[Mediahound]

Quote:

 
do you have calipers to measure them?

 
Wish I did. I should probably buy some. 
 
Just lining them up and looking by eye, the Rayovac appears to be at least 1mm larger in length and width but probably not more than 3mm. 

 

[dallan]

I am happily mistaken.  A late special delivery guy came after 6pm.....

  Time to eat crow.
 
 

 
Now just waiting on the 8" mini to mini with rt angle plug to feed from back of Fostex so they can all fact the same way.

 

[mtntrance]

Initial Impressions with iems...
 
Listening to Widespread Panic's "Everyday" with my 1964 Quad 4 with an iPhone 4S as a source.  Widespread Panic consistently has high quality studio recording production and I am familiar with the music.  I bought this amp for my iems and possible use with HD650s or LCD2s and ditched my pico slim.  In the low gain setting I am pretty impressed with the sound so far.  The POT on the amp allows low volume with channels still balanced.  Thanks Jason for taking the time to find/test POTs that can be used with iems.  I can see why Justin says this is his best sounding portable and why the first impression-review is so positive.  This amp sounds superb.  I do not regret letting go of the pico slim this amp sounds better and is more versatile.
 
Now listening to Allison Krause and Union Station "So Long So Wrong" another exceptional recording.  Sound quality is not to far off from my LCD2s with Audio GD gear.  Bass is impressive on my Quads.  Great tone through out.  Clarity and placement of instruments and sound is distinct with plenty of space between stuff.  Nice mids and highs.  Pleasing, detailed and clear.
 
Next track is Jon and Vangelis from "The Best of Jon & Vangelis" track He Is Sailing --sounds good but I like tis track better on the home rig.  
 
Next listening to Porcupine Tree's from "Deadwing" track Halo and then Anywhere But Not Here.  Interesting I noticed some parts of the percussion in the recording sounds distorted.  Haven't heard that before even on the home rig. Perhaps I haven't listened this closely before and never noticed it.  On Anywhere But Here the song starts out slow with instruments coming in the style used often by Pink Floyd.  Bass is intense and detail present with that 3D like sound stage-still not like using Orthos but very good for iems.. 
 
I ordered grey and when initially seeing it I was disappointed but it is growing on me.  I will keep the amp in its excellent case all the time anyway.  The build quality is the typical high quality HeadAmp we are used to.
 
Glad I pre-ordered.  Great product!

 

[justin w.]

Quote:

 
Wish I did. I should probably buy some. 
 
Just lining them up and looking by eye, the Rayovac appears to be at least 1mm larger in length and width but probably not more than 3mm. 

 
http://www.harborfreight.com/6-inch-digital-caliper-47257.html
i have these and they're invaluable
 
I did go around buying about a dozen different battery types and measuring them, making sure they all would fit, and they do.  I assume the problem is that the battery is too long.  it's possible you just need to push the springs in with more force, or is it just too much?  

 

[Mediahound]

Quote:

 
http://www.harborfreight.com/6-inch-digital-caliper-47257.html
i have these and they're invaluable
 
I did go around buying about a dozen different battery types and measuring them, making sure they all would fit, and they do.  I assume the problem is that the battery is too long.  it's possible you just need to push the springs in with more force, or is it just too much?  

 
Thanks, I think it's just this battery. It also doesn't fit in some other devices I have. I suppose it's also possible I got a defective battery that is slightly out of spec or something.
 
I could probably push it in harder against the Pico Power battery terminals but don't want to force it. It's not a big deal since I can use other 9vs. 

 

[NewMexiCat]

Quote:

NewMexiCat -- i think i had a run on silver and 3 silver enclosures were damaged during assembly and could not be used, which made a big difference.  i will update you ASAP.
 
Also as i am sure this is going to come up -- the volume knob is intentionally hard to turn as this is a portable amp.  if you want a "loose" volume control there is a teflon washer inside the amp that would be removed.
 
colors I am short on:
silver
gray
orange
purple (was never part of batch #1, will be in batch #2)

 
Thanks for the update Justin.  I would be willing to switch to black if that would make it easier for you (and for me to get my Pico Power sooner)!  Of course, if your color supply is pre-allocated among the pre-orders, I can wait patiently for silver.  Thanks!

 

[NewMexiCat]

Quote:

Justin has created a masterpiece! I have the headroom micro, IQube, ray samuels sr-71b, and ALO Continental (tube) portable amps. The Pico Power beats them all and it's not even close (of the aforementioned ones the Continental compares the best, but still, it's no even close. My source is a humble Sony Discman player I bought in Amazon (used from the early 2000s; cost less than $50). Used the Telarc recording of Wagner overtures conducted by Jesus Lopez Cobos with the Cincinnati orchestra to try and stress the amp as much as possibli given the wide dynamic range of the recording. I played the Rienzi, Flying Dutchman, and Tannhauser overtures with the Fostex th-900s, Ultrasone edition 8s, and audio technical 3000ANVs. All of these headphones have never sounded better out of a portable amp. Great bass, great minds, and great treble. Nothing is exaggerated or awkwardly salient. No roll-off here, there, or anywhere. I'm not kidding when I say that this little gem of an amp sounds like a full fledged desktop amp costing more than $1000. Most powerful portable amp EVER, PERIOD! Power and finesse all rolled into one. The search is over. With my other portable amps it was always like, "it's okay, but...". There are no buts with the Pico Power. Amazing. This is the end of the journey for me when it comes to portable amps: I'm not buying another portable amp unless it is to replace a broken Pico power with a new one. I'm smitten. I'm in love. Is this a rave review? Ya betcha! This is a groundbreaking product, Justin. You are a master. Two years in the works and now I know why it took so long. Congratulations! Between this and the blue Hawaii you have become a living legend.

 
figaro, I'm interested in the gain settings you employed for the different headphones you used.  I will be using primarily the Edition 8's with mine, so I'm particularly interested in your impressions with those phones.

 

[figaro69]

High setting. My source (see above) doesn't have much power/gain, so high gain works for me. Moreover, I listen primarily to classical music which, for some reason is recorded at a lower level of volume. Thus, high gain is best for me personally.

 

[figaro69]

I'm starting to notice that high sensitivity/lower impedance headphones do great with the Pico Power, but other cans such as the hd800s sound less impressive (compresses the sound stage somewhat). Given that I bought it specifically to drive the ath3000anv, th900, and ed8, I'm extremely happy.

 

[NewMexiCat]

Good stuff. Thanks figaro!

 

[bcwang]

I hope all the US orders haven't shipped because I haven't got any shipping notice for my black pico slim yet.  I hope my order didn't get forgotten somewhere.  Justin, any estimate on where I am on the pre-order list and when mine will ship?
 
I'm waiting with such anticipation reading about all these great first impressions already!
 

 

[Hi Rez]

Quote:

 

 
Weight, transparency, speed, texture of bass and other instruments - all add up to an extremely musical presentation.  I had hoped for a modest improvement over my Pico and have amp that could drive full size headphones.  Not even in my wildest dreams did I think the Power would be this good.  I didn't know ES5s could sound like this.  This does not sound like portable audio - it's high end.
 
Digital source for the Solo is a MB Pro with Pure Music.  I also listened using my Mac Mini - Ayre QB-9 as the source - the same impressions, just more of everything.
 
Used it briefly with an iPhone 4s - Silver Dragon LOD.  It was still very good, but it was missing much of the musicality that it had with better sources.  Don't scrimp on the source if you want to get the most from this amp.
 
It has taken me way longer to write this than it should.  I've been listening to Joni Mitchell - For the Roses (HDtracks 24/192) as I write.  Terribly distracting....
 
Looking forward to more impressions with full size headphones.  I already know what is on the wish list for Christmas.

 

[figaro69]

Eight hours and no posts? Looks like only a handful of us have gotten theirs, eh?

 

[verber]

I got mine yesterday.  not posted because I am listening not writing 

 and because it's too soon to be able to characterize the amp properly.  Used it today in the office. Very short summary is that it is dead quiet with my Westone ES5 on low gain, and sounds slightly more refined / smoother than running the ES5 directly from a AQ Dragonfly.  It has plenty of power to drive my HD800 at high gain and sometimes medium gain.  I can now enjoy the HD800 in a way that just wasn't possible when being driven directly by  self powered DAC/amps (Dragonfly, DACport, Streamer, etc).  I did a very brief comparison between the Pico Power an the GS-1 on my desk. I could immediately hear differences, but the Pico Power stood up remarkably well.
 
--Mark

 

[Armaegis]

Quote:

Eight hours and no posts? Looks like only a handful of us have gotten theirs, eh?

 
So you're rocking a new Dark Star and Pico Power eh? You must be having a blast...