My new baby

[GrahamnDodder]

It's not a gainclone, but it is a chip amp, so I am posting here. It is a CMoy headphone amp, built around the Burr-Brown 2132 opamp. (The 3875-based) gainclone is already underway....

Way beneath most of you guys. But it is the first amp I ever built, so I thought it deserved a decent DIY'd case.

Alas, a tree had to die. I used a small board of red oak, cut into three pieces. The first two had a space cut out with a drill and jigsaw, then I glued them together for the box look.

Still had to shave the middle piece down to get about 1/8" wall for mounting the Pansonic pot and the LED. Used a Dremel for that.

I love the sound, even though I have heard the better-rated META42 design I am recasing in an old cigar box. (Maybe it sounds better because I built it...) That project is on hold, however, as I have the bug bad enuf now to be doing a GainClone.

I finished this a month ago, but had been waiting for the next incoming Digikey order for a better nob. The tiny one I had just didn't look right.

There is some sloppiness inside (and some outside!) so please be gentle with the comments....

Thanks to all for your ongoing help!

GnD

[GrahamnDodder]

Back view - 1/4" input and power switch...

[GrahamnDodder]

This is the whole setup, with the XM Satellite Radio SkyFi receiver (my favorite source) and Sony MDR-7506 headphones, which I listen to all day whe I am at my desk at work...

[GrahamnDodder]

The guts, for those not familiar with the CMoy amps:

[GrahamnDodder]

...and the circuit board close-up.

Way more info available on this very easy first DIY project at www.head-fi.org.

Also, a complete tutorial on the circuit at www.tangetsoft.net, under audiologica.

GnD

[Netlist]

You have style, taste, nice pictures and a good camera.
Oops, and Guts too
Veeeeeerrrry nice wooden box.

/Hugo

[tschrama]

Ooohhhhhh .... I'm completely in love with this beautiful piece of work ... Howabout a small BJT to buffer the poor opamp output.. If you build something like that with a bit more audiophile guts it would be a niceeeeeeee hi-end product...

regrads,
Thijs

[Da5id4Vz]

Sweet!

A box that Roy Underhill himself would be proud of (http://www.pbs.org/wws/program/index.html), assuming that none of those Norm Abrams power things were used.

How long does the battery last?

-Dave

[GrahamnDodder]

Thanks!

Battery lasts about 50 hours at pretty decent volume. Very simple, with nice, clean DC.

I am thinking of a similar case, albeit larger, for the gainclone I am building.

Roy would frown on my jigsaw and palm sander. Not to mention the Dremel...

GnD

[GrahamnDodder]

tschrama-

It was my very first DIY project. The guts had to be pretty simple. Nevr underestimate the depth of my incomprehension....