Isabellina dac / headphone amp - Page 5

Vinnie
well i just could not wait any longer to write my first post. after viewing and reading on head-fi.org for as long as i can remember, i decided to officially become a registered member and now here i am.
even though we have communicated through emails, i wanted to add my name to the list of future owners of the upcoming isabellina hpa in the thread here.
vinnie, since you didn't make it out to canjam, i am assuming that you are now at least a week closer to putting one of these beauties in my hands right?!!!
did you put anymore thoughts into that t-shirt idea i sent you?
well, that was my first post here at head-fi and i think it well worth it too considering the inpact that the isabellina hpa will have.
cheers
joe

Welcome to head-fi, and sorry about your wallet!

HeadPhoneAddict
thanks so much for the welcome. i figured a while back that my wallet would just one day up and sue me for better living conditions. we are still in talks hoping to delay that very day. at least i hope i get to keep the cash and the one important card that will have a RWA charge on it in the near future! the wallet can go its own merry way!

I am really looking forward to the final set up. As I understand it Vinnie will pair the Isabellina DAC w/ the headphone module of the Amphora. However instead of using the stepped volume pot he will use the same pot used in the Isabella. The volume pot can be wired to control the headphone amp volume as well as variable output via the rca's to a separate amp. Also he may not use the V-Caps and will explore the possibility of using PIO (paper in oil) Caps. All of this for a price to be determined but around $2k to $2.5K.

Hope I have it right.

jallis. Welcome to Head-Fi!
Not much more to say, besides that I bet you will be pleased with the Isabellina HPA.

krmathis,
thank you as well for the warm welcome. 26,096 post......! wow! that is a lot of posts... i can only imagine what your knowledge level was before you can here and now after all those posts. i am also thinking of all the new friends you've made over that time. that is really pretty cool.
i am definitely looking forward to seeing and hearing vinne's work of art. it is the waiting part that just kills me.
joe

Hi Miguel,

This is correct. The volume control also comes with a remote (same as in the Isabella preamp). And the RCA outputs can be configured to be fixed output (so you can use it just like the Isabellina dac and feed a home audio preamp or another headphone amp), or we can make the RCA output volume controlled (so you can feed a home audio power amp directly).
The price range you mentioned is also correct.


Hi Jallis,

Welcome to Headfi! Thanks so much to you and everyone for all your interest in the Isabellina HPA.

I know the waiting part is not so fun, but these things take some time and I want to make sure I get everything just right before releasing these.

I'll be sure to keep you all posted.

Thanks again,

Vinnie

Curious, with the price range being between $2K and $2.5K, including the Amphora headphone stage AND the volume control of the Isabella it seems to offer incredible value considering that the stand-alone Isabellina costs $2.5K by itself.

Will the Isabellina offer greater sound quality than the forthcoming headphone model and if not will it go down in price?

Hi Miguel,

Which is better, the V-Cap or the PIO?

I suspect not!
Just think Winnie are really nice to us on this Head-Fi group buy, cutting down on his revenue.

Hi Gazza,

Yes, the price will include the Isabella headphone stage (same as used in the ALO Amphora) and remote volume control.

Using the RCA outputs, it will sound identical to the Isabellina dac because it IS the Isabellina dac.

We are selling these direct (for a limited time) to keep the cost down, and if we can get a headfi member group buy of 10 or more, we can bring the price down closer to $2k.

Best regards,

Vinnie

Are you taking pre orders yet? Should we send a email if we are planning to buy to gauge how many people are planning to buy? I take it we are still about 6 weeks out?

Vinnie, as I recall you were going to look into using PIO Caps as a possible replacement of the V-Caps. Have you had a chance to test some PIO Caps?

I also believe you were considering using the silver wire used in the Amphora SE to wire this version of the Isabellina w/ the Amphora headphone amp. Although only a couple of weeks have gone by have you been able to do any testing?

Thanks and sorry for all the additional inquiries.

Hi Miguel,

I'm still waiting on parts (one of them is the new 12V smart board), but I should hopefully have everything to build and test the first prototype pretty soon.

I'll be testing PIO caps and the Vcaps. One type of cap is not necessarily "better" than the other. It all comes down to "voicing" the overall sound of this unit, and with the choices of caps (and cabling), I'll be able to fine tune the sound to achieve the best overall balance.

Hi KingStyles,

YES - FOR EVERYONE INTERESTED >> please send me an email (do not use headfi PM) to: vinnie@redwineaudio.com

and I will add your name to the "pre-order list."

-- Please state if you would like the RCA outputs to be "fixed output" (direct from the Isabellina dac), or "variable" (controlled via the remote volume control on the front panel).

I will not be taking payment until we have all the parts and are in "production mode," but now is a great time to get on the pre-order list and this will help me gauge how many people are interested in purchasing from this initial production batch (which will also help me finalize the pricing for this batch).

If we can get 10 or more customers to commit to this first batch, I should be able to set the pricing closer to $2k. (remember, the Isabellina dac alone sells for $2.5k, and this unit is identical, PLUS adds the Isabella headphone output stage and remote volume control).

*** After this pre-order batch, please note that the price will increase. ***

I think this is accurate. Believe me, I'll be here before you know it, and the Isabellina HPA will be well-worth your wait!

Thanks again for all your interest and support!

Vinnie

Just to clarify:

You can order the Isabellina HPA with "fixed" RCA outputs, or "variable" RCA outputs.

FIXED - For this option, the output from the Isabellina dac gets fed directly to the RCA outputs. This is a 2Vrms fixed output that you can feed to another headphone amplifier, or home audio preamplifier, or home audio integrated amplifier. In this configuration, it works exactly like the stand-alone Isabellina dac: Red Wine Audio Isabellina

VARIABLE - For this option, the output from the Isabellina dac passes through the volume control before passing to the RCA outputs. This option is great if you plan to feed your Isabellina HPA directly into a home audio power amp. The volume control is like a "passive preamp" (no voltage gain). Most power amps can be driven to full output power with 2Vrms.

-- I suspect that the majority of you will go with the FIXED outputs, but there might be some of you who want to also use their Isabellina HPA connected directly to a home audio power amp and the VARIABLE feature is perfect for this.


-- What is stated above applies for the RCA output jacks. Some of you who are only using the Isabellina HPA as a headphone amp will not even care about the RCA output jacks (but you might down the road, especially if you want to integrated your Isabellina HPA into a home audio system, or use it as a dac to feed a different headphone amplifer).

Hopefully eveything is clear on this...

Vinnie