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cyberfrog

Suitable portable amp/DAC for ESW10?

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I listened to the Earmax (normal ed), and was pretty wowed by the tube sound. Not only do vocals sound ultra smooth and warm, instrumentals also came out "right". Overall quite impressed with this little guy. :thumbup:

 

 

 

That is the reason why I got my TTVJ Millet Hybrid portable. I have a Yamamoto HA-02 and the sound out of the ESW10JPN with them was stunning. So I thought maybe if I got a portable tube amp this would allow me to have the best of both worlds and I think it does a great job with the 10s. Not the same as the HA-02 but very well. My future work setup is going to include the TTVJ and a Pico DAC out of my Dell Mini9. I will be listening to either the ESW10JPN or my pre-paid Ultrasone Edition 8s when they come in. This will put my work setup as near to my home dynamic setup as I can get without having the HA-02 at work.

Edited by slwiser

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The TTVJ Millet Hybrid is very interesting, just that I'm really not someone to buy something just on leap of faith. That, and I'm very aware of the Head-fi hype monster. Just look at the UM3X thread, and the HD800 thread. :blush:

 

Any chance you will be visiting Singapore soon, slwiser? :)

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The TTVJ Millet Hybrid is very interesting, just that I'm really not someone to buy something just on leap of faith. That, and I'm very aware of the Head-fi hype monster. Just look at the UM3X thread, and the HD800 thread. :blush:

 

Any chance you will be visiting Singapore soon, slwiser? :)

 

Sorry, I hardly ever leave my local town area...much less out of my country...

 

Yes, I know about our hype monster....I have fallen into that myself at times.

 

My problem is that I enjoy most things at some level and have a hard time being really hard on a device. Our hype mostly is to make really big mountains out of small mole-hills. Hence, my being so hesitate to come down on a piece of equipment just because it is slightly less in something compared with another device.

 

I much more like doing comparisons and saying which I enjoyed more and why. I gave my reasons why I believe that the TTVJ portable will match well with the ESW10JPN. The ESW10JPN will sound great out of just about anything. To me the 10 has just a little to much treble energy and a tube amp or at least the ones that I have used with it, tend to tone that back or smooth that out to me.

 

There is another small portable tube amp out there somewhere that I have seen but have never heard it...I think it is from your area of the world and would be cheaper than the TTVJ...

 

 

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Sorry, I hardly ever leave my local town area...much less out of my country...

 

Yes, I know about our hype monster....I have fallen into that myself at times.

 

My problem is that I enjoy most things at some level and have a hard time being really hard on a device. Our hype mostly is to make really big mountains out of small mole-hills. Hence, my being so hesitate to come down on a piece of equipment just because it is slightly less in something compared with another device.

 

I much more like doing comparisons and saying which I enjoyed more and why. I gave my reasons why I believe that the TTVJ portable will match well with the ESW10JPN. The ESW10JPN will sound great out of just about anything. To me the 10 has just a little to much treble energy and a tube amp or at least the ones that I have used with it, tend to tone that back or smooth that out to me.

 

There is another small portable tube amp out there somewhere that I have seen but have never heard it...I think it is from your area of the world and would be cheaper than the TTVJ...

 

Are you referring to the little dot portable tube amp?

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Are you referring to the little dot portable tube amp?

 

Yes, I think that is the one.

 

I do agree that ESW10 has a little to much treble energy. Presently I use a Acoustic Revive QR-8 on it's plug and it remove this problem as well as adding more volume, dynamic and tighten the bass. Love it so much now.

 

http://www.acoustic-revive.com/english/qr8/qr8_01.html

 

What am I missing here with the reference of these isolators to the ESW10JPN?

 

IPB Image

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I'm kind of alright with the treble amount on the ESW10, perhaps because I've been trained by the RS1. :blush: Though what I really want is a lusher sound, with vocals a tad more forward. It might be time to try the Pico again. :D

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I'm kind of alright with the treble amount on the ESW10, perhaps because I've been trained by the RS1. :blush: Though what I really want is a lusher sound, with vocals a tad more forward. It might be time to try the Pico again. :D

 

That Little Dot tube amp is be something you might want to test out. I think tubes in smoothing things out just a little provide that lushness you are seeking. I have the Pico and it does a great job with them though. I can't say anything bad about the Pico. I am getting the DAC version soon as well. This way I will be feeding a straight signal from my Dell Mini9 via Pico DAC into the TTVJ.

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That Little Dot tube amp is be something you might want to test out. I think tubes in smoothing things out just a little provide that lushness you are seeking. I have the Pico and it does a great job with them though. I can't say anything bad about the Pico. I am getting the DAC version soon as well. This way I will be feeding a straight signal from my Dell Mini9 via Pico DAC into the TTVJ.

 

I liked the Pico DAC a lot when I heard it during a previous meet. Very impressive indeed. Could you do a quick comparison of the TTVJ and the Pico with the ESW10? Please... :)

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I liked the Pico DAC a lot when I heard it during a previous meet. Very impressive indeed. Could you do a quick comparison of the TTVJ and the Pico with the ESW10? Please... :)

 

I just got everything out of my briefcase and am now listening to my Pico with the 10s. First off is a little jazz singer named Renee Olstead, one of my favorites is her rendition of Summertime. Any specific genre you are interested in. I may not have everything but I have a lot. The source that I am using is my iMod.

 

While I am doing this today check this thread out about the little dot portable.

 

http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f105/review-...plifier-284847/

 

I notice that someone suggested the little dot was a little bright so I am not sure this would be a good mix if they were talking about the tube version. I am not always sure which unit people are speaking about.

 

http://www.little-tube.com/forum/category-view.asp

Edited by slwiser

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Not sure how much our music tastes vary, but I listen to quite a bit of acoustic music, vocals, and quite a large bit of pop. Everything from Nils Lofgren, Eric Clapton, Matchbox 20, Maroon 5, Diana Krall, Corrinne May, Massive Attack, ABBA etc. Not exactly the most audiophile of playlists, but that's mine. Hope this helps. Thanks for the links too. :)

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Here is another thread comparing these two amps:

 

http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f5/headamp-p...-hybrid-328479/

 

another thread of interest:

 

http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f5/headamp-p...-hybrid-328479/

 

My quick initial impressions back and forth between the two is that the TTVJ is slightly smoother than the Pico but the Pico is not at all not smooth, if you can understand this your better than me. As I said I think we over here may very small differences much bigger than they actually are. The biggest issue with the TTVJ is using it as a real portable. It will ping if handled a little less than gingerly. The Pico is simply an overall winner in my book. It has a great DAC for when I want to use it with my computers.

 

Both are winners but I think the Pico would be a better/safer overall choice from my perspective.

 

I hope this short comparison with the associated treads help you.

Edited by slwiser

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Thank you very much, you've been a great help. I get what you mean by "make very small differences bigger than they actually are". I think I'll stick to something that I can try, and has a great DAC at that. :)

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