darkisz
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OK, I'm sure there are a few people chomping at the bit for some user feedback on the PINT. I put on together on 3/26, so I guess I'll take a stab at it...
Please be warned, I do not have 'Golden Ears' and my comments on the sound are just my opinions...but first I'll start with comments on the build.
Having never tried SMD before the PINT, I made sure to view Tangent's excellent video, and warmed up by mounting some SOICs on Browndogs. I was nervous, but it ended up being easier than I anticipated. I was using a Weller WP25 with a ST5-ND tip. I also picked up some quality tweezers that I believe made everything much easier.
Parts were almost straight off Tangent's list, with most components ordered from Digi-Key, I got resistors and case components from Mouser. I chose the 560uf cap for the electrolytic, and I mis-ordered the 75ohm resistor for R1 (got750k
) so I substituted a 100ohm. I used 2x8397 for opamps. I set the gain for the default value of 6. I used 2x GP 8.4v/170mah batteries.
Casing went pretty smoothly. I used a Penguin Mint tin and drilled with a stepped drill bit. It ended up looking pretty much like the pics on Tangent's page, with the exceptions that I mouned an LED next to the volume knob and there's more slack in my wiring.
Pics (for those that didn't see it in the 'Post your Builds' thread):
So, how does it sound? Again, I can't stress enough that I don't consider myself qualified to give an accurate answer to this question. However, I'll try to express my opinion sufficiently. Equipment used for comparisons was 320kb MP3s from my Nano with SIK line out, and dt-770-80s for my comparisons against a C-moy with gain of 7 and the Hornet on high gain setting.
Compared to a C-moy with 2132 opamp, the PINT sounds great. The C-moy sounds thin and there is very little weight behind the notes. The PINT delivers tighter and better sustained bass, and the highs in the PINT are considerably smoother. Decay sounds more natural as well. The one place where the C-moy won was the noise floor. I was surprised how much hiss came from the PINT when I didn't have music playing. With lower impendance cans (I tried my PX200's, 32ohm) the hiss is very noticeable at gain of 6, almost to the point of annoyance. I will probably build my next PINT with a lower gain, since my dt770-80's are the highest impendance cans I have, and am interested in what other peoples observations are regarding the noise floor, as my problem could very well stem from some fault with my assembly.
I was quite surprised how well the PINT held up next to the Hornet. Aside from the hiss issue, I found it much harder to identify the differences between the two amps. With the PINT vs C-moy, the amps had different sound signatures, but the PINT and Hornet sound quite similar. I give the Hornet a slight edge in the bass department, and it generally sounded a smidge cleaner. For costing me ~1/6 the price, the PINT makes an admirable showing next to the Hornet.
I haven't had time to sufficiently test battery life yet, but I'll try to keep track and get back with that.
So, there you have it. I hope you found my observatons on the PINT somewhat informative.
Please be warned, I do not have 'Golden Ears' and my comments on the sound are just my opinions...but first I'll start with comments on the build.
Having never tried SMD before the PINT, I made sure to view Tangent's excellent video, and warmed up by mounting some SOICs on Browndogs. I was nervous, but it ended up being easier than I anticipated. I was using a Weller WP25 with a ST5-ND tip. I also picked up some quality tweezers that I believe made everything much easier.
Parts were almost straight off Tangent's list, with most components ordered from Digi-Key, I got resistors and case components from Mouser. I chose the 560uf cap for the electrolytic, and I mis-ordered the 75ohm resistor for R1 (got750k
Casing went pretty smoothly. I used a Penguin Mint tin and drilled with a stepped drill bit. It ended up looking pretty much like the pics on Tangent's page, with the exceptions that I mouned an LED next to the volume knob and there's more slack in my wiring.
Pics (for those that didn't see it in the 'Post your Builds' thread):
So, how does it sound? Again, I can't stress enough that I don't consider myself qualified to give an accurate answer to this question. However, I'll try to express my opinion sufficiently. Equipment used for comparisons was 320kb MP3s from my Nano with SIK line out, and dt-770-80s for my comparisons against a C-moy with gain of 7 and the Hornet on high gain setting.
Compared to a C-moy with 2132 opamp, the PINT sounds great. The C-moy sounds thin and there is very little weight behind the notes. The PINT delivers tighter and better sustained bass, and the highs in the PINT are considerably smoother. Decay sounds more natural as well. The one place where the C-moy won was the noise floor. I was surprised how much hiss came from the PINT when I didn't have music playing. With lower impendance cans (I tried my PX200's, 32ohm) the hiss is very noticeable at gain of 6, almost to the point of annoyance. I will probably build my next PINT with a lower gain, since my dt770-80's are the highest impendance cans I have, and am interested in what other peoples observations are regarding the noise floor, as my problem could very well stem from some fault with my assembly.
I was quite surprised how well the PINT held up next to the Hornet. Aside from the hiss issue, I found it much harder to identify the differences between the two amps. With the PINT vs C-moy, the amps had different sound signatures, but the PINT and Hornet sound quite similar. I give the Hornet a slight edge in the bass department, and it generally sounded a smidge cleaner. For costing me ~1/6 the price, the PINT makes an admirable showing next to the Hornet.
I haven't had time to sufficiently test battery life yet, but I'll try to keep track and get back with that.
So, there you have it. I hope you found my observatons on the PINT somewhat informative.