*** The DIY Audio Thread ***

Cmoy built and working, using some very nice components (Alps blue velvet, Mundorf MCap Supreme caps, Allen Bradley Resistors).. Sounds awesome but is a very tight fit (some of those caps are huge!).
For my next trick, a cheapo components CMOY with USB as its input source (cheapo components as its a proof of concept).

:)

Just using all this as practice so I am all warmed up when it comes to making my starfish pre amp and NC200 power amps. :D

Sam
 
Currently running a 2132 in there, soon be switching it to a wall wart and building a pair of teddyregs there is no issue with clean power. Going to switch to either OPA2227 or AD8066 after that.

Currently its in its own chassis, but will ultimately end up as the headphone section of the starfish based preamp I am starting to put together.

Sam
 
samcat said:
Allen Bradley Resistors)...
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Carbon Composite?

If so, these can suffer from noise when the temperature changes. This may or may not be a problem depending on where in the circuit you are using the resistors, but I'd be tempted to try some Vishay Dale metal film resistors and see how they compare. :)
 
Mike, do you find that resistors really make a difference to sound quality? I've been using the same Bag o' Assorted Resistors for about 3 years now, and never considered them that crucial.
 
which diy amp would you peeps recommend for my hd650 cans? i am leaning towards the minimax kit off beezar but is there a better one in the price range?
 
p4radox said:
I've just found possibly the most "WTF" DIY mod ever:

http://jimmyauw.com/2009/01/19/ipod-budget-tweak/

What the hell? Has to be BS...
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:D

It could be the placebo effect, maybe it just has the effect of making the chips run hotter which may send some values out of whack... The may or may not change the sound. I don't have an ipod, but even if I did I don't think I would bother. I doubt anyone could ever top the Ipod nano 200Gb mod:

http://uncyclopedia.wikia.com/wiki/Ipod_Nano_200gb_Instructions

;)

samcat said:
Yup.
Will get my hands on some of those and give them a go soon, Ta.

Sam
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If you find Vishay Dale's hard to get hold of, just try some normal metal films, just make sure they are actually metal film and not carbon films painted blue. ;)
p4radox said:
Mike, do you find that resistors really make a difference to sound quality? I've been using the same Bag o' Assorted Resistors for about 3 years now, and never considered them that crucial.
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I wouldn't say they make a big difference, and it depends on where in the circuit they are used also.

I noticed a difference when upgrading an Alps (carbon) pot to a ladder stepped attenuator with metal film resistors, but as this is in the signal chain so resistors will make the biggest difference here.

I haven't tried Vishay Dale resistors yet, I used generic metal film with my stepped attenuator, but I'm tempted to give them a go as they are well regarded and have good specs.

I only mentioned it because carbon composites are known to be noisy:

http://www.benchmarkmedia.com/appnotes-a/mmpnoise.html

The use of an carbon film resistor is usually ok, but the carbon composition resistor should never be used due to a phenomena known as "excess noise" found in these resistors. This noise is created by electrical currents having to jump over small but real physical spacing between the carbon particles which are held apart by the resistors binder material. These days, the discrete carbon comp resistor is almost unavailable. However, the thick film chip resistor and thick film resistor SIP or DIP packs are in fact carbon composition resistors and should be avoided.
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My usual supplier can get the full range of TAKMAN metal film resistors, says they are very good and are rated by the hifi people... Any experience of these?

Thanks,
Sam
 
Great stuff on here, im nowhere ready to foray into building an amp, i've only just dabbled with what parts you would normally use, i am however getting handy with a soldering iron so will be knocking up my first interconnect wire.

Teflon shielded silver cable
Neutrik connectors
Cardas solder
Heatshrink
Black braiding.

All braided litz of course, should be rather smexy when done, im stunned how much cheaper it is to knock up your own rather than paying through the nose for pre paid.

Will only be 2-3" mind, i needed a 3.2 ra male to straight female, my iems now use a straight plug which is a pita sticking out of me player and the only similar cable was alo audio which costs far too much imo like £120.

Plus i may knock up an amp cable, i fancy trying out the filo e7 or failing that rsa shadow/tomahawk or ibasso.

Anyway i'll post it here when done, you are all welcome to tear me a new one if i do a **** poor job of it. ;)
 
samcat said:
My usual supplier can get the full range of TAKMAN metal film resistors, says they are very good and are rated by the hifi people... Any experience of these?

Thanks,
Sam
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I've not tried them before, but I googled and found this:

http://www.diyhifisupply.com/takman-resistors-datasheet

The specs are fine, and I think they will work better than generic/no name resistors which often have no or dubious specs. :)
 
samcat said:
Have a crack at putting together a basic CMOY if you have any headphones, its very simple, cheap parts (for a basic build), sounds good and is a great intro to DIY hifi.

http://tangentsoft.net/audio/cmoy-tutorial/
http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f6/cmoy-stripboard-224364/

:)
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Yeah you're totally right i need to brush up on basic pcb skills heck im good at many technical subjects no reason this should be any different, nichicon caps anyone. ;)

As for where i get my parts, ebay works for me guy called audio-spares seems to stock much of what im after and is incredibly fast on delivery.

Edit - And what do you know they have their own site under the same name. :)
 
p4radox said:
Okay, rewired and ready to retest. I have a nasty feeling one of the rectifiers is fried, but if this looks okay I'll give it a shot anyway:

dsc06321mediumvv5.jpg
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I hate tape! Terminate it properly! I know it's only a test but do ya want to kill it on a careless slip?
 
This evenings attempt, a CMOY using cheapo components with easy connectors:






Dont think I could cram much more on that board... :)

Got the bits for my USB CMOY now, should have a look at that over the weekend. :)
 
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