[03029174]

Hi guys
Im getting myself all worked up because i cant find the final piece of the jigsaw. I've got some lovely equipment as mentioned in the title. The thing is both the amp and the headphones jumped out to me and as soon as i researched them i knew they were the products for me, and i wasn't disappointed, i love them. For the last 6 months i have been tying to find my perfect source, i have done ALOT of research and finally settled on a RWA Isabellina and have been waiting for one to come up on the used forums but to no avail. I could just about afford to buy it new but the UK distributor adds on about £450 (Taxes Shipping and Profit) and i cant pay that out of principal. Im using my PC storing FLAC ripped files. I havn't got a dedicated soundcard and the thing that attracted me to the Isabellina was the fact the USB interface does not convert to s/pdif. Does anyone know any other DACS that do this? I am looking for high-end, preferably used but dont mind buying new if in the EU. My favorite bands are Dire Straits and Stereophonics, i also enjoy Radiohead, Coldplay etc. I like the slam and the bass and the fact that i feel like im sat on the stage with the musicians. I will be so thankful if someone can pass on some wisdom and advice. There is a slight chance i might jump on a plane and attend Canjam, but il only be doing that if i know i will be able to buy the DAC there and bring it back with me, so in that case i could buy American

Thanks for taking the time to read this

Much appreciated

Pete

 

[Townyj]

Maybe the new Cary Xciter DAC..?? Im thinking about getting hold of one sometime down the track and slowly working my way to a Rudistor RPX-33 also.

I just realised you dont want USB converted to SPDIF.... sorry :/ Not quite sure if this is the case with the Xciter.

Info here:
http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f85/ca...er-dac-416693/

 

[03029174]

Thanks for the link, im reading about it now, thanks for the help

 

[emelius]

are you attached to the usb input idea?...

i have a lot of 24/96 flac that most usb dacs can't handle...the ones that can handle it are either extremely expensive or not to my liking in some way or another...

i'm tempted to go the sound card with an aes out route...or wait & see if the Wadia 121 gets good reviews...early reports said it would have 24/96 over usb so here's to hoping...

good luck, i'm anxious to hear what you decide...

 

[03029174]

Thanks Emelius (Nice Avatar by the way!)
Do you know when the Wadia 121 is out?

 

[emelius]

no, i'm trying to find out myself...all i've heard/read is 2nd half of the year...

i thought maybe they had to wait for Apple to make their announcements...say, for instance, that they have a new product that supports 24-bit audio, then they can't have Wadia release a product designed for it (indirectly) that accepts 24-bit input...

but i find it more likely that it just isn't ready yet (& it's still not 2nd half of the year so they're not late)...should be interesting, though...so far it just looks like a 301 or 302 without the drive, different power supplies and with usb input....we'll see...oh, & it'll have a $500 option for a ray samuels headphone amp...

 

[Hopstretch]

I recently picked up the new Ayre USB DAC, which does 24/96 quite happily and uses a custom asynchronous transfer protocol licensed from Wavelength to pretty much solve the jitter problem that has plagued most USB receivers.

My personal opinion -- which you should obviously take with a grain of salt -- is that it kicks ass. I was using an Apogee Duet before, which I still think is a very good source, and the Ayre slays it -- particularly in terms of bass extension and articulation. It's detailed and musical and throws a great sound stage.

Because it's brand new, there are no professional reviews yet if that's important to you. But I know Chris Connaker at Computer Audiophile is evaluating one right now and Stereophile should be out with theirs fairly shortly. JP did ask Ayre to send one to CanJam, but I don't know if they agreed to do so.

Anyway, the Ayre technical stuff is here if you're interested. It sells in the U.S. for the same price as the Isabellina.

 

[03029174]

Ah, i had read up about the Ayre, did you consider the Isabellina before you bought the Ayre? I imagine you had a similar problem as im having (There's so many!)
Im glad your happy with it, il check it out now, have you written a review?
Thanks
Pete

 

[Hopstretch]

Honestly, I didn't look much further than the Ayre. After hearing Charles Hansen swear blind that it runs neck-and-neck with their $6,000 C-5xe player -- which is a pretty legendary piece -- I needed to give it a go. It's early days, but I'm definitely not disappointed so far. Will be mucking about with some different combinations of amps and headphones next and we'll see how that goes.

 

[03029174]

Just wanted to say thanks to everyone who's helped me in this thread
Sat in the hotel waiting to begin my 24hr voyage back to the UK from Canjam
I ended up buying the Cary Xciter DAC, i got a really good deal on it
I was really supprised how similar the dacs sounded (To me at least) Sure there we're slight differences but between Benchmark, Lavry etc there were no night and day differences. I just remembered when i first sat down by the Xciter DAC and Amp and plugged in my PS-1s i thought, whoa bet this is expensive, really happy with the price i got it for. Drew from Moon Audio said Stereophile and someone else is reviewing it so we'll have to see what they think. Cant wait to hear the Xciter in my home rig.
Really good trip, did well in the raffle too (Woo headphone stand and Monster turbine IEMs).
Cheers for all your help and advice
Pete

 

[1UP]

Gtz, I thought the Xciter was very good. Did you get to hear the DA11, Benchmark and D100? I loved the D100 and am thinking of going for it.

 

[03029174]

Yeah i analysed each one, i was impressed with all of them. I thought the Lavry was very good but didnt need an integrated amp. I tried the D100 and liked it, it didnt have USB though so i would have had to spend more on a converter.
I did the benchmark first and really liked it, then the D100, then the Lavry, i liked the Lavry sound but really didnt care for the volume controls (I know you can program the remote but i didnt want to use a remote. I found them all pretty close with the Lavry just nicking it for me. Then i got to the Xciter and my first impressions was that it would cost a fair bit more. It felt like it had more natural weight behind the music (This could be down to the Xciter amp that it was coupled with) but it ticked all the boxes with me, and had the presence i had been searching for im sure it will go really well with the Melos back home as well.