[ickle97116084]

Could someone provide help choosing a new amp to match with a pair of Sennheisser ie8s. My source is a Cowon s9. I found the icon mobile to be of little benefit and would have preffered a little more treble from the setup. Bass was acceptable and in some cases better without the icon mobile.
 
I found the Icon mobile sounded a lot better from USB (as a dac) than out of the cowon (as an amp) and I rarely used the icon mobile at home. I came to the conclusion that the icon was really designed heavily toward the home use sector rather than as a portable or on the go AMP. So for me a DAC/AMP is not really neccessary just an AMP.
 
If anyone could help that would be great.
 
Cheers,
 
Ickle
 
 

 

[CEE TEE]

I'm finding my new AMB mini^3 (mini cubed) to have more power/clarity than my Icon Mobile but also a <neutral to bright sound sig> and it is a great pairing so far with my Sony X and UE RM.  
 
And only $130 for the High Performance version made for you by MisterX.  He does REALLY nice work with about 2-3 weeks turnaround.  Highly recommended. 
 
I went for gain of 2 which is what AMB recommends for iems.  Yes, the icon mobile was good with IE8 but it was more subtle.  
 
I sold the IE8 but would have liked to try to them with the mini^3!
 
I am still burning my amp in but remember an even more noticeable difference with AMB's own sample mini^3...I want to try them side-by-side!
 
There was also an ALO version made for a little while- the "Double mini^3" which had some extra caps/resistors and some parts upgrades.  Interested in hearing that one too.
 
The Pico Slim is also considered transparent/neutral and on my list to check out sometime...good luck!!

 

[CEE TEE]

Another thing I have noticed is that while the Icon Mobile and the mini^3 have a brighter sound sig and the mini^3 has increased separation...they both have smaller soundstages than my darker D12.  

 

[ickle97116084]

Thanks for the info CEE TEE. I live in the UK, Edinburgh, Scotland to be precise, and I am not too fond of purchasing items from overseas due to the possibility of the items being hit with a VAT/Duty charge on my end plus the possibility of damage and long shipping times. Id prefer something a bit more immediate. I will keep my eye on the web for auctions as you have made me curious about this mini3.
 
Cheers,
 
Ickle.

 

[DaBomb77766]

http://www.headfonia.com/the-usual-suspects-12-portable-amps-compared/
 
You could try checking this out.  Pretty comprehensive comparison of a bunch of high-end portable amps.