[volcomjerk]

First off let me say that my wallet has never been happier and my ears are twice as happy. I got my Pint off MisterX with dual LM6127 opamps so it's pretty much maxed out. $125 got me a rechargeable battery, an AC Adapter and the Amp.

I previously had a Ray Samuel's Hornet and for me it wasn't producing $350 dollar sound. So I decided to see what $125 could get me after hearing many good things about the Pint and recommendations from others. I know many are happy with their Hornet's but for people who just didn't feel like their money was well spent with the Hornet than look no further and give a Pint a shot. I'm not sure how readily available they are so I might have been lucky but I hear a Go-Vibe V5 is similar in build and quality but don't take my word for it since I've never heard/seen one.

My setup is an iPod 5G Generation 2 with a Turbo Dock IV Diabolous using 128/192 kbps AAC VBR / ALAC files listening with Westone UM2 IEM's.

This amp is really well built, no moving parts and the casing is simple and durable, no branding or nothing just a small black amp. It's actually smaller than I thought it would be. One thing I probably might do is replace the philips screws with thumb screws for easy access to the battery compartment.

As soon as I plugged in everything and got my favorite song ready I was in portable audio bliss. Let's just say I haven't felt like this since I properly amped my Grado SR-60's. I immediately noticed much fuller sound and the bass definitely had more kick and the highs sounded much more tamed than coming straight out of the iPod. I didn't think my UM2's could get much better but they did. There wasn't too much soundstage and I think that's a limitation of the UM2's rather than the amp itself but I'm sure it'd be there if someone used some E500's paired with a Pint. I'm not very good at putting words to what I hear but all I can say is that I'm in love again and I think this completes my portable rig. If I could describe the Pint in 1 word I'd call it fun and that's what this hobby is about to me. It's about having fun. It's not about having the most accurate sound or feel/hear the singer is spitting on my face as some would describe it haha.

This is a perfect example that speaks leaps and bounds about the price of audio equipment that more expensive is not always better. I thank Ray for allowing me to hear his amp and providing me a full refund but it just wasn't making me happy. Mainly because I couldn't notice much a of a difference unless I really concentrated and I don't find it fun to try really hard to hear a difference. Upon turning on the Pint, I could tell the difference immediately. I don't want to wait 300+ hours to see if there's even a slight difference in sound. Even if this amp isn't a desktop amp in your pocket, it's made me really happy and I couldn't be happier with the sound.

Thanks also go out to MisterX for fast shipping and a great little amp!