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Originally Posted by HeadphoneAddict /img/forum/go_quote.gif
X3 - use your own ears, or wait for a more in depth review.
The Pico Slim is a fantastic portable for the size. I posted elsewhere that it's only 1/2" longer than my miniature iBasso T3, well above it in sound quality, and half as thick as the Protector. For a while I had stopped taking a portable amp with me for an iPod because I wanted something small enough to fit in my pants pocket when velcro'd or stacked with a Nano, iPhone or iMod. I ended up only looking at portable amps with USB built-in because the thicker amps available served me better being used with my Macbook Pro.
The thin Fiio E5 and iBasso T4 were not an improvement over the iPod, except in warming up the sound signature and giving more power - but not really hi-fi sounding as far as detail and soundstage. The T3 improved on that in terms of detail and transparency, and it could sound better than the iPhone 3GS headphone out, so I started carrying an amp again.
But I kept wishing for something that size that could match the P-51 (which is fatter like Protector). The Pico Slim is all that and more, based on the demo loaner unit I have here. It's a perfect match with my ES3X which can sound slightly aggressive paired with the P-51, and it gives a boost in the bass to them and my JH13Pro.
I'll be using Pico Slim as a portable with an iPod every where I go now, and Protector will be more likely to stay with my Macbook Pro using Pico DAC or DACport for source (at home or traveling). I see them filling two different needs for me. I am using the Protector A LOT with my HD600 and Macbook, rediscovering how much I still like them - I've missed using balanced HD600 since the PSU on my Sq Wave XL went bad, and then when my Sigma 22 PSU had a different issue that was causing problems.
Back to the amps in question: The Protector is slightly "harder or aggressive" sounding in the upper mids and lower treble like the P-51 Mustang, but also improved. The Pico Slim is slightly smoother in those upper registers and more refined, but has a upper bass hump instead which seems to resonate a tiny bit in my ears with the JH13pro. So, with the JH13Pro the Slim is a little more neutral in the upper mids and treble and the Protector is more neutral in the upper bass and lower mids. Switching to the Westone ES3X, which are what I used to audition the Slim at CanJam 09, I fell in love all over again.
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Originally Posted by HeadphoneAddict /img/forum/go_quote.gif
Blutarsky, Sherwood and I did a mini-meet Saturday to listen to our custom IEM on the Pico Slim and Protector. Blutarsky owns the ES3X and Sherwood has JH13Pro, while I own both. Remember, the ES3X are a more forward and revealing IEM, and JH13Pro are a more laid back IEM with a little bump in the bass We all tried each amp with stock cable and with a 125 hour TWag cable. We used a single ended TWag adapter with both amps, and also tried them balanced with Protector.
Blutarsky thought the ES3X had a little better synergy with the Pico Slim because the mids and treble are smoother and not too forward while the bass is very strong (paraphrasing). Sherwood seemed to feel the Protector had a little better synergy with the JH13Pro because it filled in the mids and didn't bump the bass too much like the Pico Slim. I agreed with both of them, and it's interesting that they didn't read my post above where those were the same things I noticed when I compared them.
Interestingly, my bass heavy UE11Pro are not excessively bassy with Slim or Protector, as the amps seem to improve bass control so that it doesn't sound sloppy. Mind you, I can listen to any of these amps with any of my IEM and enjoy them; but many of us will have different preferences for which amp we grab first depending on their synergy with the IEM we own.
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Originally Posted by jamato8 /img/forum/go_quote.gif
So was the impression the same with the Protector in single ended and balanced?
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Originally Posted by HeadphoneAddict /img/forum/go_quote.gif
I'm including my previous comments for continuity and so I can link in my public profile to this one post that will have all my impressions in one spot, without making a new thread:
SE vs balanced didn't affect the synergy with the various IEM. I did feel the balanced mode was a little wider and deeper soundstage than SE mode, while Blutarsky agreed he felt the differences were not huge. I don't recall exactly what Sherwood said in that regard.
With HD600 the Protector balanced mode is noticeably better than single ended, and the synergy with HD600 is fantastic. The Slim struggled more to drive the HD600, but it did respectably well with the HD800 - the frequency response of the HD800 on the Slim was a little nicer than Protector with W-A cable, but not nearly as powerful as the Protector. With HD800 in balanced mode the Protector was slightly bright with my Warren Audio cable but powerful enough - I haven't had time to try the HD800 with stock cable and 4-pin XLR with balanced Protector yet.
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I needed to re-write my most recent comments above, but wanted to save the original post above to show that I am not changing anything or back-peddling, but mearly clarifying what I meant to say:
The impressions were not the same using balanced vs single ended, and we listening to the Protector both ways. Balanced was better. But, SE vs balanced didn't affect the synergy with the various IEM. To me, the synergy is how well the frequency response characteristics of the amp and IEM mate with each other. The ES3X sound best on an amp that is a little more laid back in the mids as they have a bump or plateau in the 2K - 8K range and roll off some after that; and the JH13Pro sound best with an amp that is a little more energetic in the mids, as these IEM are a little less forward in the 1K - 5K range than the ES3X (fortunately the 6K peak is short and not very audible). I've always called the ES3X an HD800 in an IEM with it's more prominent and crisp mids, while I've said the JH13Pro are more like an O2 Mk1 in an IEM, with the bass a little more more prominent than it's mids.
However, I did feel the Protector's balanced mode gave all the IEM a little wider and deeper soundstage than SE mode; and while Blutarsky agreed with that, he felt the differences were not as huge as I thought they were. I don't recall exactly what Sherwood said in that regard. It's generally accepted that IEM have more headstage and less soundstage than full size headphones, because the pinna of the ear is not involved in imaging and so HRTF are out the window. I think that it's much easier to hear the benefits of using balanced mode with full size phones than with IEM; but the fact that the soundstage opens up and becomes wider, deeper and more transparent at all when switching from single ended to balanced with an IEM is more significant than I may have made it out to be. It shows that the amp's channel separation and micro-detail is improved in balanced mode; so that cues involved in air, ambience and space are improved, despite using IEM that only present the sound deeply in the ear canal.
With HD600 the Protector balanced mode is noticeably better than single ended, and the synergy with HD600 is fantastic. The Slim struggled more to drive the HD600 in terms of power, but Justin has made it clear that it is designed primarily with IEM in mind. The Slim did respectably well with the HD800 in terms of synergy, where the frequency response of the HD800 with Warren Audio cable on the Slim was a little nicer than Protector, but it was not nearly as powerful as the Protector. The Slim was mostly good for quiet to medium volume levels, where its frequency response matches the HD800/WA cable in a pleasant and enjoyable way at low to medium volumes. I would still take the HD800 balanced with Protector over single ended off the Slim, because of the improved soundstage, imaging and power.
It needs to be said that in my Warren-Aduio (AKA Fidelity-Audio) HD800 cable review I noted that the aftermarket cable increased the detail and treble levels of the HD800. This was easy to tune a full size tube amp to match it, but a solid state amp's state of tune is fixed and you can only tune it with the source and cables. I've always maintained that like to use a warm DAC and tubes with my HD800. Even with as much as I have gushed about my Nuforce HDP with HD600 and HE-5, it doesn't perform as well with my HD800 as my WA6 or ZDT (nor does my Amphora). So it's no surprise that with HD800/WA cable in balanced mode that the Protector was slightly bright - I haven't had time to try the HD800 with stock cable and 4-pin XLR with balanced Protector yet, but this should sound less bright.
Last night I did try the warmer sounding uDAC as source to the Protector/HD800/WA cable, and this was a better mach, just by changing my source. In another review I've noted that the uDAC is a better DAC via RCA outputs than it is a headphone amp; and I found that the uDAC RCA out was a nice match for the eXStatA electrostatic amp and SR-Lambda, HE-60 or Jade. Now I can add the Protector/HD800/WA cable to the list of amps that do the uDAC justice. I've been using the Protector with different portable sources like DACport, Pico DAC, and iBasso D4 DAC, until last night when I added the uDAC. At this point, I do plan to try the Protector with a desktop DAC like my Apogee mini-DAC, Nuforce HDP, PS Audio Digital Link III and PS Audio Perfectwave DAC. I'd like to see how well the Protector scales up with IEM and full size phones with a desktop source. With HD800/WA cable I suspect the DLIII and PWD will be the best match, but we'll see.
I know I will get more questions about Protector vs the Pico Slim here, but I wont be able to try the Slim further with these sources because the input jack broke and I have to send it back to Justin today. In the 4-5 months that it's been sent around the country as a demo amp it's probably seen a lifetime of plug insertions and removals, and it may have been accidentally abused as well. Some plugs really grab and hang onto the jack's contact springs, and my ALO jumbo cryo silver x iMod LOD may have been the culprit since I can barely plug it in and remove it from the Protector as well. I don't think this will be an issue for people who buy one, but I'm sorry I wont be able to provide more comparisons.
