Pico Slim first impressions and reviews thread. See p31 onwards for a couple of solid reviews +... - Page 7

Lol.

@SoupRKnowva, I think thats more of a frequency response thing what you describe as dynamics. I know what you mean though and with some recordings I guess it could well be dynamics. so without hearing the particular brand of throat music you are listening to its hard to say . who knew there was so much variety in death metal. I must admit to have trouble telling songs apart let alone genres.

and indeed on the viablue, I would not choose that, or a few other brands of mini to use with this amp, for starters its considerably thicker than the amp, so the slim would have to be flush with the end of the ipod and the bottom will push up putting stress on the input/output.

but to be fair, the slim and amps like it makes the choice of minis..ermm...slim

I actually was using lady gaga's starstruck for my dynamics test, im not sure my completely brickwalled "throat" music would do it

do you have any suggestions on a different straight jack mini plugs to use instead of the viablu qusp?

^ I second that. How many alternatives do you guys know of ?

SoupRKnowva, I'm not sure you really understand the concept of dynamics in hi-fi audio. It refers to the amplitude of sound waves and how well audio gear portrays the whole range of possibilities from very soft to very loud, how well it executes transitions between loud and soft and how well it performs attacks. Your Lady Gaga track is not a good choice for dynamics test, as it's pretty monotonous, there's not a lot of variation in amplitude. I included a sample from Dvorak cello concerto, you can see the difference for yourself.

the part of the song i used was the very beginning, where as you can see there are plenty of dynamics im guessing youve never heard the track? its also a very good test for bass.and another point, even if its brickwalled on the waveform, that wouldnt mean that parts of the music couldnt be louder than others, such as the snare being louder than the voice, which was the comparison i made. But regardless, the part of the song i used has plenty of dynamics

I just listened to it and I stand behind my point, I'm not sure how you can evaluate dynamics with music like that.

after this i think we need to stop, were pretty OT. but to answer you, im not talking about one whole part of the song being louder than another and an amps ability to portray that. I am specifically talking about her singing at the beginning, with the snare hits, those are considerably louder than her vocals are. if the vocals are the equivalent volume on both amps, and the snare hit is louder on the protector than the slim, that would lead me to believe that its dynamics are better, since that is a dynamic transition.

Would appreciate feedback per "Pico Slim vs RSA Shadow" comparison.

Just finished some listening. iMod-->Pico Slim-->JH13 (and you can forget about what cables).

This little amp is badass, and it's growing on me. Tremendous impact and absolute control with the attenuator.

Monkey. like. it.

hehe, look i'll admit to a history of listening to some godflesh, carcass and nailbomb, but never really metal, more punk. I just cant handle the 'vocals' sweeping statement I know. my tastes are wide and varied

yeah mini choices are not various. really for straight you have neutrik, the new oyaide looks pretty slim. hoping to get some soon. switchcraft would be borderline and thats really about it for the name brands. the phallics mini comes with 2 different variants of the barrel, there is a thinner one, but the end that has the pin is still a bit large. there are probably a ferw asian brands that are not well known to us that will work. for the moment for me its modified neutrik RA and straight, on the search for the oyaide (cryoparts lists it, but wasnt in stock last time I looked) and on the hunt for others

It's not really super fair feedback seeing as no one was had one long enough to give it some real burn in time. Perhaps in a weeks time after some solid roasting

Every review/impressions thread on headfi contains comparisons,even appreciation threads,I see no point in making another thread just for the two amps,it gives us the readers an idea of how it sounds against other products that we may have.I am interested to know how the slim sound in comparison to other amps and especially the protector because they are both the best portable amps in the world.

Your point is well noted. To maintain portability, I see my only true options to be either the Shadow or the Pico Slim. I'm really looking forward to feedback/comparisons.

It was between the Slim and the Shadow for me at first too but I went with the Slim since I use IEMs and couldn't pass up that massive 255 step attenuator. Also it looks gorgeous in silver

I would be interested in a comparison too, but I'm confident I made the right choice going with the Slim. I can't really pass fair judgment since the only amps I've heard before were the E3 and E5 from FiiO I just hope the difference in sound is worth the $$$ over the stock iPod (5.5g) headphone out