[IceClass]

Quote:

how do you remove the screws for the battery without messing up the paint job? They are so darn tight.....I must be doing something wrong

 
Mine arrived crazy tight and I promptly stripped the paint on them. Thankfully, Justin includes a spare set with the amp.

 

[muzic4life]

The fisrt time i received mine...the screws was so tight like it wont be opened by finger hand. So i used driver to open it. I covered the driver end with cloth. After that...i only tighten it with hands so i never had difficulties since then.

 

[xinghui0711]

The fisrt time i received mine...the screws was so tight like it wont be opened by finger hand. So i used driver to open it. I covered the driver end with cloth. After that...i only tighten it with hands so i never had difficulties since then.

Me too. screws were really tight the first time.

 

[uelover]

I just ordered mine yesterday together with some rechargeable 9V lithium batteries to pair with the incoming DX50.
 
Hopefully it won't be beyond the quoted 6 months weeks stated on his website.

 

[muzic4life]

I just ordered mine yesterday together with some rechargeable 9V lithium batteries to pair with the incoming DX50.

Very interesting to hear about that dx50...i hope is gonna be a nice pairing with your forthcoming picopower....

Hopefully it won't be beyond the quoted 6 months stated on his website.

 

[uelover]

I am interested to hear more comparison between the Pico Power against other top tier portable amps to know where the Pico Power stand.
 
On another note, I have previously tried contacting Justin via email but never received any reply from him at all even after a few months.
 
Now, I am purchasing through his webcart purely base on the faith that somehow the amp will show up at my doorstep one day. I have sent him another email yesterday to see if he will ever reply me.

 

[cooperpwc]

Quote:

I am interested to hear more comparison between the Pico Power against other top tier portable amps to know where the Pico Power stand.
 
On another note, I have previously tried contacting Justin via email but never received any reply from him at all even after a few months.
 
Now, I am purchasing through his webcart purely base on the faith that somehow the amp will show up at my doorstep one day. I have sent him another email yesterday to see if he will ever reply me.

 
Not to worry. Justin delivers.
 
In power terms, it ascends through my favourite three portables as follows: Pico Slim > Quickstep > Pico Power. This is very obvious with the Heaven VI which grows thicker and bassier with each incremental increase in power. The Pico Power is distinguished by its relaxed organic treble. I suspect this is the NOS transistor discreet output buffers.
 
I think that the Pico Power is too powerful for balanced armature IEMs (though some would disagree) (I prefer the Pico Slim) but not at all for dynamic IEMs. It is obviously intended for full-size cans. As a fellow lover of the Pico Slim, I think you will find the Pico Power to be a fine addition to the collection. I especially like it with the FAD 1601SC and PFIX, dynamic IEMs that thrive on the combination of high voltage, high battery current and low output impedance.

 

[Greed]

To add, I think the Pico Power sounds great with both my IEMs - Tralucent 1plus2 and Spiral Ear SE5. I haven't yet tried the Pico Slim with either but have tried it with other IEMs. It is definitely more suitable for IEMs, but they sound quite similar, IMO. 

 

[ivanrocks321]

Quote:

 
Mine arrived crazy tight and I promptly stripped the paint on them. Thankfully, Justin includes a spare set with the amp.

I did not even know about that! were in the box is it, just wondering since I cant get to the packaging at the moment.

 

[muzic4life]

I think the pico power is very good driving IEMs..I tried all of IEMs and they can go quite well with pico power. However, from my previous experience, the shure 535 red and fad heaven 6 seems not proper enough to be driven by pico power. Also the ie800 i noticed the bass becoming a bit too much impact (i never like ie800 bass anyway).

 

[uelover]

Quote:

I think the pico power is very good driving IEMs..I tried all of IEMs and they can go quite well with pico power. However, from my previous experience, the shure 535 red and fad heaven 6 seems not proper enough to be driven by pico power. Also the ie800 i noticed the bass becoming a bit too much impact (i never like ie800 bass anyway).

 
Quote:

Not to worry. Justin delivers.
 
In power terms, it ascends through my favourite three portables as follows: Pico Slim > Quickstep > Pico Power. This is very obvious with the Heaven VI which grows thicker and bassier with each incremental increase in power. The Pico Power is distinguished by its relaxed organic treble. I suspect this is the NOS transistor discreet output buffers.

 
Sounds like the Pico Slim is retaining its spot as the amp for iems.
 
So cooperpwc, you prefer the Pico Slim to the Quickstep and Pico Power?
 
The lack of communication from Justin worries me though. 

 

[cooperpwc]

Quote:

Sounds like the Pico Slim is retaining its spot as the amp for iems.
 
So cooperpwc, you prefer the Pico Slim to the Quickstep and Pico Power?
 
The lack of communication from Justin worries me though. 

 
The grace of the Pico Slim with balanced armature IEMs is really impressing me. It seems to have just the right amount of extra power, a lovely sound signature, the best form factor, and that great volume control. However I do not listen to my ES5 much anymore and I previously preferred it with the Stepdance so I have to revisit that. Generally though I am moving away from overpowering and overthickening the sound of BA IEMs and am instead thinking that that there is an ideal level of power and that the Pico Slim is it.

 

[verber]

I am interested to hear more comparison between the Pico Power against other top tier portable amps to know where the Pico Power stand.

 
I think the Pico Power is the best sounding portable amplifier I have listened to, and is quite competitive against many desktop amplifiers that are 2x it's cost.  If you have the need for a stand alone portable amplifier that is capable of driving full size headphones the Pico Power would not be a mistake.  As to dealing with Justin.  He delivers a quality product.  Sometimes the wait is a bit longer than you might wish, but this is often the case with a  single person "cottage industry"  company that is committed to high quality products and exquisite craftsmanship.
 
Quote:

I think that the Pico Power is too powerful for balanced armature IEMs (though some would disagree)

I had no problem with the Pico Power being too powerful.  I can't comment from personal experience Pico Power -vs- Pico Slim haven't not heard them back to back.  I might be the the tiny minority here, but I have generally not found an amplifier to make a noticeable difference in sound quality when using IEM/CIEM which have a source which has variable output level. iPod headphone jack, Lavry DA-11, Dragonfly, etc to my IEM/CIEM sounds about the same as those devices feeding a high quality amplifier.  Now if we are talking more demanding headphones, the amplifier makes a big difference.
 
--Mark

 

[muzic4life]

I agree with Mark...the pico power is one of the no-mistake choice for portable amps. From my portable audio journey, i have had owned many amps before and i can conclude that for me..there are 3 amps so far still be my favorite and i will keep them for so long. They are pico power, rsa intruder and apex glacier. Each of them have their own advantages. And all of them can drive iems and hard to drive cans very very good. The Kojo Technology KM01 amp it has a very special character of sound but only limited to lower impedance cans and iems. So i think for the best allrounder amp so far imo still be the pico/intruder /glacier.

 

[LFC_SL]

Earlier in the thread I asked about range of volume control to assist with making a buying decision. The replies were spot on. From my most sensitive IEM (SE535) to the HD600, the Pico Power is effortless, black background and plenty of room to play with. Do not even need to use high gain with the HD600