Todd provided me with the Portable Millet for my table at the head-fi show. I had not heard one of these before the show. After listening to it, using my Imod and Modified AKG701 I immediately bought one from him on the spot. I have a bunch of amps and I am bias towards the tube-ey sound so of course I am just flat out in love with it. Its sound is quite unique for such a small amp. Yes sometimes it does have the microphonic ringing but goes away or is subtle. Anyways I am continuing to burn it in. Dam! Great work Pete.
I'd just opened mine a few minutes ago, now its burning in with imod>cryo x flat 6>millet portable>er-4s. I heard the ping too went right down my spine
I have not heard the hornet, sr-71 or other really high end portables, but the depth that this amp provides continues to put a smile on my face. It really opens up the music! However there is still intimacy, lots of intimacy. Plugged into the millet portable my the vocals on my triple.fi's sound less far away, and less pushed back (which is a good thing).
As others have noted there is definitely a ping when you turn the amp on. Also for about the first 5-7 seconds there is a high pitched noise which i assume is the tubes warming up. This goes totally away after a few seconds.
I have tried to get the microphonics to act up by tapping on the amp, etc. I have not found this to be a big problem. You can get them to ping by rapping the case, but you have to do it pretty hard and even then it was not too particularly loud (IMO). Indeed yesterday I was in a cab for a 45 minute ride on an unpaved road and I heard no microphonics. So if any of you are worried about microphonics interfering with portability that does not seem to be an issue (at least with my amp)
With the 10 hours or so of burn in that I have done, the bass has started to tighten up. More updates/impressions as burn in continues...
My visa card is itching to order this amp. I really wanted to hold out for the new Headroom "ultra micro" with the max module but it could be months before anything is official. Honestly, I have never listen to a tube amp before and this little gem sounds like a portable experience not to be missed......hhhhmmm....guess I could cancel my "supermicro" order to justify getting this amp. Must do what "Master Yoda" said....Dwell on this matter, I Must.
Originally Posted by smoked ou7 /img/forum/go_quote.gif My visa card is itching to order this amp. I really wanted to hold out for the new Headroom "ultra micro" with the max module but it could be months before anything is official. Honestly, I have never listen to a tube amp before and this little gem sounds like a portable experience not to be missed......hhhhmmm....guess I could cancel my "supermicro" order to justify getting this amp. Must do what "Master Yoda" said....Dwell on this matter, I Must.
The TTVJ Millet Hybrid Portable Amp is a fantastic amp, I have had mine for 6 days and it has been burning in. At the moment it has about 140 hours and it just keeps getting and better.
Right now if I were to say which are the best portable amps I have heard I would say (in no particular order):
- RSA SR-71
- Supermicro IV (I have not heard the 4/11/07 mods yet)
- TTVJ Millet Hybrid Portable Amp
- LaRocco PRII (dying to listen to the MkII version which is supposed to much better)
The funny thing about the list above is how different each of the various amps is from each other. I mean different power source, size, op-amps, shape, etc. Yet they all agree in one thing, delivering fantastic sound. In my case the route has been funny because one of the first amps I ever listened was the SR-71, however I never got one of my own (till this week) because it does not have a charging circuit. Well now that I have it I whish I had done so earlier.
I realize that owning all of the above is overkill but IMO any of them (all is better
) will make over 99.9999% of the listeners happy.
I would like to add that there are two amps which IMO stand out and should be part of the list. Yes their sound may not be on par with the above 4 amps but these two have something special to offer. First the Tomahawk, how many amps can you take on an extended trip (a month or two) and not have to worry about the batteries running out. Secondly the Go-Vibe 6, fantastic sound at such a low price that it almost begs for everyone to own one.
Note to others: This amp needs to be burned in. I've got about 50 hours on mine, and it just keeps improving. It's starting to get that bloom I expect from tubes. One thing that has remained constant throughout is the soundstage......It's very 3-dimensional and wide.
I have never listen to a tube amp before and this little gem sounds like a portable experience not to be missed......hhhhmmm....guess I could cancel my "supermicro" order to justify getting this amp.
It's a "first" in the sense it has a tube gain stage . . . I'm almost positive you'd be happy with one, but it's really a matter of whether or not you want to spend this much for its sonic character (as it is for everything talked about around here).
I started on the portable route with a Tomahawk I bought on the preorder special. I was very impressed with it, but decided I wanted an amp that could drive my full-size cans as well as IEMs. I was set to order a Hornet when I ran across this thread announcing the Millett portable and decided to preorder it instead.
I have never heard a Hornet, but from most accounts it is described as being a "punchier" sounding version of the Tomahawk. I think I would have been happy with one. Unfortunately, I sold the Tomahawk before getting the Millett, so I didn't have them around to compare to each other. I think the Tomahawk may have extracted a slight bit more detail in the highs, but on the other hand the Millet has let me hear some nuances to the midrange that I don't think I got from the Tomahawk. It also drives all my cans with a more effortless sound.
Now that I have this great new portable amp, I've started to consider an iMod (I play mp3s recorded at 320 kbps on a Nano) with the thought of recording in .wav format. The dollar drain for "upgrades" can be neverending . . . especially if you let yourself hang around this place.
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