Hi Guys,
Thanks for your posts!
My thinking was taking an Isabellina dac (
Red Wine Audio Isabellina), which has 3 digital inputs, and adding-in a volume control (I can use the same remote volume control as in the Isabella preamp) and headphone output stage.
The output of the Isabellina dac would feed to the volume control, and then the output of the volume control will feed the Isabella headphone output board (as used in the Amphora).
One of the outputs would be a 1/4" headphone output.
There is also an analog output (RCA jacks) from the dac on the back panel, but I can first feed this through the volume control before passing it out to the RCA jacks. This way, it will have a remote volume controlled RCA output (which can feed a home audio power amp!).
Quote:
So, a DAC and Amp without the line-stage tube pre-amp? Just asking as I'm not in the market for one right now. No Amphora with DAC in a nice wood box, eh? |
Hi HPA,
Correct! Unlike the Isabella tube preamp, this would not have the tube preamp stage.
There is no way the Isabellina dac board cannot fit in the Amphora box (along with the headphone board, volume control, battery, etc.) and the Isaellina dac draws way too much current to feed it from the 9V battery in the Amphora.
This needs to be powered by an internal 12V, SLA battery in order to deliver at least 12 hours of continuous play time between charges. We would also include the SMART board (this monitors the battery voltage and automatically shuts-off the unit if the voltage gets too low - to avoid damage to the SLA battery) and a 12V SLA automatic charger.
As for appearance, on the front panel the volume would be in the center (just like our Isabella preamp) and on the right side of the front panel, we would fit the 1/4" jack.
The approx. dimensions are 12" wide X 9" deep X 3.5" tall. The faceplate is 0.5" thick black anodized aluminum that is laser-etched. So it not very small, but not very large either. It has a very solid feel.
So this is the general idea. I would like to obtain feedback on the idea, and then we'll get into the pricing. I understand that there are going to be features that some people want and others do not - but hopefully we can agree on the most important ones so we can move forward.
Thanks again!
Vinnie