[hiker101]

I had a lot of fun building my first CMoy. Sounds great with Grado SR60s. I'll probably make a bunch of these for Christmas presents for my sons and brother (who all have Grados.)

I'm interested in moving up the chain. I've done a lot of reading about the Headwize projects, and at Tangent's audiologica site. Very useful info.

For my next build I'm interested in a significant upgrade from the CMoy, but I still would like to keep to the "portable" format. It looks like I have only a couple of choices:

1. Mini3: This looks like a great amp. Seems to be a PINT clone with most of the problems solved by limiting choices in op-amps. It does not appear to be super tweakable, but appears to be quite simple to build. Reviews of this amp have been very good.

2. The schematic for the PINT is still out there. Is it reasonable to do this as a breadboard project? Both PINT and MINI3 seem to upgrade the CMoy by adding a ground channel and using higher current opamps.

3. Pi-META v2 looks like a great amp. Unfortunately, the boards aren't available yet. Maybe by late summer.

Are there other choices in a portable format?

My vague plan, at the moment, is to build the MINI3 high perf. version. Then, upgrade to SR225 cans. Then, consider Pi-META v2 as an amp to play with for a while.

Suggestions?

 

[bidoux]

Since a SR-60 and a SR-225 are not portable can, why don't you want to go with a home amp ? More choice than portable, the M³, the PPAv2, CK2II, the Dynalo and Dynahi for solid state (and lots more I don't know). Millet starving student, millet hybrid max, aikido, some more on Headwize.
If you build the Pint on breadboard it will be a bit huge, most of the component in Tangent's PCB are SMD (surface mount devices), on a breadboard, you can't use SMD The Mini³ is still a great choice but home amp are more powerfull and I guess, better.
My 2 cents...

 

[JamesL]

If you want to stick with portable, mini3 is probably your best bet.
Pint's main advantage over the mini3 is probably it's smaller size. You lose that by using a breadboard.

Pimeta is a great sounding amp as well. Slightly better than the mini3 imo, but the one I built was more a desktop build with a 20v supply. I don't think it's a very pocketable amp.

 

[TzeYang]

Next project => learn varieties of non inverting opamp designs.

I'd say don't bother with PCB projects first. Learn to plan your own layout and your own amplifier blocks.

Start with a three channel cmoy first?

You'll learn better this way.

 

[Ashkii21]

I've built a couple of Cmoys and I am in the same same position of what should I build next? I decided on building a BantamDAC and later a Mini3. I wish that I could make the Pimeta v2, but like you said the boards are not for sale yet.

 

[nullstring]

Millets are suppose to have great synergy with Grado's

 

[TzeYang]

You aint building nothing yet unless you've done a PPA level amplifier on perfboards and get them working in stable condition

Perfboards are fun to work with. I've gone into designing PCBs for my own use so I know how boring it feels working with PCBs. (and cmoy builders with no electronics background learns nothing when they jump straight to professionally laid out circuit boards)

Heck, the original Dynalo, KGSS are both built on perfboards.

 

[MrSlim]

Quote:

Originally Posted by TzeYang /img/forum/go_quote.gif You aint building nothing yet unless you've done a PPA level amplifier on perfboards and get them working in stable condition Perfboards are fun to work with. I've gone into designing PCBs for my own use so I know how boring it feels working with PCBs. (and cmoy builders with no electronics background learns nothing when they jump straight to professionally laid out circuit boards) Heck, the original Dynalo, KGSS are both built on perfboards.

I've done the perf board thing, and I have to disagree. True, you learn a lot more about layout, but not everyone is interested in getting into it that deeply.
For many people, DIY has to be a balance between the amount of skill and effort required, and getting to a final result with reasonable ease. There is always the casing,connectors etc that require quite a bit of effort as well.

If you look at the successful DIY designs, they are the ones that have PCB's to help "ease the pain"..

 

[MrSlim]

You should also consider the SOHA II, which is a great hybrid, with lots of support on HF on the builders thread.

 

[hiker101]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bidoux /img/forum/go_quote.gif Since a SR-60 and a SR-225 are not portable can, why don't you want to go with a home amp ?

Good question! I agree that the Grados are not really portable, maybe I should have said "transportable" for the amp+cans. I have several places in my house that I tend to listen and I wander around a lot, so an amp that I have to unplug to move around would really be a pain. I also like to listen at work sometimes. I assume once I get a collection of a few amps and cans, I'll probably just leave them at different places (not carry them back and forth from work, for example.)

Quote:

Originally Posted by bidoux /img/forum/go_quote.gif More choice than portable, the M³, the PPAv2, CK2II, the Dynalo and Dynahi for solid state (and lots more I don't know). Millet starving student, millet hybrid max, aikido, some more on Headwize. If you build the Pint on breadboard it will be a bit huge, most of the component in Tangent's PCB are SMD (surface mount devices), on a breadboard, you can't use SMD The Mini³ is still a great choice but home amp are more powerfull and I guess, better. My 2 cents...

I'm not ruling out moving up to a full-sized amp a little later- maybe for my 3rd or 4th project. That's a huge list, lots of good choices there.

 

[holland]

not portable, but the Dynalo, CK2III, CTH, SOHA II, SSMH, Millett Max, are all good steps, with the CTH being the smallest but high density.

Mini3, on your list is probably all that's available unless you can find a Pimeta V1 board somewhere. Don't get bogged down too much on portables. I build them too, but I hardly ever use them except for travelling. In that vein, I much prefer DAC+Amp configurations for travels and I wish there was a project like the Pico, and I don't really want to design my own as my interests are else where, but may have to out of necessity.

 

[Bilavideo]

I'd build the Mini3 next. AMB has the preprinted PCB for $10 at its store AMB audio shop

I have a Mini3 and two Pimetas - the first a battery-operated portable, the second a desktop model in a hammond case. They're all very nice little amps. The Mini3 is pretty impressive in terms of sound-for-size but I also love my portable Pimeta.

One thing you might do is put your Mini3 into an Altoids can. I say this because, as you follow the instructions for the Mini3, you'll discover that a big chunk of the cost is in the front and back panels ($40). If you want a kit (which will allow you to spend your time building rather than pricing), Jeff at Glass Jar Audio sells a Mini3 kit for $88.92. But if you want to slice the price, putting it all into an Altoids tin will get you a Mini3 for about $40. The nice thing about the Mini3 is that AMB has a full price list with the parts numbers for Mouser, Digikey and "Other." This will be more straight-forward.

Another benefit of going with the Mini3 is the ability to get some experience working with AMB so your next project (after that) can be an M^3, a desktop amp that will quite honestly blow the rest out of the water. Since I got my M^3, I don't listen to my Cmoys (I have two), my Pimetas or my Mini3. My M^3 eats them for breakfast. The nice thing is that AMB has detailed instructions, along with a preprinted PCB, available at its store AMB audio shop

Quote:

Originally Posted by bidoux /img/forum/go_quote.gif Since a SR-60 and a SR-225 are not portable can, why don't you want to go with a home amp ? More choice than portable, the M³, the PPAv2, CK2II, the Dynalo and Dynahi for solid state (and lots more I don't know). Millet starving student, millet hybrid max, aikido, some more on Headwize. If you build the Pint on breadboard it will be a bit huge, most of the component in Tangent's PCB are SMD (surface mount devices), on a breadboard, you can't use SMD The Mini³ is still a great choice but home amp are more powerfull and I guess, better. My 2 cents...

I agree with everything you said except for the statement that the SR-60 and SR-225 are not portable. Certainly, it is not fashionable to walk around with them in public, but until I bought my IEMs, I wore my Grados everywhere. Except for the iGrado, the SR-60 has the lowest profile in the Grado family, is quite lightweight and a great knockaround can. Its only vice is to advertise to everyone around that you are, in fact, listening to a headphone. I've worn mine to the library, to the gym and while taking long walks. Now that I have my IEMs, I have less reason to do so, but it's really a fashion choice more than anything. I'd routinely get questions about my cans, but then I'd let them have a listen. Afterwards, the next question would invariably be, "Where can I get a set of these?"

 

[hiker101]

Quote:

Originally Posted by JamesL /img/forum/go_quote.gif If you want to stick with portable, mini3 is probably your best bet. Pint's main advantage over the mini3 is probably it's smaller size. You lose that by using a breadboard. Pimeta is a great sounding amp as well. Slightly better than the mini3 imo, but the one I built was more a desktop build with a 20v supply. I don't think it's a very pocketable amp.

I think this was exactly my reasoning. Mini3 seems to be very portable with great sound. I expect that when I add all the stuff to Pimeta that I want it probably will be more like a desktop amp.

Quote:

Originally Posted by TzeYang Next project => learn varieties of non inverting opamp designs. I'd say don't bother with PCB projects first. Learn to plan your own layout and your own amplifier blocks. Start with a three channel cmoy first? You'll learn better this way.

I was considering this also. CMoy with a better ground channel, then with buffers for the output. That looks like fun. I might do this in addition to the Mini3. That way I'll have something to compare to.


Quote:

Originally Posted by MrSlim You should also consider the SOHA II, which is a great hybrid, with lots of support on HF on the builders thread.

Ha Ha- Tubes! Maybe someday. A whole 'nother skill set.

 

[hiker101]

Quote:

Originally Posted by TzeYang /img/forum/go_quote.gif You aint building nothing yet unless you've done a PPA level amplifier on perfboards and get them working in stable condition Perfboards are fun to work with. I've gone into designing PCBs for my own use so I know how boring it feels working with PCBs. (and cmoy builders with no electronics background learns nothing when they jump straight to professionally laid out circuit boards) Heck, the original Dynalo, KGSS are both built on perfboards.

I like this sentiment. Part of the reason I like DIY is the challenge of turning an idea into something that works.

I was involved in a big electronics project about 10 years ago. Amplify, then ADC, 20mV signals. 4000 channels-> 4 crates, about 100 boards with special purpose readouts. I designed the digital part, I had a post-doc doing the amplifier section (800MHz bandwidth- very touchy.) I forgot how much fun it is to design/prototype stuff. Once you get to a PCB it's mostly menial labor- not so bad for only one or two boards, though.

 

[Billyk]

Portable = Mini3, tote able = CTH. Both very nice amps, excellent designs. Build these for some immediate gratification and something to compare to as you said above. Now that you have something to listen with; design one for yourself and share it with the community!