[Kabeer]

So yup, anyone heard the Mini3 amp and the Pico amp?

Looking to know about the differences. I hear that both have similar driving capability.
I use v.demanding cans.

Thanks

 

[qusp]

yes I have heard both. I owned the pico for about 6-7 months; only selling it the other day to get funds to buy my newly acquired D10

it really is a wonderful amp; I had a mini^3 for a few weeks as well, as I bought one for a friend as his first amp (birthday present) the mini^3 is really a nice amp and punches above its weight, but IMO is not in the same league as the pico amp as far as refinement is concerned. I must say that although I miss the size of the pico, the D10 has more than filled its place for powering low imp cans and IEMS and via lineout to lisa its superb. but back on topic. I believe if its a choice between those two the pico wins without much trouble, at least to these ears it did or I would have kept the mini^3 and given him the pico

thats how I roll LOL. the midrange is to die for on pico and highs are slightly smoother than mini^3 the mini^3 had maybe a touch more bass slam with AD825, but not as extended. the one I had, had a tendency to very slightly grainy and slightly sucked out upper mids. this is all from memory too and I was pretty obsessed with the pico at the time

 

[Kabeer]

Hi Qusp, thanks for the reply! The cans I use are VERY demanding, ranging from 16ohm impedance to 150 Ohm, but even the 16Ohm one would be nearly as hard to drive as a 600 Ohm AKG k240.

I do really like how the Mini3 slams its bass!! But I do also hear how it has a slightly etchy treble which with certains cans can get annoying.

Thanks!

 

[qusp]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kabeer /img/forum/go_quote.gif Hi Qusp, thanks for the reply! The cans I use are VERY demanding, ranging from 16ohm impedance to 150 Ohm, but even the 16Ohm one would be nearly as hard to drive as a 600 Ohm AKG k240. I do really like how the Mini3 slams its bass!! But I do also hear how it has a slightly etchy treble which with certains cans can get annoying. Thanks!

no problem; wow, glad to see my auditory memory isnt half bad after all LOL. the pico will deal with 150ohms without issue. it wont drive them to defining levels, but will sound very nice IMO. and yeah 16ohm is a hard ask of an amp with the curent needed. thats a fact that is largely ignored by the 'no portable amps' pundits. nmaybe get an impedence adapter for them though. I never had any sign of hiss with my 32ohms SE530

 

[paulybatz]

I think it depends on the budget.

Get a mustang.

However my father loves his rockhopper mini3 and 24ga silver cables and I asked him if he wanted something else and he replied: I don't need anything else.

 

[imademymark]

i second that, the pico is more than double the price of the mini3!

that said, i havent heard the mini3, but for my ears the pico betters the mustang easily

 

[smeggy]

I'm looking forward to getting my mini3 back from repairs. I haven't heard a Pico yet so can't give any opinion on which would be better but I do love the mini3 to bits for my cans.

 

[Kabeer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by smeggy /img/forum/go_quote.gif I'm looking forward to getting my mini3 back from repairs. I haven't heard a Pico yet so can't give any opinion on which would be better but I do love the mini3 to bits for my cans.

Actually I think the mini3 does a swish job with some of my Yamaha cans. One big fault for me is that the battery doesnt last as long as i'd like when driving such a demanding can.

I considered buying a spare mini3 to switch around, but that just seems a bit crazy

 

[Ricey20]

I had both the Mini3 and Pico to AB. They sound somewhat similar, probably because the Mini3 also uses the AD8397 that the Pico has. The difference is the Pico is more refined and has a bit more control. It also has a complete black background while the Mini3 still had a low level hiss with the cans I tried it with, granted I didn't try it with super high imp cans like my K240 Sextett or K340s at the time (mostly because the mini3 wouldn't be able to drive them very well anyway

). The Pico also has better control as in the highs really sparkle very well and the bass is tighter and has more control than the Mini3. The bass of the Mini3 in comparison sounded mushy and messy. The highs on the Mini3 sometimes tend to make things sibilant too while I never had that problem with the same tracks with the Pico. Not to mention the Pico battery lasts almost twice as long as the AD8397 Mini3. In the end I sold the Pico and gave the Mini3 away. I'd suggest you try getting a Minibox-E+ if you can

 

[Kabeer]

Ello ricey! Thanks for the details. Yeah i have felt the mini3 siblance.
(btw these pico comments, are they the pico vs. mini3 using the same source, or was the pico using its own dac (since that would kinda be a bit unfair on the mini3).

And urrghh minibox e+

nooooooooo lol. Crums, does looks like it have a nice voltage swing on it...(18v!!).

 

[Ricey20]

same source, i rarely used the dac. I thought I would use it so I bought it with it, ended up not using it much so that's why I sold it

I have to say though, the DAC was the only real knockout the Pico had against the Mini3 (since the Mini3 doesn't have one

). I was pleasantly surprised how good the DAC was considering it's size. I was just too lazy to lug around something extra with my laptop. For the price though, the Mini3 really is good. I'd say its around 85% of the Pico.

 

[sarathcpt]

Quote:

Originally Posted by qusp /img/forum/go_quote.gif yes I have heard both. I owned the pico for about 6-7 months; only selling it the other day to get funds to buy my newly acquired D10

How do you find the D10 as compared to the Pico(from your memory, of course) ? Thanks!

 

[smeggy]

You need to remember what type of phones were driving too... orthos are generally low impedance and low efficiency and the mini drives them with gusto due to their good current delivery. That's why the battery doesn't last as long as we'd like but it does do a grand job of providing the bass slam.

 

[jrazmar]

ricey20, have you heard the mini3 with your PFE? how is the synergy? the PFE with the grey filters on has some spikey treble which at some track may be very ear-piercing. how is the treble with the mini3? how about the bass? does it give more bass quality to the already nice bass of the PFE? how about in terms of quantity? and about the soundstage? I am about to decide between the mini3 and the T4, which is better? thanks.

 

[qusp]

Quote:

Originally Posted by sarathcpt /img/forum/go_quote.gif How do you find the D10 as compared to the Pico(from your memory, of course) ? Thanks!

well its a bit OT; sorry for taking so long, youve probably sorted it by now, but i'll answer for the hell of it; just in case you are still researching.

now that I have had plenty of time to tweak the D10 opamps and get used to the SQ; I can say that the only thing the pico has in favour is its small size. running OPA2350 and AD8616 buffers I feel that the D10 not only equals the pico (actually sounds a little similar) but even betters it in as far as the D10 hits harder and has a little more depth of soundstage. now if you bring the D10- optical dac into the equation the gap widens again. i'm really loving it lately; using the AD8397 its not quite a match, but having tuned it perfectly to my liking (spent $150USD+ on opamps and buffers for variety and just for kicks)) it now provides better synergy with my IEMs than the pico ever did; I still miss the pico mids sometimes, but the rest of the spectrum is definitely well enough to take the lead back. such a flexible little dac/amp and IMO represents the best value in portable audio at the moment.