Isabellina Digital-to-Analog Converter
The Isabellina digital-to-analog converter (DAC) was designed to recreate music from digital media that closely matches the finest sonic qualities of analog sources such as the richness of tone, extraordinary timing/pacing, and an effortless presentation of the music.
Unlike many DACs available today, which boast impressive specs but are flawed with an analytical, cold and sterile (‘digital’) sound, the Isabellina offers a natural and emotionally involving musical presentation that pulls the listener into the music and does not let go!
Inside the Isabellina reflects our philosophy in using carefully voiced premium parts, short signal paths, and going “off-the-grid” with battery power. On the outside you will enjoy simple yet elegant aesthetics and superb build quality. Every Isabellina is proudly hand-made in the USA and carefully tested, inspected, and packaged before making its journey to our highly-valued and satisfied customers.
Our recipe is a purist approach:
- New-old-stock 16-bit, non-oversampling/non-upsampling D/A chip that implements R-2R conversion
- No digital filtering
- Proprietary, discrete Class A transistor output stage (no opamps)
- SLA battery powered with dedicated linear voltage regulators for the analog and digital sections
- Highest quality parts and short signal paths throughout
Features
The Isabellina offers the listener three digital inputs that are selectable via a three-position, mini-toggle switch located above the digital input jacks:
- USB (optional) that converts directly to I2S to feed the internal DAC chip (no intermediate s/pdif conversion). This input offers optimal sound quality and requires the use of a computer (music server) with a USB port. The power bus from the computer is not used. We instead provide our own clean, on-board +5V line.
- Coaxial (s/pdif) with a Vampire 75-ohm BNC input jack followed by a digital pulse isolation transformer that isolates noise and gives precision 75-ohm impedance matching.
- Toslink (optical s/pdif) that naturally offers noise isolation and avoids ground loops from the source component via the optical transmission cable.
SMART module equipped
The Isabellina DAC features a Red Wine Audio innovation - the SMART module (SLA battery Monitoring and Auto Recharge circuiT). This is a custom-designed circuit board that continuously monitors the voltage of the internal SLA batteries. If the voltage drops too low, the SMART module automatically turns off the Isabellina and begins the battery recharge process.
Also featuring:
- Premium Vampire RCA output jacks
- Custom “touch-sensing” power on/off switch with built-in LED that emits a soft, red glow. This switch is mounted flush with the black-anodized aluminum front panel for a clean appearance and is also made of smooth, black-anodized aluminum.
- Black, powder-coated aluminum enclosure with a smooth, 0.5" thick black-anodized faceplate that is laser-etched.
- Rapid-speed SLA battery charger with universal input voltage (100 – 240Vac, 50/60Hz) and IEC power input jack, and output cable featuring a heavy-duty XLR plug.
Reviews
“Isabellina gets music across in a way that is very rewarding in terms of its complexity of tonal and harmonic ‘rightness’. This complexity reveals itself as there being sense of “depth” or density to the music; not only in how the Isabellina portrays the sonic tapestry of the music, but the overall “presence” of the music as well. The Isabellina presents many layers to explore and does so with an ease and elegance that is very beguiling. There are no hard edges to the music… no grain or glare to turn one away from spending hours listening to one’s collection. No, the Isabellina is very refined while being rich, smooth, lush, and silky, all in the sense of being easy on the ears… as opposed to hard, thin, bland, closed-up, or austere.”
Specifications
Digital to analog converter |
16-bit, non-oversampling, using purist R-2R conversion |
|---|---|
Accepted sampling frequencies |
USB: Up to 48kHz |
Analog output stage |
Discrete, Class-A transistor output (no op-amps) |
Number of digital inputs |
3 (USB, Coaxial, and Optical), user selectable |
Output Impedance |
Less than 100 ohms |
Output voltage |
Approx. 2Vrms |
Power supply transformer / rectifiers / transformers in signal path |
None |
Batteries |
1 x 12V, 5Ah Sealed Lead-Acid (SLA) |
Battery charger |
12V, 1000mA SLA “auto-charger” |
Typical play time between full battery charges |
Approx. 12 hours continuous |
Dimensions |
12" width x 9" depth x 3.5" height (including feet) |
Weight (without charger) |
Approx. 14 lbs. |
Package weight |
Approx. 18 lbs. |
Proudly manufactured in the State of Connecticut, United States of America
Product design and specification subject to change or modification without notice.
Purchase
*The Isabellina DAC is a standard feature for Red Wine Audio’s Isabellina HPA (HeadPhone Amp), and can be ordered as an optional feature for our Isabella vacuum tube preamplifier.
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