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1964-Q owners: I've heard a good bit of love for pairing with UHA-4. Any thoughts on Pico Slim? Better yet, anyone tried both?
I'm still using my MiniBox E+ that I got for my ER4S because, well, it was basically made to pair with ER4S! However, since it was designed to synergize so well with those I wonder if I'm missing out on a more "appropriate" amp....
I have used both with the Quad. The UHA-4 is really a great package at it's price. It is not as fantastic as the UHA-4 love thread cracks it up to be. The DAC is merely decent, and the volume control, while good, is second to the Pico Slim. It doesn't really drive low efficiency, high impedance headphones spectacularly. It is a pretty decent little amp with the quads, though.
I ended up selling the UHA-4, and trying out the TTVJ Slim, then the Pico Slim alongside the TTVJ Slim. I traded the TTVJ for the Pico Slim.
Notes - I listen at pretty low volume most of the time. The Pico Slim has the best volume control I've ever used. Even very efficient iems (like the quads) are easy to bring to dead silent, and have excellent control over the volume all the way up to too freakin' loud. That is the main selling point for the Pico Slim for me. Nothing I've tried works this well for this purpose. It also sounds excellent. It's also pricey.
The UHA-4 has decent volume control, but not as good as the Pico Slim. It sounds great, and if I recall, a touch warmer the the Pico Slim. I didn't need the DAC, but it wasn't bad.
The UHA-4 has crossfeed - A big plus! The downside, is it has the Linkowitz circuit (pretty sure, could be wrong) which seems to add just enough lower frequency (or mask mid and upper, not sure) that it makes it border on too warm, and cross the border into too warm frequently. I had the same trouble with my Headroom UDA (fantastic amp, by the way). The treble boost never seemed to quite hit the right spot to "fix" it completely. Still, I miss having crossfeed some of the time.
End result of my ramble - if you listen at low volume, and can get past the price - Pico Slim all the way - a wonderful amp with highly efficient phones and iems. Otherwise, UHA-4 - save a few bucks, get a decent dac and crossfeed, and a nice amp to boot.
Edit - no condescension here - I sometimes regret selling the UHA-4, and if it wasn't for the Pico Slim, I'd buy another one.