[peppergrower]

I'd like to build a decent-quality portable amp, along the lines of the Mini^3.  (I also keep hoping that at some point there'll be a successor to Tangent's PINT, which seemed to have a lot of popularity, but I have no idea if/when that's going to happen.)
 
The thing is, I first started looking into this a couple years ago, got busy with other things, and I'm finally to the point where I can put the time in to build again.  The last time I checked, the Mini^3 looked like the best option for a decent-quality portable amp.  Has that changed in the last couple of years?  What are some other good designs I should consider in the same price range?
 
(In case it matters, I'll be using it with Sennheiser HD 580s and possibly the Head-Direct RE0, which I'm looking at buying.)

 

[tamu]

I read good things about both pimeta v2 and mini^3. Both are meant to be great. Good thing about pimeta seems to be the option to mount a crossfeed. on the other hand mini^3 could be a better sounding amp.
a very hard decision indeed :s

 

[dizzyraider]

I have the mini3 and it sounds great with both my cans and iem (both 32ohms). However keep in mind that you can't change the gain of the mini3 once built. So make sure you pick the right gain that will work with both the HD580 and RE0.

 

[nattonrice]

You can, it just requires changing six resistors.

 

[MASantos]

The problem with the PINT was that quite a few people where having problems with oscilation as there were some problems with the design, so Tangent decided to pull the project.
 
In between, most people minified their PINTs, which involved hacking the circuit to make it more like the mini3 from AMB, and that worked quite well, I build dozens of those.
 
If you wish to DIY I would suggest the mini3, which for the money sounds terrific and is quite easy to build! I never heard the PIMETA v2, but s other projects from Tangent should sound very good and should be worth the money.