first time builder needs a project

[dusk]

OK, so I've asked some obviously newb questions in this forum and headwize, and think I have a decent idea of what to ask next.

First, this is my setup and intended use.

SOURCE: a PC I built myself with an M-Aduio Audiophile 2496
HEADPHONES: beyerdynamic DT880's
AMP: ? dunno, wanna build one, dont want to spend too much money on parts because I might break something
CABLE: I plan on upgrading to a cardas
SOUND: I listen to a lot of bass heavy electronic music, jazz (charles mingus!), and rock. I almost got grados for my choice in music, but Ive decided to give the beyers a try. I watch DVD's and play video games a lot as well.

So my question is, what is a nice little started project that I can plug into the wall, since i wont be taking this out, that will give me a nice introduction to this whole thing? I plan on building a tube amp next, but my sights really are on building a Dynahi.

I'd like to have RCA input, since that's the output of my card.. and.. what cables would be good here? I was thinking the CPU cables from headphile.com

Any information will be awesome.

Alexander M. Annese

 

[blip]

Well the obvious, and often stated, place to start is with a CMOY or A47. Either will provide decent performance and easy/cheap construction.

If you want to go a bit more complex (or you just want to start out on a PCB) there is always the PIMETA which I thought was pretty easy to build and (depending on configuration) can sound VERY excellent. The price goes up more than a little bit though.

If you can find a board, the Millet Hybrid is also fairly simple/cheap. There is also another mini-tube project that is even simpler and cheaper but I can't remember the name... Actually I think most of the discussion about it was over on Headwize so look there if you are interested.

 

[The Monkey]

I recommend starting with the cmoy just to get your feet wet and move on from there.