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Hi HeadphoneAddict, How does HDP compared with pico for HF-2? both as amp and dac.
And which amp you've tried is the best for hf-2 around 400 dollars? Thank you!
That's not as easy to answer as it seems.
For the HF-2 I think either HDP or Pico original with DAC sound good with them; however, with most Grados I still prefer a tube hybrid like EF1, EF2, EF5, Cavalli CTH, Millett Hybrid or a transformer coupled tube amp like WA6 or ZDT (The ALO amphora is an exception as it is a nice warm smooth battery powered SS amp that drives Grados well). The HDP makes the HF-2 sound a little more aggressive but not bad, while the Pico was not quite warm enough sounding with most of my Grados except the HF-2 which did pair well with it. The Pico is a little more laid back sounding and a little smoother than the HDP, but it's also less powerful and slightly less detailed. That laid back and smooth signature makes Pico a good match for the HF-2 which are already a bit forward in the mids, upper mids and lower treble. In my original Pico review I felt that it could stand to be a little warmer with the RS-1 which are not as warm and robust sounding as the HF-2 or PS-1000. Basically the HDP amp section sounds quite similar to the balanced Protector portable amp but with more power than the Protector, and if I recall Skylab preferred that sound over the original Pico in his big portable amp review.
The sound is good enough with either amp that it's what else you plan to do with the DAC/amp that should be used to help make the decision - i.e. What other phones will you use with it? Do you need portable? How small does it need to be? Do you need a lot of power? Do you want to use the DAC as a pre-amp for a full size amp? Do you need optical and coax input in addition to analog and USB? Do you want native 24/96 or up-sampled USB DAC? Do you need the finer low volume control for IEM that the Pico offers? (HDP's very low volume channel imbalance can be an issue with very sensitive IEM, but if listening with USB you can turn the volume down lower with the computer system volume)
For instance, I would reach for the HDP first with the LCD-2, HE-5 LE and HD600 that are hard to drive and laid back themselves; as well as with HE-6 and AKG K240M 600 ohm due to the extra power, or with the D2000/5000/D7000 where it brings out their mids better. I'm not sure I prefer either amp with my HD800, which sound a little better on the full size amps that I mentioned above for Grados. Although the Pico Slim has the extra warmth I like with the HD800 it lacks the power to play loud. The ATH-ESW10 sound great with either amp, but my ATH-AD900 sound better with the HDP. The HDP also seems to control the bass better with my UE11Pro where the bass was boomy with my Pico and Pico Slim. And the HDP fills in the mids of my JH13Pro and UE11pro better than the Pico which mades them feel very slightly recessed. On the other hand, the Pico was a better match with my Westone ES3X than the HDP. NOTE - I sold the original Pico around May before I got the ES5 this August, but the ES5 are good with Slim and HDP. Having the Pico DAC-only feeding both the Pico Slim and Protector balanced amp made more sense than keeping the original Pico.
For slightly more money the HDP gives you many more features than Pico and can still sound decent your HF-2 while you save up for a bigger and better amp. In my home laptop rig I've been using the HDP DAC to drive my ALO Amphora amp, where I use the Amphora with HD800 and HF-2, and the HDP built-in amp with the LCD-2, HE-5 LE, HE-6, ESW10, AD900, LA7000, K240M and HD600. I also use the Pico DAC-only to drive my Pico Slim for ES5 and my Protector for a very small balanced JH13pro rig. (to avoid the hiss in the amphora with sensitive IEM).
In your case, if you plan to drive very efficient phones and IEM, and you need portable, then the Pico would be a good choice, although at that point I might still suggest considering the iBasso D4 or D10 with upgraded opamps instead. While the DACs are not quite as good as the HDP, these will save you a bit of money vs the Pico. The D4 USB DAC is difficult to differentiate from the Pico DAC, while the stock amp section sounds like a cross between the Pico and P-51 - with new opamps it's a P-51 clone. The stock D10 is a Predator clone, but with new opamps it sounds closer to the P-51 but not quite. The D10's USB DAC is very slightly behind the Pico, but it's optical 24/96 DAC keeps up well. I do find the HDP DAC to be a little more resolving, mostly with 24/96 hi-res downloads, and so I use it the most as my laptop's DAC.
