[dadozen]

I think I have made up my mind. I have talked to Justin and he told me that the new Pico DAC will cost $349 and it will have a RCA output, besides the regular mini output.

It will use a Wolfson DAC Chip, and I just need to confirm which power supply it uses( if it will only run through a power supply cable or if it will have rechargeable batteries in it ).

It will start being shipped in February or March. Until then I will probably have saved the money to pay him.

Instead of getting a Predator, I'll probably get a Pico DAC, that can be used with both the Cantate, that doesn't use a Wolfson DAC( through RCAs ) and the SR-71A( through minis ).

As of now, this seems to be the most reasonable choice.

I'll check with him if I can pre-order it right now.

Cheers.

 

[HeadphoneAddict]

Quote:

Originally Posted by dadozen /img/forum/go_quote.gif Zephyr, a Pico DAC only + RSA SR-71A would be my portable system when traveling with my laptop, but my main rig still is the Cantate.2 + HD650. My budget currently doesn't allow me more HA, do you think that using the Pico as a DAC/preamp with my Cantate, a small stationay amp, would give me some better SQ? or would it be barely noticeable? Do you use the Pico as a preamp for which system? Thanks again!

The Pico is the DAC/Preamp for my Woo GES/Stax O2/HE60/ESP950 rig, and I have my head-direct EF1 connected to the RCA loop out that I had added to my GES maxed. I haven't needed to get a Stello or Lavry for the Stax rig yet because this works well enough. Plaidplatypus, Sherwood and Blutarsky all agree this is the right DAC for this rig (although Blutos Stello DA100 and plaid's Lavry DA10 were darn good too, I can't say they were noticeably better in this rig than the Pico).

However, my Apogee mini-DAC makes the GES sound too tubey and I use it on my balanced dynamic rig instead, to feed my Single Power with loop out to my Woo WA6. The D3 line out doesn't have enough voltage for my low gain GES amp to give me the volume I want, so I don't use it much for anything but as a backup.

 

[dadozen]

Although I have posted I had already made up my mind, HA, your 10/10 for the Predator on your review really makes me want one. I'm not 100% sure on what I should do.

 

[Brighten]

Quote:

Originally Posted by HeadphoneAddict /img/forum/go_quote.gif The Pico is the DAC/Preamp for my Woo GES/Stax O2/HE60/ESP950 rig, and I have my head-direct EF1 connected to the RCA loop out that I had added to my GES maxed. I haven't needed to get a Stello or Lavry for the Stax rig yet because this works well enough. Plaidplatypus, Sherwood and Blutarsky all agree this is the right DAC for this rig (although Blutos Stello DA100 and plaid's Lavry DA10 were darn good too, I can't say they were noticeably better in this rig than the Pico). However, my Apogee mini-DAC makes the GES sound too tubey and I use it on my balanced dynamic rig instead, to feed my Single Power with loop out to my Woo WA6. The D3 line out doesn't have enough voltage for my low gain GES amp to give me the volume I want, so I don't use it much for anything but as a backup.

Are you projecting the Pico as an amp/dac to be better than the dac only Pico?

Sorry but you've already jumped the gun...

 

[HeadphoneAddict]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brighten /img/forum/go_quote.gif Are you projecting the Pico as an amp/dac to be better than the dac only Pico? Sorry but you've already jumped the gun...

I don't know - the Pico DAC/amp is suited for feeding music to my Woo GES because it is a low gain amp and likes a high input voltage from the source. Justin has offered to let me demo a Pico DAC-only later, but I don't know when that will happen. I would expect that leaving out the amp section of the Pico will provide a cleaner more neutral sound from the DAC, but the Pico amp still makes a pretty neutral and clean preamp as far as I am concerned.

 

[Brighten]

Quote:

Originally Posted by HeadphoneAddict /img/forum/go_quote.gif I don't know - the Pico DAC/amp is suited for feeding music to my Woo GES because it is a low gain amp and likes a high input voltage from the source. Justin has offered to let me demo a Pico DAC-only later, but I don't know when that will happen. I would expect that leaving out the amp section of the Pico will provide a cleaner more neutral sound from the DAC, but the Pico amp still makes a pretty neutral and clean preamp as far as I am concerned.

I'll definetely be looking forward to the review.

 

[dadozen]

X2 for sure

 

[shamanstar]

Headphoneaddict- thanks for the link to the rf shield! I just ordered one. The video is pretty convincing so Im hoping it solves the rf problem that i found with my d3 that just came today. I know there was a possibility that it would happen, but I bought the d3 anyways bcz I knew I could find a fix.