[22906]

I posted on the Pico order thread because I want the Pico with DAC to serve as a preamp for my future speaker system (with a Gainclone power amp) as well as a headphone amp for transportable listening on my laptop. In addition to using computer as source, I am planning to add an analog front end in the future as well, and I was hoping to make use of the Pico's analog input for this purpose. How does one go about switching inputs on the Pico, or is this done automatically? The Predator has a dedicated input select switch, but from reviews it seems the Pico has better sound quality.

The main allure of the Pico for me is the USB DAC that utilizes ASRC at 96 KHz. Since it also includes a headphone amp with volume control, it seems like a much more cost effective alternative to the Stello DA-100, which was the other USB DAC I was considering. What do you guys think about all this?

 

[Andrew_WOT]

1) Works as standalone DAC perfectly
2) Uses auto switching
3) DA100 is still better but the difference is not that dramatic
http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f5/com...inidac-291801/
DA100 with Pico

 

[kamal007]

so a portable would actually be that close to a home amp or dac?

 

[Andrew_WOT]

Quote:

Originally Posted by kamal007 /img/forum/go_quote.gif so a portable would actually be that close to a home amp or dac?

Depends on what it's compared to. As an amp probably not, GLite for instance sounds clearly superior, DAC on the other hand is very impressive and paired with desktop amp makes a killer combo.

 

[kamal007]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Andrew_WOT /img/forum/go_quote.gif Depends on what it's compared to. As an amp probably not, GLite for instance sounds clearly superior, DAC on the other hand is very impressive and paired with desktop amp makes a killer combo.

ic. that is because i saw some senior member signature that just show the pico connected to the l3000, hd650 and other high end phones.

 

[Ricey20]

I agree the Pico as a DAC is extremely good for the size and price. The amp itself is pretty good though but tried the DAC and as a preamp and it blew me away.