Making Music Mag/NAMM 2018 Product Spotlight: RME: Converters and Monitoring

Making Music Mag/NAMM 2018 Product Spotlight: RME: Converters and Monitoring.

Strictly limited to 500 units worldwide, the RME ADI-2 Pro AE celebrates 20 years of RME in the most beautiful way one could imagine. With the tech specs basically identical to the silver ADI-2 Pro, the AE comes decked out in an all-black housing, matching the style of audiophile-level HiFi setups. A transparent see-through top with inner illumination and stylized HiFi feet make it a must have not only for the celebrating RME enthusiast.

RME’s anniversary reference AD/DA converter is a host of devices all put together into one unit, with a simple and mostly automated way of using it right out of the box. A unit with the industry’s biggest footprint per feature ratio, excellent tech specs, crystal clear and transparent sound signature, and two extremely powerful headphone outputs. RME’s anniversary reference AD/DA converter is:

  • A high-end AD/DA converter in professional studio quality
  • A double headphone amplifier in true high-end quality
  • A USB DAC like no other – the most versatile and capable one
  • A high-end AD/DA frontend and headphone amp for iPad / iPhone
  • A multi-format converter (AES, SPDIF, ADAT) with monitoring function
  • A DSD record and playback solution
  • An AD/DA frontend for audio measurement at up to 768 kHz sample rate

As the most flexible converter available, the ADI-2 Pro offers balanced/unbalanced analog I/Os, double Extreme Power headphone outputs, SteadyClock III, 4-stage hardware input and output level control, DSP-based signal processing, external power supply operation, Class Compliant USB compatibility, sample rates up to 768 kHz as well as DSD record and Direct DSD playback (256 / 11.2 MHz).

Analog or Digital – Options Galore

The ADI-2 Pro includes two servo-balanced analog inputs on combo XLR / TRS jacks, two separate balanced and unbalanced outputs on XLR and TS, two stereo Extreme Power headphone outputs on the front, an optical SPDIF I/O that also understands ADAT, and coaxial SPDIF (RCA) and AES I/O (XLR) via an included breakout cable. This universal set of I/O options offers superior quality and flexible connectivity to those who take a no-compromise approach to audio.

The USB 2.0 port is fully Class Compliant (UAC 2) for connection with compatible iOS devices, and is also used for firmware updates. Including an external switched power supply with lockable connector, the ADI-2 Pro can be easily powered from battery, opening up mobile applications as well as galvanically isolated use cases.

As a computer interface the ADI-2 Pro offers a stereo (2 in / 2 out) and a multichannel mode (6 in / 8 out). Compatibility with Mac OS X comes right out of the box. Under Windows the ADI-2 Pro uses RME’s MADIface series driver, for full WDM and ASIO compatibility and highest performance.

The myMix system provides musicians and engineers with their own personalised monitor feeds, in a solution that is both simple to understand and operate.

Each myMix Personal Monitor Mixer features an intuitive user interface, has local inputs for microphone (XLR) or line level (1/4″ TRS) sources, includes onboard phantom power, and gives each individual complete control over his or her monitor mix.

All channels can be labeled with meaningful names (e.g. Peter Vocal, John Guitar etc), and are displayed automatically to all myMix users on the network.

Chuck Schiele is an award-winning musician, producer, editorialist, artist, activist and music fan. He still plays every day.

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