[Vinnie R.]

All,

I like to share feedback that I received via email from a musician who owns an Isabellina HPA. 

NOTE: The following letter was unsolicited and is reprinted with permission. The author is a paying customer, and not an audio critic.

Dear Vinnie:

I wanted to tell you I'm really enjoying the Red Wine Audio HPA. I'm using it with AKG 701s and Ultrasone Edition 8s, from my MBP with Amarra mini.

It’s clear that you designed the HPA for acoustic music…  and judging by the results, you know what live acoustic music sounds like!

In twenty years of performing and recording, I have never heard anything that approaches the natural sound of the HPA for acoustic music. I'm listening to the new Ahmad Jamal album and have been admiring my percussionist colleague Manolo Badrena's performance. A percussionist is not the typical instrumentation to add to a piano trio, however Manolo is not your average percussionist. He’s a sculptor of sounds and shapes and uses many exotic percussion instruments including birdcalls, and various shells and tiny shakers as well as congas, etc. I’m familiar with and play all these instruments and I can say that they were captured and mixed fabulously and reproduced faithfully by your HPA.

In my observation, the very focused sound these instruments produce, and the accenting/background nature of trio Jazz percussion, (ie. the percussion is usually placed further back and lower in the mix) requires deep resolution of the entire chain in order to reproduce faithfully the timbre, attack, decay and localization of the various instruments. The HPA is delivering in a big way and I have been enjoying going back and listening to all my recordings.

For acoustic, there is no question that I will stop searching for what sounds best, because I am completely and ultimately content with the HPA.

Thank you again Vinnie,

Chris Fátóyè Theberge, Grammy-nominated Jazz artist
(Groove Collective)

I want thank Chris for writing and allowing me to post his letter - It really made my day! 

Cheers!

Vinnie

[doctorcilantro]

That's a great compliment and testimony to your work.

[Alwayswantmore]

Yes, certainly a compliment Vinnie. I posted this once before, but it’s particularly fitting now: The guitar player in my band used to have a recording studio in his back yard in Connecticut. Over the years he’s had the chance to hear and play with a number of nationally know artists.

A few months ago, when I gave him a thorough run through on my system (Macbook / USB, Isabella w/ DAC, Sig 30.2 amp and single drivers + sub), his comment was “better than live.” He still brags about my system to other musicians when we play.

...the sound is definately organic! Kent

[Vinnie R.]

Thanks, guys!

I really appreciate feedback from ALL my customers as well as reviewers. 

The feedback from Chris above is equally appreciated, and I thought it was
refreshing to get a true musician's perspective on what he was hearing with
audio equipment - whose goal is to bring the listening experience closer to the
"real thing."

A few months ago, when I gave him a thorough run through on my system (Macbook / USB, Isabella w/ DAC, Sig 30.2 amp and single drivers + sub), his comment was “better than live.”

That is quite the compliment as well for the Red Wine Audio + Omega combo that you own, Kent!

Thanks for sharing!

Vinnie

[cfcjb]

"It’s clear that you designed the HPA for acoustic music"
So, did you design the HPA with acoustic music in mind Vinnie?
Was that the benchmark you were hoping to attain. Just out of interest, do you remember the recordings you listened to when voicing the HPA?

[Alwayswantmore]

"It’s clear that you designed the HPA for acoustic music"
So, did you design the HPA with acoustic music in mind Vinnie?
Was that the benchmark you were hoping to attain. Just out of interest, do you remember the recordings you listened to when voicing the HPA?

Vinnie will certainly weigh in on your question. But I like that every recording has its own unique sound. It’s not like I’m hearing the bloom of tubes or the edge of a transistor imparting its color signature on everything I hear.

I have a number of studio master outtakes, performed by a variety of artists from Frank Sinatra (mono), to Peggy Lee (Fever), to Paul McCartney soloing with voice and guitar only. These outtakes have not been through post-processing, compression or commercial EQ/engineering. Here the vocals and instruments are so raw and real, it really feels like you can reach out and touch the performers. [Sorry folks, this recording not sold in stores  ]

Another great example would be Diana Krall’s early work (All For You…), where on closely miced cuts -- when she lifts the damper pedal -- you both hear and “feel” the felt move, to a point it leaves me feeling like the barometric pressure suddenly changed in my listening room.

Or AC/DC Back in Black. The timbre of each instrument is so vivid and real. And the dynamics and bass are awesome.

I attribute these qualities as a byproduct of a minimalist design philosophy, coupled with running off the grid (high current too).

Me: Macbook / USB, Isabella w/DAC/HPA, Omega Alnico single drivers and Deep Hemp sub, coupled with GIK acoustic panels / Tri-corners and near-field listening.

[Vinnie R.]

"It’s clear that you designed the HPA for acoustic music"
So, did you design the HPA with acoustic music in mind Vinnie?
Was that the benchmark you were hoping to attain. Just out of interest, do you remember the recordings you listened to when voicing the HPA?

Hi cfcjb,

The Isabellina HPA certainly sounds fantastic with acoustic music, but I did not design it with just acoustic music in mind.  I enjoy a wide variety of music, and I believe listeners will find that the Isabellina HPA offers a very natural and effortless presentation with both a wide-variety of music and headphones.  But it is clear that the HPA won Chris over with live acoustic material. 

I like how Srajan of 6moons put it:

the Isabellina HPA is for those who value smoothness with mass, warmth and wallop. This is a long player that won't fatigue even at high volumes and over long stretches.

I really wanted all the attributes that make the Isabellina dac so special to carry over to the headphone output.  That was one of the main goals.

I attribute these qualities as a byproduct of a minimalist design philosophy, coupled with running off the grid (high current too).

Hi Kent - yes, those are definitely part of the recipe! 

DK's "All for You" is my favorite of her albums (I'm not a huge DK fan, but that is a good album), and what you are referring to comes out in spades in the beginning of the track "I'm trough with love." 

I also just picked up the Sweet Billy Pilgrim album "Twice born men" (based on cfcjb's recommendation in this thread: http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=60850.20) and am enjoying it - this one is keeping me listening! (thanks, cfcjb!).

Best regards,

Vinnie

[Alwayswantmore]

A Blossom Fell and I'm Through with Love are my favorite cuts on All for You. It's not her best work, but the recording is more honest than what followed (IMO). I gave up after she did the cover in stiletto's.

..now she's won me back with Girl in the Next Room (originals, and definitely not standards). In the Next Room is very dynamic, and has some very intimate and seductive vocal tracks. I'm also a big fan of Live In Paris. Her cover of Joni Mitchell's A Case of You is outstanding. I've used this cut at a number of headfi meeting with AKG K1000s from my Signature 30.2, and blew people away.

I guess we digress from a “musician's perspective”