A DAC that ought to be better known: RME

@paulcreed

maybe my use of the word ’zippy’ is getting us hung up a bit... i found the voicing of the rme to be somewhat treble forward and i would not call the midrange or bass warm... neutral and fast i would say, but not bloomy or warm in the least to my ears (there are significantly warmer-voiced dacs - metrums, ayre codex, mhdt’s in stock form, esp. with the we 2c51 tube come to mind)

i currently have a number of mhdt units (orchid, stockholm, istanbul), the stockholm i have is modded with pcm56k chip, vishays diodes and mundorf silver oil caps, other two are stock... i do find the modded stockholm to have the most highlighted treble and the best drive of the 3 mhdts, so i am not surprised your modded mhdt plays slightly brighter than the stock units - of course, the mhdt units’ sound can be further shaped with choice of tube, options are plentiful and the range of ’adjustment’ is fairly substantial

to me, i don’t fault the tonality of the rme... voicing is a matter of taste, and many systems and listeners like more ’effortless’ detail that a forward treble voicing affords -- my personal feeling is that the weakness of the rme is its relatively flat and narrow imaging... tonally i find chord dacs similarly detail oriented but their imaging is vastly superior, wider deeper bigger stage, simply more holographic, leaving aside tonal balance - the mhdt’s really excel at imaging and dimensionality...

this being said, i had the rme for about 6 months (before selling it to a good friend who is a headphone listener, for which i think the unit is really ideal), and i did not use an upgraded ps with it, so maybe i have not heard it at its best -- then again, i was using the chord qutest at the time with its own factory supplied switching ps as well...

Teddy Pardo
12V/2A with 2.1mm connector. The connector is not a locking type as with the stock switch PS, but it is a snug fit so no concern it will pull out over any other plug.

Just added a Synergistic Research Orange fuse and too soon to tell. Want to give it some time to cook in but first impression is very positive. I have Blacks in my preamp and CDP and know there, they made an improvement. Quick opinion is in the Teddy, things seem more natural and the top end is still very clean but maybe a tad smoother. Sounds damn good, so excited to let it settle in.

I also have both my RME and Teddy on two separate 1 1/2”thick Baltic Birch platforms I built sitting on three isolation pads.

I’m still running the RME direct to amp. Sounds incredible. I also leave mine on 24/7. Not in any hurry to throw my ModWright preamp back in until I spin vinyl.

The biggest thing I feel the Teddy does, is improves the stage on the RME in depth especially. The top end cleans up but it does set it back and not at all forward. Additionally the bottom end really digs deeper and mid bass, midrange is fuller. I didn’t find the stock RME bright or fatiguing but now comparing back to stock I will never go back. The transformation is significant with the Teddy. I’m probably using cables that are a little overkill, but maybe not as they pull out what the RME/Teddy combo is capable of. 

For the record RME doesn't recommend upgrading the PS. There are many ways to adjust the sound of the RME if you study the manual very carefully. In that respect it is a very professional device. On the Exogal and various other more commercial DAC products aimed at the audiophile market I had no way to adjust anything. The RME PS is notorious for having a finicky locking mechanism but once you secure it all is fine. One of the arguments for upgrading, if that is indeed the right word, is that the fancy PSs are more robust. In the end I think upgrading a PS is like exotic cables--something that can be endlessly debated. 

rtotchia, I suggest you try a different PS as you really have no claim to disqualify mine or others that have thrown out the stock switched supplies that come with the RME, Chord and others. You can call us nuts and it will be your loss, not mine. RME does state they do not believe changing the PS will make a difference, and Nelson Pass of Pass Labs for years suggested in his nicely written manuals that changing power cords will not benefit the sound of his amps, but guess what? He’s now acknowledging they do. I own a Pass amp and I didn’t need Mr. Pass to tell me either or. I suspect Pass Labs and maybe RME are saying, or said what they did to claim their gear is so good there’s nothing to improve it... great marketing I think.

I run my RME flat, all settings locked with the sharp filter set and it doesn’t need any tweaking of the EQ, loudness or whatever you want to adjust in my system and I am running it direct to my amp. I think it’s great they offer all the flexibility on the ADI, but I prefer to take the more pure approach and change out the power supply which is what distinguishes quality gear over not so good is the power supply. Hopefully you get the chance or the urge to try a linear supply as I think you’ll be surprised, but it does require a revealing system and ears to hear the differences which hopefully you have both.

The stock RME does sound really good on its own but it does lack some weight and the stage is a little closed in. As mentioned by others, it can be a little forward sounding. I’m not sure any setting within the RME is going to adjust that but maybe you’ll get lucky. If you love the way it sounds out of the box, then that’s all that really matters in the end. Glad you are enjoying your RME.

@rtorchia

One of the arguments for upgrading, if that is indeed the right word, is that the fancy PSs are more robust. In the end I think upgrading a PS is like exotic cables--something that can be endlessly debated.

i disagree with this statement... power supply upgrades, especially from modern relatively cheap switching power supplies, can be very important to sound quality to both analog and digital gear... switching ps’s are well known to introduce noise into circuits they feed - makers of gear can do internal filtering and isolation and that minimize the damage done, but moving to a well built well filter linear power supply will usually have a positive effect, big or small

and for the record, rob watts @ chord vehemently states that their dacs will not benefit from after market lps units... but i have had 3 chords and they all sound better with one

naim rega modwright lehmann holo well tempered labs are just a few highly respected audio makers of various components from turntables to amps to dacs that offer upgrades for better sound quality through better power supplies