Anyone tried the "Eclipse Mints" portable amp?

[mojo]

Has anyone tried one of these?

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Portable-mini-...QQcmdZViewItem

Looks interesting. I am tempted to get one. Not expecting miracles, but it's small size is very attractive. From the description it sounds like a CMOY variation.

The only thing that puts me off is the "in for a penny, in for a pound" feeling you get. Might as well spend £70 on something descent. Then again, I'm happy with my own home-made CMOY, apart from the size of an Altoids tin.

 

[jonnywolfet]

looks like it would do the job. however, i feel like spending a bit more would be better for the long term, those mint tin amps are nice and cheap, its just that they're, well, nice and cheap. im gonna go ahead and advocate the x1 xtra amp off ebay for £55-60, it has a good finish, is nice and small (smaller than the linked one) and the sound is a step up from that of a cmoy/variant. i have one and im very pleased.

 

[drizek]

Why not get an iBasso T1? It is smaller than these, has a much much better case, has better SQ and costs just a little more. You can probably get one for about 30 pounds and then another ten for shipping from US ebay.

 

[legbone]

what a coincidence (sp?), i just received a penguin mint tin cmoy today. the one you are looking at has the 6171 opamp so it should supposedly sound even better than the one i have which has the 2134 opamp. i like mine but really just for the novelty factor. it really has nice synergy with my vibes. it really opens them up and takes away some of the muddiness that vibes tend to have. sounds pretty good with my grados, but i still think my grados sound their best unamped at this time. i really didn't notice much of an improvement with my sennheisers or my dt-770's. i prefer both of those with my micro tube. anyway i think the biggest factor with these amps is the fun factor. they are just cool. i am extrememly happy with mine since i only paid 50 clams for it and it really improved my vibes. also, i have already had people asking me about it. they are fun and interesting. for that price i would definitely go ahead and get it. just don't expect miracles. all depends on what phones you are going to use with it.

 

[unclejr]

I think the cmoy amps are a great starting place for those of us (myself included) that need our own verification that amping can make a difference. As another current discussion is ongoing about this (and probably always is), I'm in the camp that likes to upgrade gradually to appreciate the differences at each step.

 

[mojo]

Interestings replies. I am fairly happy with the SQ of my home-made cmoy, it's really just the size of the thing. I don't think it's worth spending a huge amount on a portable amp - save that for the main amp.

The iBasso T1 looks interesting. Anyone compare it to the Little Dot Micro+? Both are about the same price. The iBasso is thinner and looks like it would sit back to back with a Meizu M6 quite well. I broke my iPod trying to replace the battery (well, it was one of the first 3rd gens, so...) so am looking at a new portable system. I could fix the iPod, or get a Cowon/Meizu. The Meizu is cheaper and 8GB should be enough. I am using Shure E3Cs, but am looking at getting some PK1s I think, for quiet environments like my bed

The Eclipse is still interesting though. Could be a better option than a cmoy, assuming you just want to buy and not build one. Mine is in an Altoids tin with two 9V batteries, but that is overkill for IEMs.

 

[drizek]

From Skylabs review, he said the T1 is better than the ld micro, which he says has a hiss.

 

[mojo]

Thanks drizek, looks like the T1 could be the way to go. But, what about the P1? It is only a little more expensive and I read some people think it is significantly better, due to using an AD op-amp rather than the same one as the LD Micro.

 

[drizek]

The P1s battery alone consists of 10 AAA rechargeables. It is in no way in the same size bracket as the T1, minibox-d or other ultraportables.

The T2 will be thinner than the T1 and have better opamps, but it will be 20 or 30 pounds more expensive than the T1. Im not sure if you can replace the opamps on the T1 though, if you can I might just do that.

 

[mojo]

Thanks drizek. Rolling your own op-amps sounds like a good way to go.

 

[NelsonVandal]

I used to have one of those. It's nothing but a clone of Tangent's "working with cranky opamp" CMOY with TLE2426 as rail splitter and two huge 3300 uF Sanyo caps.

Due to the resistor values it's very noisy with low impedance phones. Either you like LM6171/2 or not. It's very colorful, but in a nice way with some phones. Very good synergy with my Philips SHP895 but not with my Sennheiser HD650.

 

[mojo]

Thanks NelsonVandal, finally cleared that one up.