[CrawlingEye]

Well, with my Trackmasters being expected any day now, I'm curious as to what you guys think of the Headsave MINT?
I have a bit of money left over from Christmas ($50 at the moment, but $75 and shipping could easily be raised).

Many say it's not as good as the original meta42's were (which I haven't heard either). This will be my first amp, for my first 'real' quality headphone.

My source will be as stated in my sig.
(q8) 256kbps bitrate VBR ogg's through my Karma.

I have some time to raise a bit of money (can't raise much though, I'm an unemployed 18 year old), and to think over my purchase.

Just with such few comments in regards to the MINT, I can't help but wonder why. I tried digging, but all the threads that came up from "MINT" were just used in passing, from what I read in about 2-3 pages of searching.

One last thing, before I forget... What's the battery life like with the MINT? I'll likely use rechargable 9v's but would like something that's at least around 9 hours per charge. My Karma holds a 15 hour charge, which I imagine is a bit realistic from one 9v but still would like something relatively comparable.

Thanks all once again.

 

[tigger]

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
One last thing, before I forget... What's the battery life like with the MINT? I'll likely use rechargable 9v's but would like something that's at least around 9 hours per charge. My Karma holds a 15 hour charge, which I imagine is a bit realistic from one 9v but still would like something relatively comparable.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

In recent tests, the Mint achieved 48 hours of steady run time using a single 9v Duracell. A Plainview rechargeable NiMH lasted 12 hours under the same continuous operation.

 

[CrawlingEye]

Quote:

Originally posted by tigger ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- One last thing, before I forget... What's the battery life like with the MINT? I'll likely use rechargable 9v's but would like something that's at least around 9 hours per charge. My Karma holds a 15 hour charge, which I imagine is a bit realistic from one 9v but still would like something relatively comparable. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- In recent tests, the Mint achieved 48 hours of steady run time using a single 9v Duracell. A Plainview rechargeable NiMH lasted 12 hours under the same continuous operation.

Thanks, norm.

Perhaps I should e-mail you this, but I hope you don't mind me asking here.
Tangent's site says the MINT's pcb can be cut in half and essentially 'folded.' Do you offer this as an option? It shows that it'll allow 2 9v's to be held in the altoids tin.

The reason I ask is because, I'm thinking perhaps if this can be done, with the 'run time' increase, perhaps it wouldn't be so far fetched of an idea to think that perhaps more buffers could be added down the road?

Oh yeah, in my quoted comment, I meant it would be unrealistic, not realistic. I guess I shouldn't have corrected that though, considering the 12 hours of battery time!

 

[lindrone]

Mint is the bottom of the Meta42 ladder... as you move up to bigger version of Meta42.. they get better and better. Mint is a very good place to start, of course, it's another matter as to how long you can stay there

 

[CrawlingEye]

Quote:

Originally posted by lindrone Mint is the bottom of the Meta42 ladder... as you move up to bigger version of Meta42.. they get better and better. Mint is a very good place to start, of course, it's another matter as to how long you can stay there

I think I'll be stuck there due to the fact that I don't have the money to buy a new amp every 3 months. With that said, the Tempo seems out of reach, with it's price.

I need something portable too, which makes the decision all the harder.

 

[lindrone]

Well, save up your money, maybe in time, you'll be able to move yourself up to a XP-7. As far as portable amps are concerned, XP-7 is probably as good as they come. It's a little bigger and heavier than the MINT, but the sound quality is akin to a high-end desktop amp.

That's all for much further down the road though

 

[CrawlingEye]

Quote:

Originally posted by lindrone Well, save up your money, maybe in time, you'll be able to move yourself up to a XP-7. As far as portable amps are concerned, XP-7 is probably as good as they come. It's a little bigger and heavier than the MINT, but the sound quality is akin to a high-end desktop amp. That's all for much further down the road though

I'm sorry, but I don't think that's very tangible for me, in the near future.

 

[lindrone]

Oh dude, my bad! When I first read the post, I had somehow mistakenly read that you already have the Mint Meta, and were thinking about where to upgrade to.

Now I just realized you were inquiring whether or not you should get the Mint Meta...

For your budget, (around $50 to $75), Mint Meta is the best choice... Super Mini is the only other "within reachable distance" amp at the price of $100 or so.

For now, and with your budget, there's nothing wrong with getting a Mint Meta at all.

 

[CrawlingEye]

Quote:

Originally posted by lindrone Oh dude, my bad! When I first read the post, I had somehow mistakenly read that you already have the Mint Meta, and were thinking about where to upgrade to. Now I just realized you were inquiring whether or not you should get the Mint Meta... For your budget, (around $50 to $75), Mint Meta is the best choice... Super Mini is the only other "within reachable distance" amp at the price of $100 or so. For now, and with your budget, there's nothing wrong with getting a Mint Meta at all.

That makes much more sense!
Thanks for clarification, I wasn't quite sure if I misread something or said something unclearly at first!

Do you think the SuperMini would be a better sounding amp than the MINT? From what I've read is the SuperMini/SuperMicro is slightly lacking in sound quality.

I don't know what in comparsion to, but some searches found a couple posts indicating that.

Thanks for all your help so far, again.

 

[lindrone]

I've used both Mint Meta and SuperMini for a while now (don't use them nearly as much as I used to.. they were my primary amp when I first got into Head-Fi)... I think the reviews are pretty much on the spot.

SuperMini is amazing for its size (the Super Micro is even more so), but the one thing that SuperMini does very well, is providing a lot of power in a battery powered amp. It seems like that's really its primary objective. I can imagine using a SuperMini to power something like the HD600's better than Mint Meta, but the sound response from the SuperMini seems very exaggerated and uncontrolled. It lacks a certain refinement and smoothness. If the excessive power isn't needed, I think the Mint Meta will do just fine.

Another thing to consider, is that SuperMini packs in a lot of features for a small amp, it's the only amp in that price range I can think of that includes a fully bypassable crossfeed feature. As well as an option for a built-in impedance adjustment for Ety 4P users (4P => 4S built-in adjustment). The crossfeed might be attractive, but since you don't use an Ety, you can forfeit the other feature.

Overall, I think Mint Meta is more about refinement, as where the SuperMini is about portability & power. I like the sound signature of the Mint Meta quite a bit more, it's a nice and smooth sound. The SuperMini tend to be more impactful, and sounds a little busy.

 

[CrawlingEye]

Well, the cans I'll be using will be my Trackmasters (whenever they get here) and I'll be using my Karma for the source (sig has it all slated out.

)

I was going to wait and try for a Porta Corda or Porta Corda 2, but since both are considerably off from where I am now, I was thinking about getting the MINT for now and maybe next year picking up the PC or PC2.

I'm thinking if I can get a MINT with the pcb cut in half to fit 2 9v's in there, then later if I want, I can add some extra buffers and it won't seriously effect battery life.

I'm not sure how possible all of this is or how expensive it would be, I guess I'm going to have to give norm an e-mail.

 

[Habib]

If you are going with 2-battery operation, perhaps you need to factor in the cost of batteries if you are going to with plainviews. Because each plainview 9v takes about 8 hours to charge that means you need 4 of those 9v with 2 chargers... Mint is very good, I kept mine even after I've moved on to bigger better things. Mine is also from Norm and his craftsmanship is superb.

 

[iamdone]

Be sure to check the Gear for Sale section here. You might be able to find a supermini, PIMETA, or Meta42 close to your asking price.

 

[CrawlingEye]

lindrone, could you clean out your PM box?

 

[lindrone]

Done..