Introduction
I recently purchased the HeadAmp Pico Power (PP) and thought I would share my thoughts on this little gem of a headphone amplifier.
First of all, Justin, the owner of HeadAmp, was friendly and courteous in handling my questions via email before my purchase. I initially asked for a silver version, but Justin did not have a silver chassis available—he then sent me a picture of a grey chassis he had in stock, and since it was light grey, I opted for this color. I commented on his reputation for exquisitely made product, adding I was a huge fit and finish guy and very particular about any imperfections. He shared his concern that the chassis finish is hand polished and it may not be as perfect as I had hoped, but after speaking with him over the phone, I went ahead and ordered the amp. I was fortunate in that I only had to wait a week for him to ship my new toy.
When I received the amp, the product package was a plain white box with a large sticker on it indicating its content. The PP was nicely protected inside with cutout foam. Besides the PP, there was a one sheet owners’ manual, a very nice form fitting case in black leather, and two extra screw-ons individually wrapped that are used to attach the removable bottom plate which covers the battery compartment, a nice touch since I imagine it might be easy to misplace one of these when changing out the batteries. The included Duracell alkaline batteries were already installed. All in all, a simple presentation that eschewed any unnecessary expense.
After removing the snug fitting leather case, I inspected the PP closely. I’m not sure why Justin felt compelled to remark on the hand polished finish, that it may not be as perfect as I would want, but let me assure everyone reading this that, in my view, it was perfect. Not only that, but the seams of the aluminum chassis including the removable lid for the battery compartment were perfectly aligned. Very impressive attention to detail for a $475 product, in fact, the best build I’ve experienced in this price range, and I’ve been an audiophile for 40 years as well as worked in high end audio throughout my career.
Following my normal routine, I ran signal into the PP for a few days before I did any critical listening. The quoted life of 40 hours for alkaline batteries was accurate since I swapped these out for non-rechargeable lithium batteries during the burn-in process; I have no doubt the 120 hour usage rate for lithiums will hold true.
Impressions
My source gear is a MacBook Air repurposed for transport duties using the latest version of Audirvana (v3.5) as the music playing software. Connected to the MacBook is a Chord Qutest DAC which then connects to the PP. My music library includes CD rips from my collection as well as some 300GB of hi res files spanning most genres. The headphone I primarily used in my evaluation was the final D8000 planar magnetic (60 ohms, 98dB/mW).
So, can such an affordable amp as the PP be commensurate with a $3,800 headphone? I believe it can. First of all, as would be expected with a battery driven power supply, the PP is dead quiet. The D8000 has excellent retrieval of micro detail, and the PP’s absence of hiss or other noise floor artifacts result in a greater sense of spaciousness, especially width and depth wise. The tonal color of the PP is neutral, sounding very balanced throughout the frequency range. Trebles are presented cleanly, with no etched or sibilant nature that can take away from long listening sessions. In listening to Beth Orton’s album, Central Reservation, I noted her voice was portrayed without the grit I had heard with other amps, the PP reproducing the nuance, the subtle expression of her singing with an ease and smoothness that left me feeling rapturous. The D8000 is known for its bass quantity and quality, and I never felt the PP had to sweat in order to reproduce the slam of this planar headphone. Rated at 500mW into 32 ohms with an output impedance of 0.2 ohms, the PP appears to have ample power for low and medium impedance headphones with average sensitivity.
Conclusion
There is no editorializing of the sound by the PP, rather, it reproduces music with a level of purity that belies its accessible price point. Of course, others with different headphones and listening sensitivities may argue otherwise, but my feeling is the D8000 is a neutral instrument in which to evaluate this amplifier, therefore, my positive impressions no doubt should extend to others’ experience as well. Adding to the PP’s performance, it is made in the USA, the build quality is sumptuous, and it has a six year track record of reliable service ... what more can a headphone enthusiast ask from a reasonably priced product?