[shaggy]

Hi guys,
 
I've been hanging around head-fi for a little while, and have decided to allocate $300-500 for a decent sounding amp and dac. I figure doing it the handy manny way will give me more bang for the buck, but I'm not really sure where to begin. My source will be mp3 and flac from my laptop, and my cans are the Ultrasone Pro750 and I will also soon have the Grado HF2. Since my headphones are quite colored, I think I'm looking for a neutral amp and dac. If possible, I would like whatever I build to be versatile and somewhat "upgrade proof," so when I decide splurge on some harder to drive or more demanding headphones, I dont have to completely overhaul my setup (I'm currently lusting after some JH13 and LCD-2). Since I'm completely new to the DIY scene, I think a kit or a build with a huge following would be my ally (the miniMAX and Gamma2 come to mind). I haven't really done any research yet since I don't want to waste time reading 100 page threads about a build that I wont be doing, so hopefully you can point me in the right direction.
 
I'm welcome to suggestions of any sort, including non DIY solutions, which are considered to be worth the price.
 
thanks 

 

[Fred_fred2004]

I'm going to buy my wife a set of those headphones

 

[pabbi1]

I just put a GrubDac in my brother's SOHA II, which he is using with the HF-2. That would hold you for quite some time, well, if such a thing were possible, at least in that price range.

 

[shaggy]

Quote:

I just put a GrubDac in my brother's SOHA II, which he is using with the HF-2. That would hold you for quite some time, well, if such a thing were possible, at least in that price range.

Thanks for the suggestion, I am now seriously considering building this amp. 
 
Some questions:
 
Would you recommend any variation from the standard BOM, which would improve sound or performace?
Are there parts that I should order extras of since I am a noob and likely to mess something up?
How difficult will building this amp be compared to the miniMAX or MOSFETMax or similar DIY endeavors?
You mentioned adding a GrubDAC inside the SOHA II. I like this since I can have an amp/dac combo, however will the GrubDAC be adequate for my needs? To me a good dac right now seems to be even more valuable than an amp since I'm just using my laptop's h/o as a source. 
are any of the engraved face/backplates still available?
 
so much for not reading 100 page threads. . .

 

[TBomb06]

If it were me, I'd make a loaded MOSFET-MAX with the onboard Bantam DAC. Then again, I'm a little biased because I built a MAX back when the first production boards came out and have loved it ever since The build really isn't that hard if you're fairly handy with a soldering iron and have some electrical know-how. There is also a ton of support in the (super long) thread here, and to me it seems like the best complete, all on one board, build out there, and the quality of the different components (power supply, diamond buffer outputs, etc.) are really, really good. Just my $.02.

 

[KnightK]

The AMB Gamma 1 DAC is very competent and can be upgraded to the Gamma 2 DAC which, FWIR, sounds very good.

 

[shaggy]

Quote:

The AMB Gamma 1 DAC is very competent and can be upgraded to the Gamma 2 DAC which, FWIR, sounds very good.

Well I actually would rather build a Gamma 2 DAC straight off the bat since it would save me on enclosure and shipping costs. I think for now im most interested in the best DAC that will fit inside the SOHA II or MilletMax. Is the bantam/grub the only option or is there something better?

 

[shaggy]

any other suggestions?

 

[stringgz301]

Quote:

any other suggestions?

You asked about upgrades to the SOHA II.  I'm using mine with Grado 325's so same impedance as your HF2's.  I did the following upgrades:
 
- Regal mod at initial build
- upgraded C1 to Mundorf MCap Supreme Silver Oil (significant improvement in transparency and definition - settled on these after also trying Audiocap PCU, Auricap, and Relcap RT)
- upgraded C3P, C4P, and C12P to Elna Silmic II's.  These yielded a significant (and surprising) increase in bass punch.  (the BOM calls for C3P and C4P to be 2200mF 35V.  I replaced each of them with 2 x 1000mF 35V. C12P I used 100mF 160V Elna Silmic II, same spec as in the BOM)
 
You're also going to want to roll tubes.  Regal likes the Amperex 8416 in his with Grado's.  Those give a cool wraparound soundstage and a slightly warmer, less detailed sound.  I've also enjoyed the CBS 5814a (great detail and space), RCA 5814a (a touch warmer than the CBS), and Tesla E88CC 1970 era Roznov (great detail with more midrange).
 
It's a great affordable amp.

 

[shaggy]

 
Quote:

You asked about upgrades to the SOHA II.  I'm using mine with Grado 325's so same impedance as your HF2's.  I did the following upgrades:  
- Regal mod at initial build
- upgraded C1 to Mundorf MCap Supreme Silver Oil (significant improvement in transparency and definition - settled on these after also trying Audiocap PCU, Auricap, and Relcap RT)
- upgraded C3P, C4P, and C12P to Elna Silmic II's.  These yielded a significant (and surprising) increase in bass punch.  (the BOM calls for C3P and C4P to be 2200mF 35V.  I replaced each of them with 2 x 1000mF 35V. C12P I used 100mF 160V Elna Silmic II, same spec as in the BOM)
 
You're also going to want to roll tubes.  Regal likes the Amperex 8416 in his with Grado's.  Those give a cool wraparound soundstage and a slightly warmer, less detailed sound.  I've also enjoyed the CBS 5814a (great detail and space), RCA 5814a (a touch warmer than the CBS), and Tesla E88CC 1970 era Roznov (great detail with more midrange).
 
 

 
Thanks for the input, I think, however, I'll probably initially lay off all the tweaks so it'll be easier to troubleshoot if I can't get the amp working properly, and then see what I want to change after I have spent some alone time with the amp. Also, as far a tubes go I would like to start off with something fairly neutral (i can should look into the SOHA II tube thread, haven't really thought of tubes too much at this point), since my headphones will be colored, and work from there.
 
I notice you're using the Buffalo II dac. I was planning on initially placing a Bantam in the soha ii, and then building a y2 down the road. Can you comment on your dac experience with the soha ii? 

 
 
Quote:

 
It's a great affordable amp.

 
That's why I want to build it.
 
 
I think my main concern right now is any additional parts which I should order in case I mess something up since this would be my first build.

 

[shaggy]

Quote:

If it were me, I'd make a loaded MOSFET-MAX with the onboard Bantam DAC. Then again, I'm a little biased because I built a MAX back when the first production boards came out and have loved it ever since The build really isn't that hard if you're fairly handy with a soldering iron and have some electrical know-how. There is also a ton of support in the (super long) thread here, and to me it seems like the best complete, all on one board, build out there, and the quality of the different components (power supply, diamond buffer outputs, etc.) are really, really good. Just my $.02.

Well I would consider building that too, but unfortunately there aren't any kits around

 

[TBomb06]

Quote:

Well I would consider building that too, but unfortunately there aren't any kits around

There is a really nice kit for the Mini Max and the GrubDAC on the www.beezar.com store. It's not an all-in-one-case solution, but it's still pretty nice!

 

[shaggy]

Quote:

There is a really nice kit for the Mini Max and the GrubDAC on the www.beezar.com store. It's not an all-in-one-case solution, but it's still pretty nice!

 
Ya I know that one, but I would rather build a SOHA II than a Mini Max. I was talking about a Mosfet-Max kit
 

 

[FallenAngel]

So forget the kit and just order the parts yourself, that's a good portion of the fun in building stuff - picking and ordering parts... then posting "oh damn" comments about what you forgot to order.

 

[stringgz301]

 
 

 
Quote:

Thanks for the input, I think, however, I'll probably initially lay off all the tweaks so it'll be easier to troubleshoot if I can't get the amp working properly, and then see what I want to change after I have spent some alone time with the amp. Also, as far a tubes go I would like to start off with something fairly neutral (i can should look into the SOHA II tube thread, haven't really thought of tubes too much at this point), since my headphones will be colored, and work from there.

 

I notice you're using the Buffalo II dac. I was planning on initially placing a Bantam in the soha ii, and then building a y2 down the road. Can you comment on your dac experience with the soha ii? 

 
 
A few thoughts:
 
- the C1 upgrade is easy to do anytime
- the Regal mod has been done by enough people that it it straightforward to troubleshoot
- upgrading the power supply caps after the initial build is a royal pain.  There is very little space and you're working between and around the heatsinks.  My suggestion would be to install them from the get-go and put them under the PCB
 
In terms of the dac, I started out using the DAC on my iBasso D10, which is supposedly pretty darn good.  I found myself tweaking my amp setup (tubes, caps, ...) to correct things introduced by the dac (light bass, mushy imaging, ...).  When I built my Buffalo II it was a real eye opener: bass went a lot deeper and was much clearer, imaging was much better, etc.  Lesson: you can't fix an inexpensive dac with a very good amp.  My personal advice (wearing my asbestos jumpsuit ready to be flamed) is the following: take your overall budget and assign 2/3 to the dac and 1/3 to the amp.  This may be the reverse of what most people do, but it reflects the cost of the various parts and the fact that it's hard to fix the signal once a cheap dac has messed it up.