[darkisz]

I had such a rewarding time with my first amp, I thought I'd share some with you all. I'm new to headphones in general, but I've been a computer tinkerer for a number of years now. I found head fi months ago, but must have missed the DIY forums. After finding them and browsing for hours, DIY Audio sounded intriguing. I dove in headfirst.

I studied Tangent's site and compiled my parts list. 1 trip to Rat Shack and 1 Digi-Key order later, I was ready to bork my first build. Besides just poor soldering, my biggest problem was the Pot. I broke a few of the leads off, then realized that I had hooked it up backwards <gah!>. Time for another Digi-Key order. Here's the first victim:

backside

For the second amp, I got some new supplies that helped my soldering greatly

I was using the RatShack .050 solder before, going to .025 made my joints look cleaner. The nippers I found in my Girlfriend's craft junk, and works much better for trimming leads than the diagonal cutters I was using.

The 2nd moy went together like a charm. Unfortunately, I mounted it in the case before I took any pics, and I dont' wanna risk breaking any leads off the pot trying to get it back out of the case

A good friend of mine dug me up the Bumble Altoids tin when she heard what I was doing, looks pretty cool. Well, aside from the misaligned drilling I did. Anyway enjoy:

Please feel free to comment!

OK, so I can build IC's and Tangent's Cmoy. I want something that runs off home power next, am I ready for a Millet? I'd really like a tube amp, but I havent' priced out the parts, and I wouldn't want to botch and expensive build. Should I go to a Pimeta first? Maybe an M3?

 

[Blooze]

Looks good to me! I broke some leads off of my volume pot in my first CMOY, too, when I decided to remount everything on a new board. There were just some little nubbins sticking up so I soldered onto those and it worked! I've got a Millet that I'm collecting parts for this month (finally). It looks to me that it will be easier to put together that the CMOY for me.

 

[bhjazz]

Good job for seeing it through. And yes, as you go along you'll build up more and more tools. Every time it makes another problem easier. Try some tiny pencil solder tips if you don't use them already (that's my "tip of the day..." LOL)

I didn't understand your BumbleMoy until I scrolled down and saw the photo of the case. Nice!

 

[Jazper]

Quote:

Originally Posted by darkisz OK, so I can build IC's and Tangent's Cmoy. I want something that runs off home power next, am I ready for a Millet? I'd really like a tube amp, but I havent' priced out the parts, and I wouldn't want to botch and expensive build. Should I go to a Pimeta first? Maybe an M3?

Good work..

Now, how much are you willing to spend? (the big question)

 

[darkisz]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jazper Good work.. Now, how much are you willing to spend? (the big question)

Oh yeah, the wallet factor. I should be able to scrape together 200ish in the next couple of weeks. I'm thinking solid state once more, then maybe the millet. I can't decide between the M3 and the PPA. The M3 spacing looks a little more friendly. Thoughts?

 

[MASantos]

I also build a cmoy a miself and one of Guzller's USB dacs with lots of SMD components. DIY is really addictive and a big hole in your wallet!!!
For what I was told here and from what I read, an M3 or a PPA is much more complicated, it is not only soldering a bunch of parts together. My next project will be a millet hibrid form the group buy powered by a steps. this means at least one month putting all the parts together plus one building everything( DIY wood enclusure as well , DC power cord )
You can build a millet with a wal wart for around 150$, but I think mine will cost around 300( multiple inputs, boutique caps, etc)

I wouldn't advise a PPA or M3 as next project because of the price and complexity. Maybe you should try a pimeta which is more of an intermediate level.

good luck with your next project!!!


Manuel

 

[Jazper]

Quote:

Originally Posted by darkisz Oh yeah, the wallet factor. I should be able to scrape together 200ish in the next couple of weeks. I'm thinking solid state once more, then maybe the millet. I can't decide between the A3 and the PPA. The A3 spacing looks a little more friendly. Thoughts?

I say try the M3..

 

[Porksoda]

Solid looking build. A millet hybrid, if you can get one of the recent group buy boards, is not really all that expensive. Also, it is much lower voltage than most tube amps so it is a lot safer. Plus, the tube amps are extra-sexy.

PPAs, PIMETAs, M3s, dynalos, etc. are all very nice aswell, and not TOO hard to build if you get your hands on a board. PIMETAs, with some smart parts choices, are very nice sounding and quite inexpensive.

 

[darkisz]

Thanks for all your inputs, but the freaking sweet HF-1 just ate my amp budget. I'll probably try a Pimeta in the next month or two, but I'd like to spice it up a bit. I see I can get Elna/Wilma caps and BlueVelvet pots from Tangent's store, and I might try to stack some buffers up. Is A-biasing going overboard? Being a newbie I find myself reading about the options these amps have but not really understanding how they affect sound.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Porksoda PIMETAs, with some smart parts choices, are very nice sounding and quite inexpensive.

Aside from what I mentioned above, are there other parts that may affect sound quality?

DIY and learn, I guess

 

[Porksoda]

Quote:

Originally Posted by darkisz Thanks for all your inputs, but the freaking sweet HF-1 just ate my amp budget. I'll probably try a Pimeta in the next month or two, but I'd like to spice it up a bit. I see I can get Elna/Wilma caps and BlueVelvet pots from Tangent's store, and I might try to stack some buffers up. Is A-biasing going overboard? Being a newbie I find myself reading about the options these amps have but not really understanding how they affect sound. Aside from what I mentioned above, are there other parts that may affect sound quality? DIY and learn, I guess

Class A biasing is definitely a good idea, and it costs next to nothing in money and power consumption. As far as parts choices, op-amp rolling is one of the biggest factors. Also, varying the number of buffers in each stack and the bandwidth will have profound impacts aswell. There is a thread around here somewhere on the subject of buffer bandwidth and stacking.

Another thing to consider is how you power the amp. Wall power is convenient and simplifies a lot of things, but at the same time you either end up with a cheap wall wart or with more build time making a STEPS or TREAD. Wallwarts are the quick-and-dirty solution, and a compromise in terms of overall quality.

A discrete supply like a STEPS or TREAD requires a bit of build time, and you will have to figure out power entry, how to mount them, and buy cables and lots of discretes. This does however give you the advantage of being able to give the amp a really good +/-10V supply, which will make it and you very happy.

Personally, I don't find the whole non-portability thing a problem. Usually when I am out and about I am too busy or the environment is too noisy for me to really miss my amp.

Batteries are relatively simple, but you need a way to house them in the amp, and to charge them. Also, rechargeables are fairly expensive to start out with, depending on how many you get. If you go with nine-volts, don't expect to get more than 4 hours out of a charge, even with a power-conscious amp setup. I used 8xAA @ 2000mAh in my pimeta, and my Grados and I are VERY happy and have a battery life of a good 20 hours or so. I even managed to squeeze a fast-charger in.

Oh yeah, and of course you need silver solder, 99.99999999% pure silver teflon coated wire, solid gold contacts, caddock resistors, beeswax capacitors, etc., etc., etc.

Re-wiring your house for better quality wall power and coating the walls with mu-metal to block out EMI helps a lot, too

Just a few things to think about.

P.S. in case you are curious my PIMETA config is:

2x BUF634 w/ 220 ohm BW resistors on L/R
1x BUF634 w/ 220 ohm BW resistors on G
2x AD843 op-amps on L/R
1x AD8610 op-amp on G
Gain of 5
L/R op-amps biased class A
Alps Blue Pot
Elna/Wima caps purchased from Tangent
8x AA 2000mAh NiMH batteries @ about 10.5V

 

[Voodoochile]

Building a working amp on that ratshack protoboard is a great hazing! After you successfully do that, working on plated board seems too easy.

Nice job.

It's actually not too bad if you really scrub it super-clean about 30 seconds before you start your build. It takes not time at all for the pads to behave like a teflon frying pan, though.