, that the VU Meter is volume independent when listening to the RPi4/USB as source. But when listening to Vinyl/Analog In the VU Meter is volume dependent so that it hardly moves when listening to low/normal level.

Can anyone explain why?  I had a look at the the diagram for DAC Mode in the manual, aside the ADC of the analog signal, the routing should be the same.

Cheers
Jochen

10 Reply by KaiS (edited by KaiS 2024-01-13 00:00:28)

  • KaiS
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Re: ADI 2 PRO FS wiring vu meter.

If PH 3/4 is not needed, it could serve as independent driver for the VU meters.

Usually people have the “Pro” for it’s extra outputs, then this is not true, so:


The option “Digital Out Source” always means: SPDIF/AES signal from post volume control, and shouldn’t be used for your case.

As VU-meter source the SPDIF signal needs to be pre volume / DSP.

As much as I like and prefer DAC-Mode (manual page 43), on purpose it does not offer the necessary routing flexibility.

Use AD-DA Mode (page 43) ONLY(!) for the analog (vinyl) signal path.


Store and recall the different configurations into a “Setup” each for convenient switching.

Have a look here how to switch multiple Setups with one single button:
https://forum.rme-audio.de/viewtopic.ph … 94#p193294



Additionally:
Digital masters usually are ca. 10 VU-dB louder (and 10 dB less dynamic!) than analog vinyl, and you need to leave a little analog headroom too.
So don’t expect the VU to show the same level, unless you reduce RPi4’s output level.

You can set Analog Input Trim to +6 dB for a little better level matching.
Due to ADI-2 Pro’s internal headroom of 24 dB there will be no overload / distortions, even if the digital level is (up to 6 dB) above full scale then.

Only for recording the vinyl, this setting should be used with care.

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  • ex192
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Re: ADI 2 PRO FS wiring vu meter.

Thanks KaiS. Very helpful!!!