Well I have only anectodal reports that it makes a "big" difference, from the people who had the older units and had them upgraded to the new LFP edition.

 

Here's a link; http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?PHPSESSID=q88206bvtj555p72krtedd9242hqjc44&topic=84680.0

 

Also take those opinions with a grain of salt... Seems like some people's opinions of small changes could move the Earth sometimes!

 

I'm sure if you're only gonna be using the DAC portion of the Isabellina it would be a good deal, I say go for it.

The original one was very good. If you get a good deal on it, I would buy it and see if you like the sound signature of it. If you like what you hear, you can always send it in later to have it upgraded. Just see of you like that sound signature first. The upgrade will improve on that sound signature. If you dont like it, then you probably wouldnt like the upgraded version either.

I think the Diy paradise USB Monica may be worth a look ( & listen) if someones looking for an analogue sounding usb dac.

I own an Havana and owned a Audio-GD Ref.5: they're both great dacs, with the Ref.5 being slightly less dynamic and darker.

But...Havana has a tube buffer, so you can play with tube rolling and tailor the sound :-)

One more vote for the Digital Link III.

I love the way mine makes my headphone sing, it has the modes, 96KHz and 192KHz, the higher mode gives you a huge sound stage and is a little colder but the 96KHz mode is perfect, I use it exclusively.

This DAC should deliver exactly the sound signature you're looking for and it should be easy to find used on Audiogon.

Audio-GD Reference 5 DAC is the most analog sounding I've ever heard...

I listen to USB Dac (DIY) made by a friend of mine; it's called microDAC v1.1. This Dac use Burr Brown 2706 processor without oversampling. The sound it's warm, without the harsness, almost analogue sounding.

I've insert some images with it:

 

the The RWA isabellina HPA sounds digital in comparison to Burl audio b2 bomber dac and universal audio model 2192, get a DDc like the kingrex uc-192 and enjoy "analog" sound of these dacs. For vintage dacs look for Apogee da-1000.

 

 

What about the Rega Dac?  Rega is known to make digital gear with an analog sound.

hi..you can use a DDC unit like the kingrex UC192..converting from usb to spdif, same function just a different route to your plan

 

 

 

I don't know about NOS DACs in general, but my Prometheus NOS DAC also has a substantial noise floor compared to say MD11 or D100 or DAC-1. It's reasonably quiet but at borderline at quiet-normal listening levels (modern music) but clearly noticeable at very loud listening (not painful or anything) levels for quiet music (non-vol leveled classical).


+1 on sacrificing the details. The non-rolled off highs on say D100 or DAC1 are almost serrating at times (especially DAC1), but it does give an impression of being a lot more detailed. The irony is that a NOS DAC actually goes pretty nicely with my Stax gear :\






sorry, needed to upload some bad pics for a review...otherwise I'd never get to it. (mmm dodgy wood finish, dodgy soldering (scratched board, not quite straight on parts, really long legs on some through hole components), not cleaning the solder flux, noise floor, no power switch (although they'd put one in if I didn't forget to ask),


PS IMO, might be a better idea to buy something like Aqvox USB DAC MKII, where the dac and parts are modern, but you can turn off SRC and control oversampling... (although it doesn't look like you can make it NOS)
Edited by svyr - 3/4/11 at 4:29am