a review: my first mini c-moy amp

at last

i have always wanted a portable amp. i tried out many portable amp, from ibasso, amb mini to soul micro. and i think they’re going to be a great addition to my portable setup! the only problem is that theyre expensive!!

and then i think, since im a electrical engineering major student, i should be able to BUILD  my own amp. (at that time (and now i think hehehe) i dont know anything *eergh lets just say that i forget anything they taught me in class).

so, i came across this website

http://www.tangentsoft.net/audio/

i decided to follow the tutorial there, because its systematic and well explained. my friend kresna decided to join the pursuit!! yeaahh!!

starting it up

the first day, we bought soldering iron, multitester and the component, except the Op Amp. because i really didnt have any experience in buying component, i was very happy when it only cost about Rp 30k. hahaha i tought this amp will be very cheap!! well, at least until the next day…..

this time i came to jaya plaza in search of the mysterious OPA2134/2604 that was no where to be found in ANAM. hahaha..so i get to this store ask the lady for the op amp. AND THE PRICE ISSS RP 60k!!! damn!! twice the priceoff  all  the other component! sick! so this is why those amp are really expensive…

so i assemble the circuit, there are some minor problem regarding the hiss in the output so i changed the gain and try out different capacitor ratings.

testing

the next problem is the enclosure, i need to find a case that is small enough to fit a 9v batt. and i find a paperclip case in gramedia. *in the end i bought 2 of them, because i failed in my first try, and now i have 200 “i dont know what to do with it” paper clips.

so this is my final product of my mini cmoy amplifier.

yaayyyy!!

about the SQ, i really cant say much yet (corporate secret hehehehehe). but it really make the bass more tight, more powerfull. and i think it improve the staging a little bit.

but anyway, it has been a reaaaalllyy fun project!!

next project —> DIY LOD and headphone recable!! and improving the amp…hehehe

Filed under: audio, review

a language review: why indonesian rap sucks!

Not along time ago, i had lunch in KFC dago. And while i was eating i see in the television an indonesian rapper. I forget the name but what i remember was the song was very lame, it was about a fan and how hot it was and he has no money to buy the fan.

Basically the lyrics wasn’t very good, it only rhyme at the end and kinda like he hadnt have any other word choices. No beat or rythm. I was never an rap expert but i have heard good rap (or something that i believe was a rap) exp in 311, RHCP, eminem etc. What they have in common was they have a unique beat, rythm with their lyrics that really connects and blend well with their tunes, a good choices of words and sentence complexity, how much you can put information in a verse.

I have an explanation or we could say a theory about why its very hard to rap in indonesian. I believe it was because indonesian langague have too many syllable!!! Lets just take an example, one syllable english words are = i, you, we, they, he, she, her, his, car, rain, play, too, love, smile….and the list go foreveeeerr..They even merge to words in one syllable exp : you’ll, we’re, we’ve etc. While one syllable indonesian words are = tong, lem, seng, truk, sel…. Basicaly unimportant and meaningless words that youll hardly find in lyrics. Thats why indonesian songs hard to get too complex in their sentence and they tend to “play” in the meaning of the sentence (thats make it very boring).

Well maybe you’ll think that it has anything to with good lyrics or rap. But lets see the basic musical tunes; do re mi fa sol la si do. None of them have more than one syllable!!!!
and if youre humming a song youll go “la la la la la” or “na na na na na” right??
Because its much more easier to catch a tune with one syllable. And that is the reason why indonesian rap(their lyrics ryhme) is very bad!! maybe we should invent new indonesian words that only have one syllable.

Filed under: audio, review

grado sr-60 woody mark II

Grado Woody Mark II

this headphone is the modification of the standard grado sr-60 headphone. Woody Mark II was designed by an indonesian artis and handycraft man. the difference between the original one is Woody Mark II use handmade wooden cups that not only make the sound better it also made the appearence way much cooler!!. The wooden cups have an extra air chamber that improve the sound quality espescially the staging which made it more wider and richer. the bass is more deeper, more round its just more fun to hear!. overall the modification really made this this entry level grado headphone sounded like the wooden cups of grado RS-1. you wouldnt believe what improvement it will do if you do this to your MS-1!!! truly unbelievable. it is TRULY THE WORLD’S FINEST HEADPHONES!!

Filed under: audio, review