Pico Slim first impressions and reviews thread. See p31 onwards for a couple of solid reviews +... - Page 6

Great pics WG - looking forward to your impressions

Since the pre-orders were placed well in advance, I'm quite sure justin was able to count out the first 250 no matter the color. Those who placed the first 250 orders and paid in time will definitely get what they ordered, which was what was promised. As I understand it (correct me if I'm wrong, Justin), the casework is being done in batches, so there should also not be a problem with those who got lucky enough to get a spot in the first 250 due to cancellations.

[new toy gush] I'm absolutely loving my ipod classic>twag micro lod>pico slim>jh13. It's as if I'm hearing the jh13s for the first time again[/new toy gush]

That thing just radiates sex appeal. I find myself wanting one with no clear reason as to why...

So first impressions, as in hot off the press, i just listened to around an hour comparing the Slim to my protector. I didnt really know what to expect since the protector was my first amp and now the slim is my second. I did all my listening through my Audio GD Dac19Mk3 connected with a TWag RCA to mini plug cable. Overall i think that the protector is the better amp. The bass goes deeper and has more impact with the protector, and its more dynamic than the slim is. Also i think it might be slightly more transparent, but dont quote me on that yet. I spent most of mine time confirming the bass part, going back and forth between the two, the dynamics was readily apparent though. I think that the slim might as HPA said have a slight mid bass hump compared to the protector, but the bass does not go as deep, which i think leeds to the impact feel better with the protector as well.

Now the slim is obviously not burned in, whereas the protector is, also this is just initial impressions. more to come as the night goes on hopefully and also as the slim burns in lets hear what everyone else is thinking

I'm not experiencing any mid bass hump.

I'd like to hear the protector. Maybe at CanJam. Could you please describe what you mean by dynamics as I'm not sure I'm understanding your use of the word, and people all too often around here mean different things when using it.

Wait, what is your setup here? JH-13 Balanced for Protector then switch the cable to SE for Slim?

Hey Soup,

When you have some more time to listen could you compare the soundstages. I went with the Protector because I assumed that its balanced design would make it clearly superior here. Is that your impression or is the Pico Slim just as wide, deep, and dimensional?

Although I think comparisons of the slim to other amps are valuable, I'm going to ask that a separate thread be started for that so this thread doesn't get too far off track.

I prefer to give myself more time with a product and take notes before I start to write impressions, but I am definitely not hearing any mid bass hump.

For dynamics im referring to like the crack of a drum. I volume matched, as closely as i could, the volume of the voice during a passage, which remained relatively constant, the volume of the snare cracking is louder on the protector than the pico slim. Though now that you mention it it could very well be a FR thing, but i doubt that.

Im using a balanced TWag for the protector, and then i have a balanced to single ended adaptor that i left plugged into the slim so that i could just unplug from the protector straight into the slim for comparison, well and switch the source cable as well.

I will certainly in the future, right now im trying to focus on other things, sorry bud

see the disclaimer at the bottom of my first post. i guess im just excited out of the gate and wanted to share something

noted, if someone starts another thread for comparisons of the two ill post there for sure. Though, and im not trying to be hostile here at all, whats the point of impressions and reviews of this new product without comparisons to other amps that people may have heard?



Another problem ive noticed with the Slim, is that it too tiny, what i mean is that when i have the viablu connector plugged in, i can't flip the power switch from off to on, though i can flip it from on to off just fine.

Edit: another note on the soundstaging, i dont listen to any classical music, i listen almost entirely to metal and rock, so this will not be an easy issue to pinpoint for me.

Just curious, what kind of rock and metal do you listen to (bands)? I find that music preferences is an often overlooked factor when reading reviews and having similar tastes with the reviewer helps understanding where he's coming from.

almost every kind of metal, thrash metal(megadeth, lamb of god) death metal(job for a cowboy, death, cannible corpse), melodic death(in flames, insomnium) technical death metal(origin, The Faceless, Gorod, Fleshgod Apocalypse), alternative metal(katatonia) progressive metal(Animals as Leaders, Tool, Dream Theater, Protest the Hero), metal(avenged Sevenfold), Power metal(Dragon Force, Sonata Arctica) and even a little black metal( Behemoth, Marduk) Metalcore(All That Remains, Parkway Drive)

I did alot of the testing at first with The Black Dahlia Murder's cd "Nocturnal" because i know that album extremely well. Also i used Lady Gaga's The Fame, because it has very clean production and great bass, and i also know it very well

The Pico Slim seems like a really good SE amplifier if the Protector is "slightly" edging it out.

I think that's more a problem of dumb companies making giant *mini* plugs just so they can look cool.

indeed, its almost around a 100 dollars cheaper and a third the size, so its not like im terribly surprised that the protector is better. Though i will still wait and see what effect if any that burn in has

haha touche, maybe ill look into a smaller straight jack mini plug...