HeadAmp Pico Power Portable Headphone Amplifier
The Pico Power brings smooth, low-grain clarity and deep, extended bass to a genuinely compact rig, adding warmth, cleaner mids and crisper treble to portable sources. Dagogo found it notably dynamic and musical, while Currawong praised its refined drive, detail retrieval and exceptionally polished milled-aluminum build.
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Nicely Roasted
Sound Quality
89/100
Build Quality
91/100
Features Usability
80/100
Value for Money
85/100
Pros
Smooth, low-grain sound with clearer midrange definition, deeper bass and cleaner, more extended treble.
Strong portable power and convincing performance with a broad range of conventional full-size headphones, including the HD800.
Premium, compact construction with a particularly high-quality milled aluminum enclosure and thoughtfully secure controls.
Cons
Demanding LCD-2 and LCD-3 planar headphones sound less dynamic and exciting than with a capable full-size amplifier.
Complex music can cause soundstage compression with more demanding planar pairings.
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What Reviewers Are Saying
SOUND QUALITY PERFORMANCE 89/100
Reviewers found the Pico Power notably smoother and less grainy than portable-source outputs, with clearer mids, deeper bass and a crisper, more extended treble. It brings convincing energy and musical warmth to many headphones, though dense music can compress spatially and demanding planar pairings lose some excitement versus a full-size amplifier.
Transparency Resolution
91/100
Dagogo heard a clearer, better-defined midrange, along with cleaner and crisper treble. Currawong likewise described a smooth, low-grain presentation with improved instrument separation and detail on complex jazz and classical recordings.
Tonal Balance Musicality
89/100
Dagogo characterized the tonal balance as slightly warm and found that the amplifier added musicality to an iPod-based setup. Bass was described as deep and extended, while treble gained extension without becoming splashy.
Dynamics
87/100
The Pico Power was immediately described as very dynamic, and its substantial output helped portable playback sound more alive. Currawong found LCD-2 and LCD-3 planars less exciting and less dynamic than through a full-size headphone amplifier, which limits its authority with the most demanding loads.
Noise Floor
89/100
Dagogo reported that the Pico Power removed grain audible from the iPod alone, while Currawong also heard less grain and harshness. Neither review directly tests hiss with very sensitive IEMs, so its behavior with the most noise-revealing earphones is less clear.
Headphone Compatibility
89/100
The amplifier is reported to drive portable headphones, full-size models and IEMs, with strong stated output into 25-, 50-, 100- and 200-ohm loads. Currawong heard excellent results with the HD800, but found large Audeze planars less dynamically satisfying than on a desktop amplifier.
Assessments of Build Quality, Usability, and Overall Propositions.
Build Quality
91/100
Both reviewers describe a substantial, high-quality portable enclosure: Dagogo calls it solid and slightly heavy, while Currawong praises the milled aluminum case as exceptionally good. The supplied leather protective case and spare batteries add to the sense of a carefully finished portable product.
Features Usability
80/100
The Pico Power is a straightforward battery-powered portable amplifier using familiar mini-jack connections for an iPod or other portable player. Its simple, well-thought-out operation suits on-the-go use, but the reviews identify no DAC, balanced connections, selectable gain, digital inputs or other expanded functionality.
Value for Money
85/100
At roughly $475, the Pico Power is positioned as a premium portable amplifier with unusually strong published power figures. Reviewers praise that capability and the quality of the casework, but do not directly compare its asking price with competing portable amplifiers.
Reviews & Sources
Professional reviews and sources for this product's Watt'n Potatoes analysis.
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Specifications
Manufacturer's Description — HeadAmp
The HeadAmp Pico power stands among the most powerful portable headphone amps on the market, with 18V of power on tap and a discrete output stage, it can stand up to even the toughest headphone loads. The Pico Power boasts an output impedance of on 0.2ohm, lower than many desktop headphone amplifiers, meaning that it can drive and control all headphone types with authority. The three-way gain switch allows the Pico Power to adapt to the voltage needs of everything from high-sensitivty in-ear monitors to high-impedance studio headphones (300-600 ohm models).
The dual user-replaceable 9v battery system of the Pico Power is versatile, allowing for the use of easy to find alkaline batteries, environmentally-friendly rechargeable cells, or super-long-life lithium batteries. The Pico Power chassis is precisely milled from a solid block of alumnium, giving the amplifier an extremely solid build to weather years of use.
The Pico Power includes two 9v alkaline batteries, and a protective leather amplifier case.
Our Take
The Pico Power is our statement portable amplifier, with sound quality first and foremost, and it delivers the power you would expect from a desktop amplifier. Even difficult headphones like the Sennheiser HD800 series and Hifiman HE series are driven with aplomb, thank to the Pico Power's high voltage and discrete output circuitry. The versatile battery power keeps the background jet-black, ensuring a smooth listening session every time you pick up the amp. If you travel with, or just need a small footprint headphone amp for your full-size, high-end headphones, the Pico Power is a great solution. That it also works extremely well in low-gain mode with in-ear monitors and portable headphones just rounds out its' versatility. Without question, the Pico Power is a portable headphone amp that would serve any enthusiast extremely well.
Verified Dealers
Online Dealers
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Authorized dealers for HeadAmp Pico Power Portable Headphone Amplifier
- 3mA Audio — online and in-store — Houston, Texas, United States (website)
- Audio 46 — online and in-store — New York, New York, United States (website)
- HeadAmp — online and in-store — Charlottesville, Virginia, United States (website)
- Moon Audio — online and in-store — Cary, North Carolina, United States (website)
- Soundlux Audio — in-store — Miami, Florida, United States (website)
- The Source AV Design Group — online and in-store — Torrance, California, United States (website)
- Wilbrand Acoustics — in-store — Nordhorn, Niedersachsen, Germany (website)