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Post by jeromemason on Feb 7, 2018 21:36:20 GMT -6
Warren at Zen Pro was telling me this is really underrated and for the price you can't get a better DAC. I'm in the market, but there are so many options out there, I want to get this right. www.zenproaudio.com/rme-adi-2-dacSays it'll go up into the 700's on sample rates. My BLA clock will do 384, since this has USB it'd be something to just listen to material at 384. I wouldn't be able to monitor at that as I'd be feeding it with my Motu16a Toslink, but I do like it has an EQ built in. Looks like a Hi-Fi deal, but from what I was told it's aimed at both markets, Pro and Hi-Fi. At $995 this seems like a pretty good deal. Only thing is that when you get into the dedicated DAC world it's good to have one that offers both precision but also offers the "beautiful" aspect they talk about so much with DAC's. I was going to hold out for like a Dangerous Convert or maybe even keep saving until I can get an Avocet, but, as with the Focal Shapes that proved to me that technology is starting to improve things dramatically and not pulling the price tag up with it just because. I'd love to know some alternatives as well, some that are in that price range that are under the radar types or new technology with good price tags. I've never used RME before, but I also was like that about Motu and man was I ever wrong about the 16a. RME kind of reminds me of Motu before they stepped up their game with the ESS chips and design. Thanks! Jerome
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Post by mrholmes on Feb 8, 2018 5:57:31 GMT -6
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ericn
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Post by ericn on Feb 8, 2018 7:47:17 GMT -6
RME doesn't get much love in the pop world, mainly because they don't win the feature comparison wars and in the states just don't advertise like the big names. RME is pretty much the standard in Europe for large digital infrastructure and Many classical guys. There is a prosound web article about my old high school classmate Tony Pitsley at Blueman Group Orlando and RME, they use it because they know it will work every night. The worst anybody says about RME is that the sound is boring, it's the opposite of Burl, probably perfect for what you want. If it's a simple DA you want plenty of stuff around that price range from, Mytek Lavry and Benchmark all are sexier names, not sure sonics wise if they are any better and you can always find the others used as they fall out of Audiophile flavor of the month.
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Post by keymod on Feb 8, 2018 8:15:11 GMT -6
The thing about RME is that it always works, the drivers are always updated and impeccable. I used to have three RME ADI-8 Pro interfaces that were very nice, feature packed and functional. I only sold those when I got my Radar 24, but I still use an RME Raydat in my PC to send ADAT digital to my Radar's converters. I just added the RME Word Clock module to the Raydat and now, instead of clocking via lightpipe, I am able to clock directly to the Radar's clock. It was plug & play, and just one more small improvement to my setup.
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Post by mrholmes on Feb 8, 2018 9:58:34 GMT -6
The thing about RME is that it always works, the drivers are always updated and impeccable. I used to have three RME ADI-8 Pro interfaces that were very nice, feature packed and functional. I only sold those when I got my Radar 24, but I still use an RME Raydat in my PC to send ADAT digital to my Radar's converters. I just added the RME Word Clock module to the Raydat and now, instead of clocking via lightpipe, I am able to clock directly to the Radar's clock. It was plug & play, and just one more small improvement to my setup. So true if there is a problem and you check for new drivers you can bet they are there...
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Post by jeromemason on Feb 8, 2018 11:20:19 GMT -6
Well, they are sold out pretty much everywhere, that's a good sign if it's Pro guys, I respect the Hi-Fi guys, but what they look for and what I look for are two not so similar things.
I like rock solid stuff, my Motu 16a has never once glitched or caused me any downtime and that's why I love it, along with it's sound. I'd say that this particular RME looks like it has some pretty sexy features. What's pretty cool is you can take that unit and use it for your listening room too, have presets for both your mix room and listening room, which I've wanted to build for myself for a long time. I was thinking about doing some tower speakers, something like the Solen kits offer with one of those tube power amps. With the EQ and presets I could use the RME DAC when I wanted to listen to an EP after it's released or whatever, I like that idea. I might just go on and put my order in and wait, unless it's available somewhere else right now for $995. I'd really rather wait until these come in open box or cert refurb but it doesn't look like RME has a lot of that going on, at least from what I can tell with other products on the bigger sites.
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ericn
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Post by ericn on Feb 8, 2018 14:16:41 GMT -6
Well, they are sold out pretty much everywhere, that's a good sign if it's Pro guys, I respect the Hi-Fi guys, but what they look for and what I look for are two not so similar things. I like rock solid stuff, my Motu 16a has never once glitched or caused me any downtime and that's why I love it, along with it's sound. I'd say that this particular RME looks like it has some pretty sexy features. What's pretty cool is you can take that unit and use it for your listening room too, have presets for both your mix room and listening room, which I've wanted to build for myself for a long time. I was thinking about doing some tower speakers, something like the Solen kits offer with one of those tube power amps. With the EQ and presets I could use the RME DAC when I wanted to listen to an EP after it's released or whatever, I like that idea. I might just go on and put my order in and wait, unless it's available somewhere else right now for $995. I'd really rather wait until these come in open box or cert refurb but it doesn't look like RME has a lot of that going on, at least from what I can tell with other products on the bigger sites. You don't see much b-stock because they hardly ever break or get returned, for good reason! Just breakdown and order one !
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Post by jeromemason on Feb 8, 2018 16:45:13 GMT -6
Well, they are sold out pretty much everywhere, that's a good sign if it's Pro guys, I respect the Hi-Fi guys, but what they look for and what I look for are two not so similar things. I like rock solid stuff, my Motu 16a has never once glitched or caused me any downtime and that's why I love it, along with it's sound. I'd say that this particular RME looks like it has some pretty sexy features. What's pretty cool is you can take that unit and use it for your listening room too, have presets for both your mix room and listening room, which I've wanted to build for myself for a long time. I was thinking about doing some tower speakers, something like the Solen kits offer with one of those tube power amps. With the EQ and presets I could use the RME DAC when I wanted to listen to an EP after it's released or whatever, I like that idea. I might just go on and put my order in and wait, unless it's available somewhere else right now for $995. I'd really rather wait until these come in open box or cert refurb but it doesn't look like RME has a lot of that going on, at least from what I can tell with other products on the bigger sites. You don't see much b-stock because they hardly ever break or get returned, for good reason! Just breakdown and order one ! Yep no problem, I can take a credit card payment very easily that I'd be glad to forward on so that I can order that sucker, and I would be greatly appreciative I got the plans, but some label money needs to come in, the beginning of the year always stinks because it takes a little longer. Not complaining at all, but I don't release any of what I got put up until I get the little blue beautiful alert from PayPal "You've Been Paid!" Love that damn message.
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Post by stratboy on Feb 9, 2018 10:35:09 GMT -6
I had a first generation ADI-2. It was my first really good DAC. It made a huge difference in what I was able to hear. I have a Svartbox and 16a now. No direct experience with the 2nd gen ADI, but tremendous respect for RME and for Warren. He has never steered me wrong. Everything said about RME in this thread corresponds with my experience. Order up!
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Post by Guitar on Feb 9, 2018 17:41:49 GMT -6
Hey Jerome, be sure to post an update if you get it, I'm really interested in this topic.
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Post by jeromemason on Feb 11, 2018 0:46:59 GMT -6
I'm for sure going to, I'm trying to decide if I want to grab this one or grab the ADI-2 Pro. I have a Lavry Black AD-10 that I use to print my buss, but if the RME is more detailed and has a better sound I would totally sell my Lavry and have it all in one unit. I might give the Pro a try and if I like both the DAC and A/D I'll buy it and sell the Lavry. That Lavry is so damn good though, going to be hard to beat that A/D.
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ericn
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Post by ericn on Feb 11, 2018 17:23:44 GMT -6
I'm for sure going to, I'm trying to decide if I want to grab this one or grab the ADI-2 Pro. I have a Lavry Black AD-10 that I use to print my buss, but if the RME is more detailed and has a better sound I would totally sell my Lavry and have it all in one unit. I might give the Pro a try and if I like both the DAC and A/D I'll buy it and sell the Lavry. That Lavry is so damn good though, going to be hard to beat that A/D. Yeak I’m not sure it will beat the Lavry just different and that’s always the hard choice, do I fall for the new girl because she’s new or stick with the old girl because I know her?
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Post by Guitar on Feb 11, 2018 17:53:52 GMT -6
Once you reach the "top shelf" of conversion, I'm not sure how important it is which bottle you choose. Beyond pure personal preference of course.
At least, I feel like I've reached that point in my own rig. I'm not to worried about what else is out there since what I have sounds as good as it does.
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Post by guitfiddler on Feb 11, 2018 19:42:33 GMT -6
Lavry is a very nice box, I used to use one. IMO - It does sound better than a dbox. I’m curious about the Lavry ad/da 11 boxes. The rme adi-2 pro looks very nice as well, but never heard one.
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Post by iamasound on Feb 12, 2018 8:00:03 GMT -6
Plus 1 for RME, my little unit has worked flawlessly for six years without so much as a hiccup.
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Post by drsax on Feb 14, 2018 22:53:20 GMT -6
I used Lavry Blue for many many years and liked it a lot. I’m not sure of the differences between the Lavry Blue and Black. The more recent modern Converters I use now are superior to the Lavry Blue to my ears - Lynx Hilo, Burl, and Svart’s box all sound better IMO. Especially the DA. I’ve heard that the new RME ADI2 Pro is on par or better than the Hilo. If that’s the case, I’d take it over the Lavry. As much as I liked the Lavry, the DA left me wanting more. I replaced the DA with The Svartbox and monitored the mixes on my last album with it... it was a definite upgrade. With that said, I did like the soft clipping on the Lavry AD. Don’t really miss it, but I did tend to enjoy the sound of pushing the Lavry AD hard when mixing and mastering.
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Post by jeromemason on Feb 15, 2018 0:23:13 GMT -6
Lavry is a very nice box, I used to use one. IMO - It does sound better than a dbox. I’m curious about the Lavry ad/da 11 boxes. The rme adi-2 pro looks very nice as well, but never heard one. My Lavry Black AD-10 is for sale if you're really curious All funds from the sale go to my quest in obtaining the Dangerous Convert A/D + In my Dangerous thread I go in pretty lengthy depth on how great the Lavry Black sounds when it's clipped and also just the overall sound in general. The whole reason I'm changing is because of how the Dangerous can hide the over's, use parallel transformer and having two inputs which I really do need for bypassing my mixbuss but not having to do a bunch of unplugging. Ive got a good deal on her and just think, you're contributing to a worthy necessary cause
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Post by guitfiddler on Feb 15, 2018 6:11:27 GMT -6
Lavry is a very nice box, I used to use one. IMO - It does sound better than a dbox. I’m curious about the Lavry ad/da 11 boxes. The rme adi-2 pro looks very nice as well, but never heard one. My Lavry Black AD-10 is for sale if you're really curious All funds from the sale go to my quest in obtaining the Dangerous Convert A/D + In my Dangerous thread I go in pretty lengthy depth on how great the Lavry Black sounds when it's clipped and also just the overall sound in general. The whole reason I'm changing is because of how the Dangerous can hide the over's, use parallel transformer and having two inputs which I really do need for bypassing my mixbuss but not having to do a bunch of unplugging. Ive got a good deal on her and just think, you're contributing to a worthy necessary cause Lol...I’m going Burl and Dangerous Convert 2. Lavry although a great box, I had the d/a 10 I used for just monitoring from the daw to my speakers, but it is older technology and I’m ready to upgrade to current technology. Still have a fond place in my heart for the Lavry though.
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Post by jeromemason on Feb 15, 2018 15:57:49 GMT -6
I think D/A's are kind of different than A/D's when it comes to technology. On D/A's you almost want it to be as "straight wire" as it can be, so nothing alters what you're hearing. On D/A's if the analog circuitry along with the conversion has a pleasing sound, to me that's more important than the newest technology. I really ought to just save my money, keep my Lavry and buy the Dangerous because it could be that after a while I miss it's sound. I'm going to have to think pretty hard about that and I may end up pulling the lavry down. I've got a few EP's and an LP on the very near horizon to mix that will pay my bills for the quater and probably leave enough to pick up the Dangerous and the RME.
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Post by jcoutu1 on Feb 15, 2018 17:00:02 GMT -6
I think D/A's are kind of different than A/D's when it comes to technology. On D/A's you almost want it to be as "straight wire" as it can be, so nothing alters what you're hearing. On D/A's if the analog circuitry along with the conversion has a pleasing sound, to me that's more important than the newest technology. I really ought to just save my money, keep my Lavry and buy the Dangerous because it could be that after a while I miss it's sound. I'm going to have to think pretty hard about that and I may end up pulling the lavry down. I've got a few EP's and an LP on the very near horizon to mix that will pay my bills for the quater and probably leave enough to pick up the Dangerous and the RME. Looking forward to checking them out when they're done.
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Post by jeromemason on Mar 30, 2018 1:58:19 GMT -6
I think D/A's are kind of different than A/D's when it comes to technology. On D/A's you almost want it to be as "straight wire" as it can be, so nothing alters what you're hearing. On D/A's if the analog circuitry along with the conversion has a pleasing sound, to me that's more important than the newest technology. I really ought to just save my money, keep my Lavry and buy the Dangerous because it could be that after a while I miss it's sound. I'm going to have to think pretty hard about that and I may end up pulling the lavry down. I've got a few EP's and an LP on the very near horizon to mix that will pay my bills for the quater and probably leave enough to pick up the Dangerous and the RME. Looking forward to checking them out when they're done. I remembered this Jesse but couldn’t comment on it at the time but it dropped today, so here you go, this is one of the LP’s I was speaking of. This was an LP I mixed with the Focal Shapes, my custom buss comp I speak of sometimes, the DIYRE pultecs and also the Lavry Black AD-10 clipped. There will be more and I’ll share them as well but I have to wait until the labels drop the records I like these guys too, really meticulous about their sound and just killer song writers. If you can’t access iTunes Music just search “Shotgun Rider” with whatever service you use. itunes.apple.com/us/album/palo-duro/1337899665Jerome
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ericn
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Post by ericn on Mar 30, 2018 14:58:58 GMT -6
Looking forward to checking them out when they're done. I remembered this Jesse but couldn’t comment on it at the time but it dropped today, so here you go, this is one of the LP’s I was speaking of. This was an LP I mixed with the Focal Shapes, my custom buss comp I speak of sometimes, the DIYRE pultecs and also the Lavry Black AD-10 clipped. There will be more and I’ll share them as well but I have to wait until the labels drop the records I like these guys too, really meticulous about their sound and just killer song writers. If you can’t access iTunes Music just search “Shotgun Rider” with whatever service you use. itunes.apple.com/us/album/palo-duro/1337899665Jerome Just added to the playlist for the 9hour ride home from WI tomorrow, so it’s Pali Alto a $125 bucks worth of beer and a cooler full of Brats!
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Post by jeromemason on Mar 30, 2018 15:49:17 GMT -6
I remembered this Jesse but couldn’t comment on it at the time but it dropped today, so here you go, this is one of the LP’s I was speaking of. This was an LP I mixed with the Focal Shapes, my custom buss comp I speak of sometimes, the DIYRE pultecs and also the Lavry Black AD-10 clipped. There will be more and I’ll share them as well but I have to wait until the labels drop the records I like these guys too, really meticulous about their sound and just killer song writers. If you can’t access iTunes Music just search “Shotgun Rider” with whatever service you use. itunes.apple.com/us/album/palo-duro/1337899665Jerome Just added to the playlist for the 9hour ride home from WI tomorrow, so it’s Pali Alto a $125 bucks worth of beer and a cooler full of Brats! Cool! Yeah they’re great, fun record to mix. It’s got a really good mix of the Texas swing and some of the more pop country. It’s a good one to listen all the way through for sure!
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Post by Johnkenn on Mar 30, 2018 19:09:19 GMT -6
Warren at Zen Pro was telling me this is really underrated and for the price you can't get a better DAC. I'm in the market, but there are so many options out there, I want to get this right. www.zenproaudio.com/rme-adi-2-dacSays it'll go up into the 700's on sample rates. My BLA clock will do 384, since this has USB it'd be something to just listen to material at 384. I wouldn't be able to monitor at that as I'd be feeding it with my Motu16a Toslink, but I do like it has an EQ built in. Looks like a Hi-Fi deal, but from what I was told it's aimed at both markets, Pro and Hi-Fi. At $995 this seems like a pretty good deal. Only thing is that when you get into the dedicated DAC world it's good to have one that offers both precision but also offers the "beautiful" aspect they talk about so much with DAC's. I was going to hold out for like a Dangerous Convert or maybe even keep saving until I can get an Avocet, but, as with the Focal Shapes that proved to me that technology is starting to improve things dramatically and not pulling the price tag up with it just because. I'd love to know some alternatives as well, some that are in that price range that are under the radar types or new technology with good price tags. I've never used RME before, but I also was like that about Motu and man was I ever wrong about the 16a. RME kind of reminds me of Motu before they stepped up their game with the ESS chips and design. Thanks! Jerome Here’s the really important question. Why aren’t you buying from realgearshop.com? Daddy gives deals.
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