[Oistrakh]

What is a good amp to build (not hard to build, not expensive) for the first Time DIYer for the HD 580?

What is a good amp to build (not hard to build, not expensive) for the first Time DIYer for the K501?

 

[cetoole]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Oistrakh What is a good amp to build (not hard to build, not expensive) for the first Time DIYer for the HD 580? What is a good amp to build (not hard to build, not expensive) for the first Time DIYer for the K501?

Cmoy and Pimeta are the two easiest/best documented amps, which would be good, and pretty inexpensive, for both of those headphones.

 

[Sinbios]

It all depends on how much you want to spend building it.

CMoy - ~$30
MINT - ~$60
PIMETA - ~$100

 

[Oistrakh]

and how hard is it to build a PIMETA if its my first DIY project?

Long long does it take (avg) to build one?

 

[Xakepa]

PIMETA will work best for you IMO. Dedicated PCB is simple and convenient.

You need a soldering iron and simple ohm/voltage multimeter. Ordering parts takes couple of ours if you're not very picky (Tangent+Digikey/Mouser, eventually BUF634 from ebay if they're not in stock). Populating the board and troubleshooting - maybe one full day tops, if you don't mess up badly. Boxing and wiring - maybe another 2-4 hours.

The total will be b/w $50-80 if you don't go for smth fancy (you shouldn't at your first build); you'll need a PSU, so consider 12v+ cheap wallwart + LM78(xx) as simpliest option. Replace (xx) with wallwarts voltage when ordering parts.

Read Tangent's guide, when ordering get plenty of spare/optional parts to avoid running to RS or reordering, socket chips and res block, don't be pennywise on opamps, caps and pot.

Good luck and ENJOY!

 

[haibane]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Xakepa PIMETA will work best for you IMO. Dedicated PCB is simple and convenient. You need a soldering iron and simple ohm/voltage multimeter. Ordering parts takes couple of ours if you're not very picky (Tangent+Digikey/Mouser, eventually BUF634 from ebay if they're not in stock). Populating the board and troubleshooting - maybe one full day tops, if you don't mess up badly. Boxing and wiring - maybe another 2-4 hours. The total will be b/w $50-80 if you don't go for smth fancy (you shouldn't at your first build); you'll need a PSU, so consider 12v+ cheap wallwart + LM78(xx) as simpliest option. Replace (xx) with wallwarts voltage when ordering parts. Read Tangent's guide, when ordering get plenty of spare/optional parts to avoid running to RS or reordering, socket chips and res block, don't be pennywise on opamps, caps and pot. Good luck and ENJOY!

just to make sure you know what you are doing, I would highly recommend doing it on a protoboard before you build the finished product

 

[thedoctor]

Quote:

Originally Posted by haibane just to make sure you know what you are doing, I would highly recommend doing it on a protoboard before you build the finished product

by then he'd need to know how to read schematics. and not many people could/willing to.

 

[tomb]

Still, I was no stranger to soldering - used to make custom slot car chasis's and wind motors back in the day, then built several model railroad transistor throttles. Yet, I was shocked at the size of this stuff. I had the magnifying glass out in no time. It's hard just to see the open spaces between pads, much less keep from soldering between them (the RatShack board in Tangent's CMoy tutorial).

I would highly recommend the baptism of a CMoy and protoboard with RS parts before you go further. I'm looking forward to ordering PIMETA stuff from Tangent soon - if I can ever finish my taxes!!

 

[Uncle Erik]

Another one you might want to consider is the Millett Hybrid. You can find Pete Millett's website here:

http://www.pmillett.com/

He has a PDF version of the AudioXpress article (the design first appeared there) available on his site. And if you want to buy the PCB, you can find it here:

http://www.diycable.com/main/product...roducts_id=384

It's $25, and I received one from them about a week ago. It's a nice board.

There are a couple of good things about the Millett Hybrid. First, there's a magazine article and it has been widely built by hundreds, if not thousands, of people. You'll find everything you need in threads and FAQs. Second, it uses low power tubes that are inexpensive (about $3.) Cheap tubes are a good thing, but it also means that there's not a whole lot of power on the board. Most tube amps have lethal amounts of power on board; this one doesn't. If this is your first time building something, that may be a smart way to go.

 

[Earwax]

If you want to build a PIMETA, start reading Tangent's guide http://tangentsoft.net/audio/pimeta/faq.html and parts selection list http://tangentsoft.net/audio/pimeta/pguide.html If you can follow along and mostly understand those, then go for it. If OTOH, it's mostly over your head, then start with a CMOY, there's more detailed help and hand-holding available for it.