After LOTS of research, I finally made the plunge into the audiophile community and my Isabellina HPA arrived on monday! I was impressed by the detail and care with the packaging it came in. Which was only a precursor to the actual product and the sound that it reproduces. I have a apogee ensemble. Which I use to record music and it has decent DA and headphone amp. But after getting my Denon AH-D7000 headphones, I was curious about upgrading my sound further. There are a lot of great choices. However the benefit of a great all in one DA, amp, and power supply really intrigued me. If it could be pulled off without compromise. This would save a lot of money for upgraded interconnects ,power cable and power filters. This could run thousands for the gear I wanted. I'm happy to say, their is no compromise. In fact the shorter signal path and battery power supply I believe is part of the reason why the HPA sounds so good. I got a basic unit with no upgrades with the intent to upgrade as I get more money. The only thing I changed was the tube to a Dario Miniwatt. I run it through my mac pro using Pure Music.
Right out of the box the unit sounded very similar to the ensemble in quality of the sound. It had a less soundstage and was more muddy and congested. However with zero burn in it was close.
After 10 hours of burn in it began to really open up and it had more depth, clarity and micro detail than the ensemble. Which put a smile on my face. I listen to all types of music. Which they all sounded better, until I listened to Tool's Undertow. It was definitely lacking in drive and impact. This really worried me because the only review I read that was not 100% positive compared it to the tranquility se DA. He said the isballina DA was to polite, and intimate. Lacking the edge for rock.
http://www.digitalaudioreview.net.au/index.php/audio-reviews/digital-source-reviews/item/156-red-wine-audio-isabellina-lfp-v-edition Knowing it was very early in the burn in process, I was going to try listening again on tuesday.The burn in takes at least 100 hrs according to Vinnie the maker of the HPA.
After 20 hrs of burn I listened to Tool again. I was instantly sucked in. The sound-field the micro detail and drive were all there. In fact I felt like I was there. Listening to them live, but with SOOOO much more clarity! Their is no distinction between the right and left headphones. Rather a real sound field of music encompessing you. With each instrument in there own definitive space. I just sat and listened to all my music like it was the first time. The music sounded unbelievably real and natural. We all have different tastes and preferences so I can respect the reviewer. But to me the HPA does it all from mellow to extremely hard music flawlessly. This justifies the price beyond any doubt for me! I now have over 50 hrs and it slowly continues to get better. I cant wait for it to be completely burned in.
The customer support and help that Vinnie from Redwine Audio has given me is topnotch. Its amazing to be able to sit and talk to him personally. I give the HPA the highest recommendation possible for anyone considering a product in this price range or should I say any price range! Hmmmmmmm..... now maybe a better transport? The quest begins!
