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HiFi+ Magazine reviews the RME ADI-2 DAC Headphone Amplifier and USB-DAC

11th January 2019 11:27 am

HiFi+ Magazine tests out the RME ADI-2 DAC

Read the full review here.

A firm favourite here at the Synthax Audio UK offices, the RME ADI-2 DAC has received a string of positive reviews from the likes of Sound On Sound, Resolution Magazine, as well as Headfonics who said “I can’t think of any other desktop DAC/amp combo that would be easier to recommend in 2018.”

Combining a powerful headphone amplifier with the most accurate audio conversion RME have produced to date, the ADI-2 DAC punches well above its weight, and is regularly mentioned in the same breath as converters that cost twice as much and higher.

HiFi+ Magazine is the latest publication to take the ADI-2 DAC for a spin, with reviewer Alan Sircom impressed by the flexible feature set, and of the course the superb sound quality.

 

“one can’t help but be deeply swayed by that degree
of interaction with the RME’s control architecture”

 

Alan writes, “one can’t help but be deeply swayed by that degree of interaction with the RME’s control architecture”, and that “You can really ‘hear into a mix’, easily differentiating electronic reverb tails from natural acoustic reverberant spaces. The RME is also great at delineating instruments and voices in a complex mix…”

He was also particularly taken with the ADI-2 DAC’s Crossfeed features, designed to emulate the experience of listening to speakers by adding small amounts of the left channel into the right, and vice versa. “This gives headphones a more out-of-head presentation and makes digital seem a little more like a turntable, in all the right ways” Alan writes. “The sound takes on a depth to the image and an organic sense of physical presence that those of us firmly dunked in analogue replay will love.”

 

“You can really ‘hear into a mix’…”

RME ADI-2 DAC With Remote Control - Black - Synthax Audio UK 

In his conclusion, Alan points out that the level of detail offered by the ADI-2 DAC can show the true colours of less than stellar recordings, writing “if you want your DAC to give less than great recordings a soft-landing, look elsewhere; that resolution is always present, always a can opener into the studio… good and bad.” As Alan rightly notes, this is an indication of the ADI-2 DAC’s studio roots, and if you plan to use it for recording and music production, this level of honesty is of course exactly what you want from your converter.

Read HiFi+ Magazine’s full RME ADI-2 DAC review here.

For more audio news, reviews and Buyer’s Guides, visit www.hifiplus.com.

Find out more about the RME ADI-2 DAC.

Read more RME ADI-2 DAC reviews here.

 

 


RME-Logo - Synthax Audio UKIf you’d like to know more about any of RME’s pro audio products, give us a call on 01727 821 870 to speak to one of our team or to arrange a demo.
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