[cwboomer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Llama16 /img/forum/go_quote.gif yeah he knows, it's that way for long. I asked as well, and I understand his response completely: lack of time. We never have enough of it

It's not a biggy. I'm sure there are more important things!!! Just didn't see a post about it. Those kits must be gone already.

Can't wait to see everyone's shiny black cases! I know that mine is going to get me through the workday.

D

 

[tomb]

Quote:

Originally Posted by cwboomer /img/forum/go_quote.gif It's not a biggy. I'm sure there are more important things!!! Just didn't see a post about it. Those kits must be gone already. Can't wait to see everyone's shiny black cases! I know that mine is going to get me through the workday. D

Actually, no. I had hoped to have the first ones shipped out today, but it will be tomorrow before shipments begin. It took me a little longer than I thought to test the tubes. I'm not sure, but we may have enough left over to consider another run of kits. We'll see ...

I keep intending to finish the website, but just can't seem to get to it. I'll try again after this round of kits ship. Meanwhile, of course - everything else you need to know is found in the SSMH Build Thread here on Head-Fi - link in my signature below.

 

[Lou Erickson]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tomb /img/forum/go_quote.gif Actually, no. I had hoped to have the first ones shipped out today, but it will be tomorrow before shipments begin.

I think he meant, "All the kits are sold", but I could be wrong.

According to Beezar's front page, there's a few left, though.

Quote:

It took me a little longer than I thought to test the tubes. I'm not sure, but we may have enough left over to consider another run of kits. We'll see ...

That'd be cool, as I think kits really make it a lot easier for more people to try things. I would guess that there's a lot of people who'd feel okay building a kit - particularly one with a nice case like this one - that might not be comfortable trying to order a confusing morass of parts and figuring out what to put it in.

It's a wonderful thing you've done, and I'm happy to have mine coming! Hopefully I'll be able to put it together the Friday after Thanksgiving.

 

[CaptHowie]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tomb /img/forum/go_quote.gif I'm not sure, but we may have enough left over to consider another run of kits. We'll see ...

I hope so. I've been waiting around this thread for months, yet when the kits come out I have no money on me.

Anyway, hopefully the people who did get the kits make some nice Starving Students. Can't wait to see some mods!

 

[the_equalizer]

So has any of the experienced headphone gurus here A/B's our beloved MSSH against other amps? I've searched head-fi but I've been unable to find a full fledged review of the "Starving Student" hybrid. I'm particularly interested as to how it fares against comparable amps such as the Little Dot I+

cheers!

 

[Juaquin]

It's a fairly simple amp but has big sound. I'm not qualified to review it against other amps but I know that it has been reviewed around here with respect to the other Millets, and I'm sure a few other amps as well.

 

[tomb]

Quote:

Originally Posted by the_equalizer /img/forum/go_quote.gif So has any of the experienced headphone gurus here A/B's our beloved MSSH against other amps? I've searched head-fi but I've been unable to find a full fledged review of the "Starving Student" hybrid. I'm particularly interested as to how it fares against comparable amps such as the Little Dot I+ cheers!

Please ... not in this thread. This is the DIY support thread, not a headphone amp comparison thread. I'd rather not get into whose design is better. There are not enough of us in DIY design circles to start shooting bullets at each other. Some may do it in other DIY threads, but I'd rather not do it here.

The Starving Student has been reviewed extensively. Simply search the Head-Fi amplifier section for "Mini Millett" (rds's version sold at Whiplash Audio) or "Starving Student." There are a number of comparisons with the Little Dot (not sure which one, though).

 

[Lou Erickson]

I'm not swift enough to be able to calculate what the LED resistor size needs to be if you only wanted one LED...

Tube lights make little sense with metal tubes, and I'd like a power lamp instead. I can move it around, as I'm doing a point-to-point build, but I don't know the voltages there to order parts.

Can anyone give me any direction?

 

[Juaquin]

V=IR
In this case V=48V and I should be about 15-20mA depending on the LED used and how bright you want it. Keep in mind that a lot of power will be put across the resistor due to the high voltage so choose a good power rating on the resistor (P=(I^2)*R=IV). For instance, if you shoot for 15mA you need about 3k (3.3k will work), and the power rating would need to be 1W or higher.

 

[cobaltmute]

Tweaks

Vs is your source voltage (48B in this case). I would target I = 3mA or around there. 15mA for LED current will be very bright. The brightness in part would be determined by the luminousity rating. Some LEDs can be *extremely* bright at very low current

 

[Juaquin]

Yeah, like I said, depends on the LED and how bright you want it. For a power indicator you may want a lower current since it's not supposed to light anything (like the tube lights).

If you have a pack of resistors of different values (like the radioshack one, or the ones available from eBay) you can try different I_led values (although with lower voltages since those resistors are only rated for 1/4W).

 

[cobaltmute]

I made the mistake of using one of these in my GrubDAC build

VAOL-3LWY4 VCC Standard LED

Luminous intensity = 2500mcd @ 20ma.

At 3ma it gives nice room illumination to a dark room

I used these on my Grub+Carrie build:

TLHP4400 Vishay Semiconductors Standard LED

Only 1mcd at 10ma.

Definitely not as bright.

The advantage of being dimmer in the first place is that you can always add a resistor in parallel to brighten it up. Harder to go the other way around

 

[the_equalizer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tomb /img/forum/go_quote.gif Please ... not in this thread. This is the DIY support thread, not a headphone amp comparison thread. I'd rather not get into whose design is better. There are not enough of us in DIY design circles to start shooting bullets at each other. Some may do it in other DIY threads, but I'd rather not do it here. The Starving Student has been reviewed extensively. Simply search the Head-Fi amplifier section for "Mini Millett" (rds's version sold at Whiplash Audio) or "Starving Student." There are a number of comparisons with the Little Dot (not sure which one, though).

Got it. It was not my intention to "get into whose design is better". Just a description of how it sounds compared to other amps... I'll have to look at the search again then...

thanks !

 

[tomb]

Quote:

Originally Posted by the_equalizer /img/forum/go_quote.gif Got it. It was not my intention to "get into whose design is better". Just a description of how it sounds compared to other amps... I'll have to look at the search again then... thanks !

No problem! And it certainly wasn't meant to single you out. It's just that there are a few individuals who will take advantage of such a conversation.

 

[tomb]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lou Erickson /img/forum/go_quote.gif I'm not swift enough to be able to calculate what the LED resistor size needs to be if you only wanted one LED... Tube lights make little sense with metal tubes, and I'd like a power lamp instead. I can move it around, as I'm doing a point-to-point build, but I don't know the voltages there to order parts. Can anyone give me any direction?

To actually work through an example, it might go like this:

Let's assume 3ma as the other guys have suggested - V=IR,
In this case, V=48VDC, and we'll let I = 0.003A.
Using a bit of algebra, we have R = V/I, or R = 48/0.003 = 16,000 Ohms.

* So, you'd need a 16K resistor. *

We're not done yet, though - we have to check the power rating on the resistor and see if it's enough. For that, we use the equation P = I^2 * R.

For our 16K resistor and 0.003A, we have P = (0.003^2) * 16000 = 0.144W.
That's more than a typical RN55 1/8W resistor. Plus, most of us use a 100% safety factor when sizing resistors for power. After all, you're talking about the potential of a small fire if the resistor gets too hot. So, 2 x 0.144 = 0.288. That's more than a 1/4W, so a 1/2W resistor would be truly safe. Since the military rating on Vishay-Dale resistors is 1/2 their commercial rating, an RN60 would be sufficient (1/4W mil-spec, 1/2W commercial).

What may be more important, though, is that you select a panel LED that's diffuse rather than clear. Even at low levels, it's unsettling to have a panel LED shine a focused beam into your eye - better that it's diffused.