Uncle Erik: Thanks for the info, I am searching around. Ahh just saw that it is passive, at this point the Prelude is driving the HD650's and am gonna need some power as well. Jantze:I havent yet, I was just reading a little about bypassing the amp though, have you considered this?

Yea that was my thought, I just worry cause I do use cmss with the prelude and doubt I would get similar from an audio dac. Would like to get another dac w/amp just to see anyway. I will look into the x-meridian, there is so much to absorb, at this point I just want something here.

saint.panda:I gotta be honest, I am way too impatient, I am sitting here with mediocre at best sound on these 650's. I am like number 400 on the list, gonna be a while. I am certain that the pico is excellent as everyone has said, however my initial ideas were to have an all in one setup...

Tempted to look into an opera and get rid of my Prelude which would give room for budget however I am assuming that the prelude does much better than the opera dac for gaming esp w/ cmss.

Is the best place to order directly from their site or is there a distributor in the states?

I am leaning towards using the Prelude at home because of gaming, I can just leave it in this config and listen to music/games. I am still keeping my order for the pico and plan to use it mobile with different cans, I have concerns with the ability of the pico to drive the hd650's. Otherwise it...

From your budget concerns your best bet seems to be to use the prelude and an amp with your 650's. The prelude will run the 650's alone but not ideal.

For gaming and audio I do not know if many will argue that the Auzentech Prelude is going to be one of your best bets. Around $200.

From what I can gather I have decided on looking for just an amp, the Prelude as FallenAngel said, has a good enough dac for me. Now comes the tough decision.

Am I mistaken in that its DAC function is its best use? If I were using the Prelude dac would I be better to spend that money on a higher quality amp?

Hi, I have just started playing around with head-fi (thanks for all the info) and picked up a pair of hd650's for my pc. I am using a stock Auzentech Prelude. I play games as well as listen to lots of music. I have a pico on order which I felt would be my magical all in one savior for mobile...

Interesting, now you got me thinking. For some reason I was under the impression that the Pico did quite well with 650's as this was one of the primary sets he did testing with. I am now very curious to see this thread develop as I am in the market for the exact same thing to drive my 650's...

The Pico above seems to fit the bill. It was tested on the HD650, unfortunately there are quite a few people waiting for them, including myself, btw I also will be powering a pair of HD650's.

Thanks so much for those links. I was looking for color references, it would be nice to have that on the first post.

Hi, I would like to be put on the list for a Pico. Color:Silver w/Black Knob DAC:Yes USB:6ft