Info on "pico POWER Portable Amp"?

[socrates63]

Headamp's product page has a small blurb about a new future product.

pico POWER Portable Amp

Coming in the future.

Powerful like a desktop amp, small like a Pico.

Recommended for hard to drive headphones.

Are there more information available in meet threads and such?

[justin]

it's an 18V powered amp (2x9V) in what should be the thinnest enclosure for a 2x9V amp (around 0.7"), machined out of solid aluminum with a battery cover on the bottom instead of end-loading. Length/width will closely match iPhone/touch/classic.

Discrete transistor output buffer, gain switch, ~25 hr battery life with 300mah NIMH batteries

try the other site

[socrates63]

Thanks, Justin.

[Asr]

Justin, always announcing new stuff when he's got enough products to make as it is.

So will this drive K1000? Or is it more for orthos, electrets (K340), and other random hard-to-drive beasts (K240DF, T1, et al)?

[luvdunhill]

if you can plug it in, yes

[Fitz]

Justin, always announcing new stuff when he's got enough products to make as it is.

So will this drive K1000? Or is it more for orthos, electrets (K340), and other random hard-to-drive beasts (K240DF, T1, et al)?

Well he's gotta do something with that new enclosure he came up with.

[n_maher]

Hi Young, good to see you around.

[socrates63]

Thanks, Nate. Trying to swap one insanity (at work) for another (HC).

[justin]

Justin, always announcing new stuff when he's got enough products to make as it is.

So will this drive K1000? Or is it more for orthos, electrets (K340), and other random hard-to-drive beasts (K240DF, T1, et al)?

power output levels are similar to the Gilmore Lite. around 15Vpp, 150mA discrete buffer. so it will definitely power the K1000 better than the regular Pico, which is limited to 8Vpp output. but, it's still a portable amp. the goal was to make the smallest 2x9V amp. "hard to drive" is more in the context of portable use, so think like Senn HD800, AKG K701

[padam]

Later on I imagine this amp combined with the new 24/96 USB DAC in a slightly bigger form factor, it would be a worthwhile replacement for the Pico AMP/DAC.

[MASantos]

Why did you choose to go with nimh 9v instead of Li On polymer as in the pico slim? Getting around 18 would require 5x 3.7v batteries and for the same space of 2x9v you could get a nice increase in capacity. I understand it would cost quite a bit more, and would require more sophisticated charging circuitry(which you probably have from the other pico amps).

Also, will it charge the batteries or have the option for dc power?

[justin]

I understand it would cost quite a bit more

this

and would require more sophisticated charging circuitry

and this

Also, will it charge the batteries or have the option for dc power?

No

I wanted to keep this simple and not need rail splitter circuitry. also, charging = DC Adapter needed. making it a high voltage li-po amp w/ good charging capabilities would easily add 50% to the cost to make the amp. and i have yet to make a portable amp that allows batteries to be changed, which some people like

[justin]

Later on I imagine this amp combined with the new 24/96 USB DAC in a slightly bigger form factor, it would be a worthwhile replacement for the Pico AMP/DAC.

probably not, at least not in a 2x9V amp. a replacement for the Pico DAC/Amp would likely be very similar to the current formula but w/ the 24/96 USB DAC and 2-piece style enclosure (this is probably 1-2 years off)

[cutestory]

More info:

 

Pico Power + Freqphased JH16 + WhipMOD/LOD = crazy delicious

[Tari]

Very good with the FP JH13's as well.

[IceClass]

So far the Pico Power out of a Fostex HP-P1 into W4Rs is very good indeed.

No idea why though but it sounds horrid though a pair of 25-II-I Senns.

[Currawong]

I've pulled the HP-P1 out of the box again just now and it is indeed a good match.  I kind-of wished I'd kept the L3 just to compare it to the Pico Power now. It worked well with the HP-P1 as a source too.

[purk]

I bought the first used one that came up from the other site and have been very impressed with it. For its size, I doubt that you can do any better. Work great with my JH13pro as well as my R10 & Qualia. I'm still debating which is better b/w my Pocket Reference and Pico (likly the Pocket Ref by a hair). For reference, the Pico Power is 1/3 the size of my Pocket Reference.

Bought a well priced rechargeable li-on from Amazon and I get over 30 hours so far.

http://www.amazon.com/Maximal-Power-Combo-MaximalPower-Rechargebale/dp/B007VIZRAW/ref=pd_sim_e_3

Edited April 1, 2013 by purk

[Dusty Chalk]

Anyone have any opinion on MaximalPower (see Purk's ^ post) vs. HiTech (600mAh)?  Should I just stick with the one that 25 Amazon customers rated at 4.6 and is cheaper?  Or should I go for that additional 50mAh, and the less non-black?

 

Purk, how is yours standing up?  The best performance is always with the first charge, in my experience.

[purk]

Anyone have any opinion on MaximalPower (see Purk's ^ post) vs. HiTech (600mAh)?  Should I just stick with the one that 25 Amazon customers rated at 4.6 and is cheaper?  Or should I go for that additional 50mAh, and the less non-black?

 

Purk, how is yours standing up?  The best performance is always with the first charge, in my experience.

I don't use it a whole lot Dusty but the Maximal Power is very good at holding charge.  550 mah is plenty enough (over 30 hours of run time), but you may want to get the 600 mAH if the available voltage is higher than 7.4 V which is the rated volatge on the 550 mah version.  The Maximal power is a very good product.

Edited June 30, 2014 by purk

[Dusty Chalk]

Wow, it feels like just yesterday I asked that.  ;-p

[purk]

Wow, it feels like just yesterday I asked that.  ;-p

 

Sorry...didn't pay attention until just now..

[mypasswordis]

I bought some crappy chinese things and one of them is a dud. Never goes above 7.6V and can't take/hold a charge. Would not recommend.

[Sherwood]

Can confirm.  All batteries are Chinese, of course, but the really Chinese ones are not good.  They are, however, less than 20 cents per battery in many cases.

[Dusty Chalk]

Sorry...didn't pay attention until just now..

No worries, I just thought it was funny that if you weren't paying attention to the year, it was a perfectly normal head-case conversation.