[Vault101]

Great review! Did you have a chance to compare how arrow drives high impedience headphones with your other amps. Thanks in advance!

 

[caracara08]

by the way, jc you have a very impressive collection with great range.

 

[mythless]

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Yes.  I love to listen at low level at work and using JH13, I have to adjust the volume just right to get it properly balance.  With Pico Slim, I do not notice any imbalance at any volume level.

Did the crossfeed do anything for you?
 
 


Quote:

Great review! Did you have a chance to compare how arrow drives high impedience headphones with your other amps. Thanks in advance!

 The only high impedance headphones that I can borrow quite easy is the Sexttet 600ohm.  The Arrow does a much better job.  The Pico Slim doesn't have enough voltage and gain to drive high impedance headphones as good as the Arrow.

 

[jc9394]

I do notice there is a difference on crossfeed but also noticed a little sound degraduation. On high impedance phones, Arrow is much better than Pico Slim but to my ears it is around the same as regular Pico with HD800. It is a great match with D7000 and HF-2, it perform poorly with LCD-2. So far, I have not tried other new portable amps.

 

[Anaxilus]

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I do notice there is a difference on crossfeed but also noticed a little sound degraduation. On high impedance phones, Arrow is much better than Pico Slim but to my ears it is around the same as regular Pico with HD800. It is a great match with D7000 and HF-2, it perform poorly with LCD-2. So far, I have not tried other new portable amps.

Are you saying the Arrow performs poorly w/ the LCD2?  Kinda lost me in there.  Do you mean drive capability or synergy?

 

[jc9394]

Are you saying the Arrow performs poorly w/ the LCD2?  Kinda lost me in there.  Do you mean drive capability or synergy?

Both drive capability and synergy, so far I have not find any portable amp can do a good job with LCD-2. I have to try SR-71b but budget is very limited.

 

[Anaxilus]

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Are you saying the Arrow performs poorly w/ the LCD2?  Kinda lost me in there.  Do you mean drive capability or synergy?

Both drive capability and synergy, so far I have not find any portable amp can do a good job with LCD-2. I have to try SR-71b but budget is very limited.

Oh well.  Hearing the LCD2 were pretty easy to drive left me thinking they would be fine powered by something like the Arrow.  I must say I'm a bit disappointed and glad I decided to go for Customs first.  Thanks for the input.

 

[jc9394]

LCD-2 is easy to drive but Arrow will not do it any justice. After you heard it from a desktop amp, you will understand. Even with WA22, I have to choose the right tubes combo that have enough output to do it justice. With .5-7 watt output, it sound great but not amazing until I pop in a pair of tubes that have 2+ watts output.

 

[GreatDane]

Very good review, thanks for your impressions and comparisons.

 

[zenki14]

Interesting review, nice info... as I also use Fuze v2, Fiio LOD and Arrow (but 2.1G). I use SE530. For music with heavy bass, even no bass boost is enough, but I find bass boost 1 to be fun for most other music which I listen to.
 
I always wondered what the advantages of Pico amps are in terms of sound signature, it seems my guesses were in the right direction.
 
Perhaps another advantage of Arrow will be the auto power adaptation to 12V, making it capable to drive high impedance earphones and even cans. Rob confirmed the Arrow driving Beyerdynamic 600ohms no problem. However as expected, trying my 600ohm HD25-13 it drains battery faster than using low impedance iems.
 
Just using regular IEMs, the Arrow really lasts long. I use it everyday for few hours but lasts about two weeks. I charge the Fuze twice or three times while the arrow lasts one full charge.
 
I was lucky to get it before the price increase, but for $300 it's still worth every dollar. Excellent amp. If I had more money I might've gone towards the Pico, but since I love Arrow's bass I guess I can't part with it for a long time...

 

[mythless]

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Very good review, thanks for your impressions and comparisons.

Thanks!
 

 
Quote:

Interesting review, nice info... as I also use Fuze v2, Fiio LOD and Arrow (but 2.1G). I use SE530. For music with heavy bass, even no bass boost is enough, but I find bass boost 1 to be fun for most other music which I listen to.
 
I always wondered what the advantages of Pico amps are in terms of sound signature, it seems my guesses were in the right direction.
 
Perhaps another advantage of Arrow will be the auto power adaptation to 12V, making it capable to drive high impedance earphones and even cans. Rob confirmed the Arrow driving Beyerdynamic 600ohms no problem. However as expected, trying my 600ohm HD25-13 it drains battery faster than using low impedance iems.
 
Just using regular IEMs, the Arrow really lasts long. I use it everyday for few hours but lasts about two weeks. I charge the Fuze twice or three times while the arrow lasts one full charge.
 
I was lucky to get it before the price increase, but for $300 it's still worth every dollar. Excellent amp. If I had more money I might've gone towards the Pico, but since I love Arrow's bass I guess I can't part with it for a long time...

Well, depends on how you like your bass

both are good, you do get a lot more quantity with the Arrow, but the Pico does a have a slight edge on the quality that it produces.  Listening more and more Classical music, I would lean towards the Pico.  But, everything else I would gladly enjoy the Arrow.  Haha, I guess I'm a lot more critical when I listen to Classical.

 

[Girls Generation]

I wonder how the arrow stands against the stepdance. (w/ W1000X) I listen to vocal/ballad.

 

[shotgunshane]

Have any of you used either with the Westone 3's or TF10's?  I'm leaning towards the Pico Slim for low level listening.  What I'm hoping to gain is the best lower level listening with all the dynamics these IEM's produce at louder levels from the dap's headphone out.  Right now I have to listen at 60% top 75% volume, which is louder than I'd like, especially for extended listening.  Bass is the big thing that suffers at lower volume listening.

 

[jc9394]

Quote:

Have any of you used either with the Westone 3's or TF10's?  I'm leaning towards the Pico Slim for low level listening.  What I'm hoping to gain is the best lower level listening with all the dynamics these IEM's produce at louder levels from the dap's headphone out.  Right now I have to listen at 60% top 75% volume, which is louder than I'd like, especially for extended listening.  Bass is the big thing that suffers at lower volume listening.

Get the Arrow and you will not be disappointed.  I find the Arrow is extremely fun amp to listen to while the Pico Slim is more on the netural side.  On the other hand, I much prefer Pico Slim on low level listening.  Much more control on the volume setting than the Arrow.  I wish Arrow have a lower gain setting...

 

[s1rrah]

Thanks for writing up the review. Very nice insights.
 
And BTW ... this is perfect:
 
"[size=12pt]It really is a nice feature, just like heated seats in cars in winter."[/size]
 
 
Excellent analogy. I know exactly what you mean.