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DIY Workshop » Current DIY Headphone Amp Offerings
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JCD

Member

Joined: Feb. 20, 2006
Locale: San Carlos, CA
Total Posts: 58

Message [#1] posted on: 05-22-2006 05:10 PM CST (US).

LAST UPDATED: 10/19/07

I was thinking it might be a good idea to have a post describing all of the current DIY amp alternatives out there. Maybe there is one, but I haven't seen it. To that end, I have gone through the posts on this forum and listed the amps mentioned, and where possible, the parts cost of the amp. What I was hoping for was that someone more smarter (sic) than me could fill in the remaining part costs. Also, for those that have some sort of comparison, rate them A+ to F-. I thought it just might be a good way to summarize the information in one place.

Note: I've since learned that this topic is also on Head-Fi. His list is a lot prettier with different info. In any case, I shamelessly filled in some of my blanks with his. <evil grin>

Amp Cost Grade General Comments
M3 $200 A Solid state amp
Millet Hybrid $150 Tube hybrid. PCB's no longer available.
Millet Hybrid Max ~$165 New version of the Millet Hybrid
Morgan Jones $200
Dynalo $200
Dynahi $450
SOHA $50 Tube hybrid, supposed to be better than a MJ/CJ, better than YAHA
YAHA $30
Cavalli Jones $180
CL MkII $280 Supposed to be better than a SOHA
BCJ MkI $400 Supposed to be better than a CL MKII
BCJ MKII Supposed to be better than a BCJ MKI
Futternman $280
LISA-III
MHHA from sijosae ~$45 Cost includes enclosure and PSU
Akido $150-$500 PCB Board available
QRV01 amp Class A headphone amp
QRV02 amp Multiple feedback headphone amp
QRV03 amp Current feedback headphone amp
QRV04 amp Surface mounted Class A biased headphone amp
QRV05 amp Surface mounted Diamond Buffer
QRV06 amp Surface mounted current feedback headphone amp
QRV07 amp Surface mounted current feedback headphone amp
QRV08 amp Surface mounted current feedback headphone amp w/super regularors and transformers
Cavalli Kumisa III ~$100 PCB board available at AMB's website
β22 ~$300+ PCB board available at AMB's website
Direct Coupled Amp

Szekeres Amps $15-30 No PCB board available. Low price uses very inexpensive parts

Cmoy "Classic" ~$35? Very small portable amp. Beginners should start here
PPA $150 A Solid state amp -- can be portable.
Pimetas $75-$100 Slightly bigger than the CMOY portable amp.
A47 ~$35
ATAT's PPA
inside a tin $50-$150 Group Buy over
Mini3 v2 $75 PCB board available at AMB's website

Mini3 development stalled
Pint pulled
Mint discontinued
Cetoole's SMD MINT no boards manufactured
Cetoole's MINT ...ond
Buffers Unsure of status

POWER SUPPLIES
TREAD $17 ($10+ for transformer)
STEPS $50
Dynalo PSU $130
Dynahi PSU $160
σ22 ~$120 Companion for the β22, but can be used for Dynahi, Dynalo and others
requiring split supply
σ11 ~$70 Single Rail version of the σ22
QSXPS Rev.1

DACs
Alien $31 PCB's available at Glassjaraudio.com
d3
1545 DAC Kit - "Monica 2" PCB's available

Shunt Regulator
Super Shunt Regulator $12 Isolates power supply/load AC current loops well

Some additional links to other headphone projects:
Raymond's Audiopages
Elliot Sound Products

I would assume that all of the amps in the first section would benefit greatly from one of the power supplies, so these should be included in your build cost. Obviously, there are some power supplies for specific amps. I'm assuming the other amps do not have a specific power supply unit needed.

One final note: The prices are in USD and are just guidelines. I'm sure any one of these amps can be built for less or (a lot) more depending on the parts one buys.

JCD

[Edited by jcd on 10-19-2007 at 07:40 PM.]

searleb

HeadWizer

Joined: Jan. 2, 2005
Locale: Portland, OR, USA
Total Posts: 192

Message [#2] posted on: 05-22-2006 05:33 PM CST (US).

This is a great idea! I don't feel comfortable with the "Grade", though. All of these amps are great (As!)-- they just try to tackle different problems. You can't line up a $30 CMoy and expect it to sound as nice as a $300 pimped out PPA, but it's a sweet $30 amp! Also, the M3 BOARD costs $20-- the other amps you've priced with parts as well.

eVITAERC

HeadWizer

Joined: N/A
Locale: N/A
Total Posts: N/A

Message [#3] posted on: 05-22-2006 05:39 PM CST (US).

Yeah the M3 will cost more like $200! You're definately missing a zero there.

tomb

Headphone Council

Joined: Mar. 1, 2006
Locale: Atlanta, GA
Total Posts: 704

Message [#4] posted on: 05-22-2006 06:30 PM CST (US).

M^3 Board = $21.

ATAT

Headphone Council

Joined: N/A
Locale: N/A
Total Posts: N/A

Message [#5] posted on: 05-22-2006 06:41 PM CST (US).

PPA will cost something like $150, sounds nearly as good as the M^3 with the proper bias settings.

Current portable amp developments

-> Tangent's PINT's successor.. in development for a few months
-> Mini^3.. a month or two of dev left (IIRC)
-> MINT.. discontinued.
-> Cetoole's SMD MINT.. no boards manufactured
-> Cetoole's MINT with Diamond Buffers.. ready for prototype and probably production.
-> ATAT's PPA inside a tin .. prototyping, a few days left till production run.

Tell me if i forgot anything.

[Edited by ATAT on 05-22-2006 at 09:00 PM.]

jcd

Member

Joined: Feb. 20, 2006
Locale: San Carlos, CA
Total Posts: 58

Message [#6] posted on: 05-23-2006 12:59 AM CST (US).

Oops.. I missed the -0- on the M3 cost. It was supposed to be $200.

I wasn't sure about the grade thing either. My idea was really to give a relative performance between the different offerings. My original idea was to make it a scale of 1-100 on an absolute scale with no consideration for cost. My biggest concern was the possible flameworthiness of giving a "poor" grade to someone's pet amp.

I guess I'll leave them in as they are for the time being, but may delete them later. I'll edit the original post as new information comes in.

JCD

fa-schmidt

Headphone Council

Joined: Dec. 7, 2001
Locale: Siegen, Northern Rhine, Germany
Total Posts: 2635

Message [#7] posted on: 05-23-2006 02:27 AM CST (US).

Missing the A47 for around the cost of a CMOY.

YAHA part cost is about 30 USD.

peranders

HeadWizer

Joined: Aug. 31, 2001
Locale: Göteborg, Sweden
Total Posts: 346

Message [#8] posted on: 05-23-2006 02:43 AM CST (US).

JCD, you forgot my QRV-01, 02, 03, 04, 07, 08 headphone amps. Most of them hardly any newbeginner projects.

NeilR

HeadWizer

Joined: Dec. 15, 2005
Locale: Maryland
Total Posts: 140

Message [#9] posted on: 05-23-2006 11:18 AM CST (US).

A good minimal build cost for the Pimeta might $75-$100 and up. I once worked up a BOM for a minimal config w/OPA2134 and a Serpac Case. It came to $65ish, although it would propbably take a lot of discipline to actually bring one in at that cost.. and did not include a power supply since that config would be battery operated.

ppl

Headphone Council

Joined: Jul. 28, 2000
Locale: Seattle WA.USA
Total Posts: 1062

Message [#10] posted on: 05-23-2006 02:46 PM CST (US).

I have just compleated the LISA-III, This is a three channel LISA-II see this hear http://ipastudio...19269#post19269

JCD

Member

Joined: Feb. 20, 2006
Locale: San Carlos, CA
Total Posts: 58

Message [#11] posted on: 05-23-2006 05:45 PM CST (US).

I've updated the list. If you would like to add something, please give me a part cost and Url and I'll update the list accordingly.

Also, since this was more of a newbie issue, I didn't want to include anything that couldn't be considered beginner or beginner/intermediate. If any of the the QRV01-08 can be considered beginner, I'd certainly update my list.

Thanks

JCD

amb

Headphone Council

Joined: Apr. 1, 2004
Locale: Sunnyvale, CA. USA
Total Posts: 4408

Message [#12] posted on: 05-23-2006 07:26 PM CST (US).

This subject (minus the "grading" part) had already come up before on head-fi. (linky)

The build cost of any amp could vary a great deal depending on parts selection and casing.

ATAT

Headphone Council

Joined: N/A
Locale: N/A
Total Posts: N/A

Message [#13] posted on: 05-23-2006 08:54 PM CST (US).

seconded on AMB. I suggest we give a range of values for build cost.

JCD

Member

Joined: Feb. 20, 2006
Locale: San Carlos, CA
Total Posts: 58

Message [#14] posted on: 05-24-2006 11:40 AM CST (US).

[Quoting ATAT]
seconded on AMB. I suggest we give a range of values for build cost.

Totally cool with that. I'll update the original post as the information comes to me.

JCD

JCD

Member

Joined: Feb. 20, 2006
Locale: San Carlos, CA
Total Posts: 58

Message [#15] posted on: 05-24-2006 03:51 PM CST (US).

I updated for some relative rankings of a few of the amps found in another thread.

Certainly welcome rebuttals.

JCD

raromachine

HeadWize Fanatic

Joined: Apr. 15, 2005
Locale: N/A
Total Posts: 513

Message [#16] posted on: 05-24-2006 04:39 PM CST (US).

You might want to note that the $ as US dollars, and not a strange and wonderful currency like NZ Dollars or Monopoly money? <smile>

JCD

Member

Joined: Feb. 20, 2006
Locale: San Carlos, CA
Total Posts: 58

Message [#17] posted on: 05-24-2006 07:00 PM CST (US).

[Quoting raromachine]
You might want to note that the $ as US dollars, and not a strange and wonderful currency like NZ Dollars or Monopoly money?

Good point! <big grin>