RME ADI-2/4 Pro SE: power output and what it will drive

The RME ADI-2/4 Pro SE is a desktop DAC/amp at $2499. It delivers 1.9 W into 32Ω and 203 mW into 300Ω, which ranks it 51 of 280 for raw power among the sources in this database.

Measured at 100 dB SPL it has comfortable headroom on 564 of the 567 dynamic and planar headphones catalogued here, enough but not generous on 2 and only marginal on 1. Power is published at 32Ω; the rest of the table is derived from those figures. Output noise is not published, so the hiss estimate cannot be run.

Specifications

What it actually puts out

TypeDesktop DAC/amp

Price$2499

Power into 32 Ω1.9 W

Power into 150 Ω405 mW

Power into 300 Ω203 mW

Power into 600 Ω101 mW

Output impedance0.1 Ω

Output noise1.09 µV

Comfortable headroom on 564 of 567 headphones (99%) · marginal on 1

Provenance

Where these numbers come from

The manufacturer publishes 1.9 W into 32Ω. The rest of the table is worked out from those.

The balanced output is rated separately: 10.6 W into 32Ω through the 4.4mm Pentaconn jack.

Derived rows hold output voltage steady, as an amplifier does (method).

The noise figure above is converted, not read. RME does not print microvolts for this one. It prints a signal-to-noise ratio together with the voltage that ratio is referenced to, in the same block of the same table: “Signal to Noise ratio (SNR) @ +1 dBu (IEM): 118 dB (AES17), 120 dBA”. From those two numbers the noise follows by one division — 0.8696 V ÷ 10^(118/20) — which is where the 1.09 µV comes from, at the IEM setting, podaje OBA: AES17 i A-weighted. This is the same situation as a sensitivity printed per volt instead of per milliwatt: published, but in a convention nobody converts.

Source: rme-audio.de.

Load	Power	Status	How it was arrived at
32 Ω	1.9 W	Published	the manufacturer publishes this figure at this exact load
150 Ω	405 mW	Derived	beyond the published loads, holding output voltage constant — which understates rather than flatters
300 Ω	203 mW	Derived	beyond the published loads, holding output voltage constant — which understates rather than flatters
600 Ω	101 mW	Derived	beyond the published loads, holding output voltage constant — which understates rather than flatters

Matching

Against 40 well-known headphones

Easiest to hardest to drive, with headroom at a 100 dB SPL peak.

Headphone	Impedance	Sensitivity	Needs	Headroom	Verdict
Shure SE846	9 Ω	114.0 dB/mW	0.04 mW	+41 dB	Comfortable audible hiss
64 Audio U12t	12.6 Ω	108.0 dB/mW	0.16 mW	+37 dB	Comfortable faint hiss
Shure SE215	17 Ω	107.0 dB/mW	0.20 mW	+37 dB	Comfortable faint hiss
Moondrop Aria	32 Ω	107.1 dB/mW	0.19 mW	+40 dB	Comfortable faint hiss
Audeze LCD-X 2021	20 Ω	103.0 dB/mW	0.50 mW	+34 dB	Comfortable faint hiss
Truthear Hexa	20.5 Ω	103.1 dB/mW	0.49 mW	+34 dB	Comfortable faint hiss
Sennheiser IE 200	18 Ω	101.6 dB/mW	0.69 mW	+32 dB	Comfortable
Sony MDR-7506	63 Ω	106.0 dB/mW	0.25 mW	+36 dB	Comfortable
Meze 99 Classics	32 Ω	103.0 dB/mW	0.50 mW	+36 dB	Comfortable
Focal Clear MG	55 Ω	104.0 dB/mW	0.40 mW	+34 dB	Comfortable
Philips SHP9500	32 Ω	101.0 dB	0.79 mW	+34 dB	Comfortable
Focal Utopia	80 Ω	104.0 dB/mW	0.40 mW	+33 dB	Comfortable
Meze Empyrean	32 Ω	100.0 dB	1.0 mW	+33 dB	Comfortable
Campfire Audio Andromeda 2020	9 Ω	94.0 dB	4.0 mW	+21 dB	Comfortable
Etymotic ER2SE	15 Ω	96.0 dB/mW	2.5 mW	+25 dB	Comfortable
AKG K371	32 Ω	99.1 dB/mW	1.2 mW	+32 dB	Comfortable
Audio-Technica ATH-M50X	38 Ω	99.0 dB/mW	1.3 mW	+31 dB	Comfortable
Beyerdynamic DT 900 Pro X	48 Ω	100.0 dB/mW	1.0 mW	+31 dB	Comfortable
Audeze LCD-2 Classic	70 Ω	101.0 dB/mW	0.79 mW	+30 dB	Comfortable
Grado SR80x	38 Ω	98.0 dB/mW	1.6 mW	+30 dB	Comfortable
Sennheiser HD 560S	120 Ω	100.8 dB/mW	0.83 mW	+28 dB	Comfortable
HiFiMAN Edition XS	18 Ω	92.0 dB	6.3 mW	+22 dB	Comfortable
HiFiMAN Arya Stealth	32 Ω	94.0 dB	4.0 mW	+27 dB	Comfortable
Dan Clark Audio AEON 2 Closed	13 Ω	90.0 dB/mW	10 mW	+19 dB	Comfortable
Audeze LCD-5	14 Ω	90.0 dB/mW	10 mW	+19 dB	Comfortable
Beyerdynamic DT 1990 Pro (250Ω)	250 Ω	102.0 dB/mW	0.63 mW	+26 dB	Comfortable
HiFiMAN HE400se	25 Ω	91.0 dB	7.9 mW	+23 dB	Comfortable
HiFiMAN Sundara	32 Ω	92.0 dB	6.3 mW	+25 dB	Comfortable
Dan Clark Audio Stealth	23 Ω	90.0 dB/mW	10 mW	+21 dB	Comfortable
Fostex T50RP MK3	50 Ω	92.0 dB/mW	6.3 mW	+23 dB	Comfortable
AKG K702	62 Ω	92.9 dB/mW	5.1 mW	+23 dB	Comfortable
ZMF Verite Closed	300 Ω	99.0 dB/mW	1.3 mW	+22 dB	Comfortable
Sennheiser HD 650	300 Ω	97.8 dB/mW	1.7 mW	+21 dB	Comfortable
Sennheiser HD 800S	300 Ω	96.8 dB/mW	2.1 mW	+20 dB	Comfortable
Beyerdynamic DT 770 Pro (250Ω)	250 Ω	96.0 dB	2.5 mW	+20 dB	Comfortable
Audio-Technica ATH-R70X	470 Ω	98.0 dB/mW	1.6 mW	+19 dB	Comfortable
ZMF Atrium	300 Ω	96.0 dB/mW	2.5 mW	+19 dB	Comfortable
Abyss AB-1266 Phi TC	50 Ω	88.0 dB/mW	16 mW	+19 dB	Comfortable
Sennheiser HD 600	300 Ω	91.8 dB/mW	6.6 mW	+15 dB	Comfortable
HiFiMAN Susvara	60 Ω	83.0 dB	50 mW	+13 dB	Comfortable

Noise

Will it hiss?

At 1.09 µV of output noise, here is where that noise lands in the five most revealing in-ears in the database.

This one hisses. With the most sensitive in-ears in the database its own noise lands around 22 dB SPL, which you will hear between tracks and in quiet passages.

In-ear	Impedance	Sensitivity	Hiss level
Simgot EA500	16 Ω	141.0 dB/V	22 dB SPL
Tanchjim EA FORCE	17 Ω	137.7 dB/V	18 dB SPL
Shure SE846	9 Ω	134.5 dB/V	15 dB SPL
Campfire Audio Clara	13.3 Ω	134.1 dB/V	15 dB SPL
64 Audio Fourte	10 Ω	134.0 dB/V	15 dB SPL

Damping

Output impedance and the one-eighth rule

At 0.1Ω output impedance this source satisfies the one-eighth rule with every headphone in the database, down to the 3Ω in-ears. Nothing here will have its frequency response shaped by the source.

Check any pair.

Cheaper

The cheapest thing here that does the same job

Source	Type	Price	Into 300 Ω	Output impedance	Output noise
Topping L30 II	desktop amplifier	$149	560 mW	0.1 Ω	0.3 µV
SMSL HO100	desktop amplifier	$160	200 mW	<0.1 Ω	1.3 µV
Topping A30 Pro	desktop amplifier	$249	840 mW	0.1 Ω	0.3 µV

Of the 280 sources here, 6 do everything the RME ADI-2/4 Pro SE does as a headphone output: reach 100 dB on every headphone it reaches, stay inside the one-eighth rule wherever it does and stay under the audible-hiss threshold wherever it does. The cheapest of them is the Topping L30 II at $149, against this one’s $2499 — $2350 less, and a desktop amplifier rather than a desktop DAC/amp.

This counts the headphone output only; inputs, converters, the volume control and the build are outside it.

Alternatives

Compared with its closest rivals: vs Ferrum ERCO · vs Matrix element M2 · vs Violectric V226.

Compare any two or match your own headphones. Every RME source here.

RME ADI-2/4 Pro SE: power output and what it will drive

What it actually puts out

Where these numbers come from

Against 40 well-known headphones

Will it hiss?

Output impedance and the one-eighth rule

The cheapest thing here that does the same job

Other desktop DAC/amps at a similar price

Questyle CMA Fifteen

Benchmark DAC3 HGC

Ferrum ERCO

Questyle CMA18 Master

Matrix element M2

Violectric V226