justin

is this online? if not, can you post hte full review?

you just need a Nugget Audio name tag

UE4 custom IEMs announced, and already reviewed by Jude, who lately is on a streak of reviewing $399, dual driver. only available in clear. 108dB/mW sensitivity, low for a custom IEM

Head-Fi: Covering Headphones, Earphones and Portable Audio - View Single Post - Grado construction

I think there are already enough volume control kits available. This one could be made very small but that may not matter for DIY home amps

it would be nice if it could work as a USB host, and then an external DAC could be used. will never happen though

It's a variable gain amplifier, so it already has plenty of gain switches Each step is .5dB. Max gain is 6x -- so you can max the output of this amplifier with a source output as low as 0.25Vrms.

wont matter, it would be useless to add a gain switch

the channel matching is better than 0.1dB. A gain switch would be redundant

It has as much power as most other lithium powered amps. The 'regular' Pico runs on a 2-cell, 8.4V battery, but that's unusual. So, its not specifically for IEMs, but if it can be the first choice of anyone with IEMs, I think I can live with that. A lot of the idea of this amp is to make a portable for people who aren't interested in portables because they are too bulky and offer little or no improvement. This solves those problems by being thin and offering a range of volume adjustment and precision left/right matching that you can't get from a DAP. Also, some IEMs like the Livewires and Westone ES3X are unusable from many DAPs/phones due to the amount of hiss from their headphone jacks.

Edwood came through with another fantastic rendering, this time of the Pico Slim

i'll stick with my 110dB attenuation. 60dB, 70dB attenuation, those are listening levels with some IEMs and some source output levels.

Are there specs on max attenuation and channel matching? I know a thumbwheel would work as good as anything else, but it lacks the visual appeal thats needed. The Iq of the Pico Slim is 12mA so a few mA is significant

I've never heard of that before. I just looked at it, I doubt it would fit in this size enclosure and the current use is probably too high. I could have used a thumb wheel, but those have only been used in much cheaper portable amps (like the Airhead). Hard to convince someone to spend up to $400 on an amp with a thumb wheel, even if its just being used for a digital volume control

Those kind of chips require a microcontroller and a 5V supply, so I think they're unlikely to be the ones used here. There are a few that will work with pushbuttons/toggle switches on 3V, no uC needed, so that seems most likely. But they're limited to 32 or 64 steps and don't offer more attenuation than a typical small volume pot

on head-case, why not.. HeadAmp Audio Electronics (Pico Upsampling USB DAC Pre-Order)

I haven't given out details on what I am using yet. At best, he can be using the same thing that I am, because nothing better exists. I went with a rotary pot/knob interface for it, although anything could be used - rotary encoder, push buttons, toggle switch, thumb wheel...because I feel a lot of hand holding is going to be needed to get people comfortable with the words 'digital volume control'.

a replacement cable for Stax Omega II MK1, and 2 Stax pro bias jacks

the one in the back-right has your name on it

i'll have the MK1 (if the replacement cable gets here in time from kuboten), MK2, Grado RS-1, Senn HD650...i think that's it. I'll also bring the ES3X if they are fixed, and you can hold them up to your ears and do a comparison review with the UE11... Assortment of Pico DAC/Amp with MacBook providing the USB Pico USB DAC available to connect to RCA inputs of BHSE Sony XA5400ES SACDP connected to XLR inputs of BHSE Pico Slim prototype (source = ?? RCA outputs of Sony, could bring D-555 PCDP, or use Pico USB DAC)

i'll do it, but it would mean they would be in my vendor room or hotel room unless an authorized person comes to use them

I bring the O2s (mk1 and mk2), you bring the R10s?

40% the size, but its an amp, not a DAC

a fun size bag of pretzels doesn't cut it for 5-6 hours