[mrarroyo]

I understand that if you feed 24 bit music to the Isabellina DAC it down converts it to 16 bit before it plays it. I hope Vinnie chimes in.

 

[KingStyles]

All my music is upsampled to 24/96. The isabellina handled it fine. Like mrarroyo said, it does truncate everything back to 16 bit. It does hang on to the 96 bit rate though.

 

[Ridleyguy]

I am a new owner of a RWA Isabellina HPA with about 60 hours on it now. Of course it sounds very nice, (having come from portable amp.), but I am hoping for greater things to come. A couple of issues for me may be burn-in on the SAA Equinox cable on my HD650s, more burn-in time on my HD650s and I have probably no more than 100 hours on my K701s.

I had a Stax system for many years, and I was hoping that dynamic headphones plus a great amp/DAC would be the perfect setup for me. My source is a Macbook Pro (2009) using USB out with iTunes - a lot of 24 bit FLAC files converted for iTunes with Max, plus some MP3s including high bitrate files.

Why did I get rid of my Stax system? There killed my ears! SrX-MkIIs plus Stax amp.

I was trying to scale my system for the HD650s in particular, but am so far finding my stock 701s better - although I tend to prefer very transparent sound and listen to a lot of classical music.

I will report back with some impressions in a month when (hopefully) burn-in won't be an issue.

 

[kboe]

You HAVE to, simply MUST give those V-Caps at least 200 hours. Sure they sound good new, but they simply mature into a revealing, resolved, relaxed yet never dull sounding state. GIVE IT TIME. Happy tunes with those 650s and 701s. Have you looked at Kens ALO 701 cable mod?

 

[Ridleyguy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by kboe /img/forum/go_quote.gif You HAVE to, simply MUST give those V-Caps at least 200 hours. Sure they sound good new, but they simply mature into a revealing, resolved, relaxed yet never dull sounding state. GIVE IT TIME. Happy tunes with those 650s and 701s. Have you looked at Kens ALO 701 cable mod?

kboe I appreciate your post and advice. I have tried to read everything available on the Isabella/Isabellina, Amphora, and am quite willing to be patient, but of course at the same time I am eager to hear what the Isabellina is capable of doing.

I haven't tried Ken's ALO cable mod, but have read favourable comments about it. How would you compare it to alternatively, just buying one of the new flagship headphones? Classical music is what I listen to about 80% of the time, and how my rig sounds with classical piano is the most important consideration for me.

If I buy the cable, it would also probably be easiest for me to buy some 702s, as the headphones themselves are relatively inexpensive - assuming the upgrade makes sense to do.

 

[kboe]

Hey Ridleyguy,
The AKG 701 are pretty much the only headphones I haven't tried. But I do hear their one of the best for classical. I couldnt agree with you more about the piano being one of the ways I judge a system. Its not the only criteria but an important one. If the piano doesn't sound right, tisk tisk. But guess what, the Amphora, and thus the HPA, nail it and much more.

 

[Ridleyguy]

Thanks again. Oh, and something that may be of interest, I have been posting in the Stax thread today, and one Head-Fier there (High-End Audio) is very cynical about V-caps and burn-in, etc. You may want to chime in, as I'm not knowledgeable enough and could only quote a few articles I have read on the subject. Cheers.

 

[Vinnie R.]

All,

I apologize for the slow response on this thread:

Quote:

I don't know why audiophile level products include an optical input at the expense of an additional coax input. Maybe I'm not giving optical enough credit?

Hi sxr71,

I agree that you are not giving the optical input enough credit - it sounds very good (at least the Isabellina HPA's optical input does)!

Quote:

I understand that if you feed 24 bit music to the Isabellina DAC it down converts it to 16 bit before it plays it. I hope Vinnie chimes in.

Miguel is correct!

Quote:

I will report back with some impressions in a month when (hopefully) burn-in won't be an issue.

Hi Ridleyguy,

Looking forward to your impressions!

Quote:

You HAVE to, simply MUST give those V-Caps at least 200 hours. Sure they sound good new, but they simply mature into a revealing, resolved, relaxed yet never dull sounding state. GIVE IT TIME. Happy tunes with those 650s and 701s.

I agree 100% with kboe regarding the Vcaps. The same is true for the Isabellina HPA, or the Amphora.

Thanks for all your posts!

Vinnie

 

[Vinnie R.]

All,

I am very excited and humbled to see that the SoundStage! review of the Isabellina HPA came out today, and received a "Reviewers Choice" Award!

SoundStage! Equipment Review - Red Wine Audio Isabellina HPA Headphone Amplifier-DAC (4/2010)

I want to thank Uday Reddy (and SoundStage!) for taking the time and effort in evaluating the Isabellina HPA - and highlighting the sonic characteristics that make the HPA unique and very addicting to listen to.

Quote from: Uday Reddy - SoundStage!

Quote:

Its freedom from the AC grid allowed it to provide the purest music signal, elevating my enjoyment of what truly matters: the music. Couple its performance with headphones to its qualities as a standalone preamplifier-DAC and you begin to see its value. Yes, there are cheaper and more compact competitors, even ones with USB DACs, that are getting rave reviews. But none offers the Isabellina HPA’s combination of musicality, versatility, crystal-clear sound, and battery power. As I said above, once you get a taste of the Red Wine sound, you won’t want to settle for anything less -- and with RWA’s 30-day, money-back guarantee, you have nothing to lose.

Happy Listening,

Vinnie

 

[mrarroyo]

Congrats! I will call you tomorrow to further discuss one of your units. Thanks.

 

[kboe]

I know the HPA differs sonically because of its internal DAC, but those are also exactly how I would describe my Amphora. Addicting in all the right ways... ...and maybe some wrong ones too.

 

[swoon]

is it possible to have the HPA switched from variable output to fixed?

 

[Ridleyguy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by swoon /img/forum/go_quote.gif is it possible to have the HPA switched from variable output to fixed?

Yes.

 

[swoon]

is this something i need to send back in, or ...

 

[Ridleyguy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by swoon /img/forum/go_quote.gif is this something i need to send back in, or ...

My apologies. I misunderstood your question. I know that the Isabellina HPA can be ordered with either Fixed or Variable RCA inputs, but you will have to contact Vinnie on the RWA site to see if they can be changed. The serial number indicates which version you have.