Interesting thread on DIY

[square_wave]

Hi Guys,
Here is a thread happening which may interest you.
http://www.hifi-forum.de/index.php?a...=168&thread=16

Why don't you guys chip in ? It will be fun.

Square.

[leadbelly]

I could not disagree MORE with the consensus in that thread. I bet if you started asking the *hardcore* DIYers on this forum, the guys who have been doing it many years and actually own oscilloscopes and other test equipment (the guys who are not so delusional as the masses on this forum), that they have spent way more than if they simply purchased gear.

[pinkmouse]

Money saving has nothing to do with it, I do it for fun!

[Nordic]

As an example, I did some preliminary calculations last night...

I want to rebuild my capacitor and inductor meter with surface mount components, Haveing to deal with minimum orders of 5 to 25 items on many of the components left the cost to produce the first unit at about $30 exludeing case, pcb, and LCD...

The components needed to build the first unit makes up only about $10 of that, leaving me with $20 worth of spares, which would still not be everything needed to build second unit as some parts also sell in 1 of quatities, like the pic, which makes up about 50% of te $10 cost...

So for 1 unit it is $10 used of $30 spend
2 units is $20 used of $35

However if you know you will do say 1000 or more units you can go much cheaper with bulk discounts etc..

Even the smallest of projects like a cmaoy headphone amp without AC PSU, will cost you just shy of $20 to construct... if you work cheaply, this is wihout time investment....

What I do like about DIY is I can spend $200 over 3 months to buy parts for a DIY amp which is total yhome serviceable, or you can fork out $1000 or more for the same quality from a commercial unit...

[CBS240]

Hi

Another point, if you actually design PCB's and have them manufactured (plated instead of etched), most boardhouses don't make just one or two PCBs. They will, but it will be the same price as several. It is the masks, labor, and use of multi-million machinary that cost money. If you order 1000, they would be like $2 a piece.

[sachi]

ahhh...
I am one of the members on that forum. DIYaudio certainly isn't cheap and saving a few bucks is hardly the moot point for me or for most of us in this hobby. I DIY purely for fun and out of my passion to learn about audio. DIY audio was/is the only reason why i am even doing my Masters. I even put it in my SOP when i applied for grad school .

Btw, my latest creation...Elektor Audio DAC 2000



Sachi

[ashok]

Looks great Sachi.

How does it sound ?

I'm in Bangalore from Sunday (19th) afternoon to Tuesday afternoon.

Wonder if George will see this post.

Cheers,
Ashok.

[sachi]

As much as i would like to meet you and gjo(George) i am afraid that would not be possible as i am still pursuing my Masters in the US.

[square_wave]

Met up with Gjo recently. He has the squeeze box up and running feeding his Audiosecter Dac. Sounds good.

Good to see so many posts underling the fact that DIY is not cheap as it is made out to be. If you do enough research and refine your creation/design it is going to cost you more than the equivalent one off the shelf.

[SY]

The key word is "amortization." If you're doing one or two things, it will not be a money saver. Spread non-BOM costs among a dozen projects and things don't look too bad.

The elephants in the room are risk (who knows, you might suck at this) and your time (which, if you place a value on it, will overwhelm all other costs).