A bit over a year ago, I decided that with ear plugs my in helmet speaks just weren't up to snuff...especially when i needed them most....that being in long boring rides at Freeway speeds (note that I didn't say ON FREEWAYS)....Anywho, I digress.

I started investigating my options. Naturally I could upgrade from my Elcheapo MP3 Player/FM Tuner....but then that would defeat the purpose of having an MPS player I don't particularily mind being dropped, dragged, stolen, stepped on, run over or otherwise abused.:

This has actually been a great MP3 player, it has multiple pre-sets for my intown commuting....Lex and Terry in the AM, Soft Rock or Country headed home (calm down music). I can load 1GB worth of anything else I like, and it would play that as well. I have 3 of these MP3 players, I keep one in each jacket.

Option #2 would be to upgrade my headphones. I originally used a pair that I got in a random box of stuff....brand new, but not expensive. They look something like this...prior to my modifying them of course:

The nice thing about these is they have a REALLY long cord...long enough to reach to wherever my Audio Source ends up located....which is sometimes dangling by the cord and nearly getting sucked into the back tire...

Upgrading would mean finding a better headphone, then making it nearly worthless by cutting it up and putting it in my helmet...I want to avoid that.

Option #3 was an Amp...something to boost the little noise my MP3 player makes to a level I can hear it at. Now I could buy one online or at Radioshack for $30 or so....but what would be the fun in that??? Being a bit of a Mad Inventor, I knew I had to build my own. I check out www.instructables.com, and found some promising plans.

Attempt #1, which occured in April of 08 was not very good. Actually I take that back...it sucked. I tried to stay cheap on components, and I don't know enough about Audio Electronics to know what the problem was, but it was clearly too much modification to a proven idea. I shelved the Amp, and put all the extra bits away for future use in who knows what project.

Attempt #2 was MUCH better. After going to RadioShack to buy the "Boostaroo" only to discover they had stopped carrying it (wow, what a surprise....) I started checking out some of the Audiophile sites. I am NOT an Audiophile. I have tin ears, can't carry a tune in a bucket, and don't particularily care for "normal" music....it's all noise to me. I can't watch American Idle, or Britain's Got Talentor anything because they all sound just fine to me.

My research confirmed that many people spend WAY too much on music stuff. WAY too much. A "good" headphone amp starts at about $125 and goes up from there. No granted these are designed for good headphones, and good music sources, and ideal listening environments....but still way more than I could justify (as an upfront cost of course).

I found in my search for a DIY kit (to avoid my compulsion to buy extra parts or cheaper parts) I came across www.amb.org, specifically their "Mini3" amp. They don't sell a kit, they sell just the circuit board and a couple key components. This kit got rave reviews, and those who build them sell them for $125 to $175. Here are a couple pics from their site:

and the guts(mine has a bettery battery, but otherwise looks the same):

I liked the very compact nature...perfect for a jacket pocket or mounted forward near the controls...TBD on that part.

They make the kit 2 ways...Extended Runtime, or High Performance. Which to decide.....both. Yeah, my compulsion kicked in and i bought the boards and bits for two of them. I rationalize that i will sell the one I don't want to keep, but that may or may not ever happen.

I ordered the remainder of the parts from www.mouser.com, using the exact part numbers provided. I was determined to not shortcut anything.....that is until i got the 7812 and LM317 regulators...I had at least 10 of each of those...no need to order them. Batteries came from another source....never knew a 9V rechargeable could be so expensive....like $13 each! I ordered exactly what they specified however...I wasn't going to let that be the fail point.

The packages started trickling in, but i was determined to wait for every piece before starting...I have a habit of getting 80% completed then getting sidetracked....Mad Inventor with ADD...great. Eventually all the pieces I ordered arrived, and I got a reprieve from the VFRness orders long enough to begin my build.

I had never solder Surface mount chips before, so that was a good learning. Luckily I had invested earlier in a Digital Soldering Station, so I had the fine tipped soldering iron needed. I printed out the instructions, which are not very well organized, and began. All was going well until i got to the Voltage Regulators....I hadn't noticed the LM317 was actually an LM317LZ...the difference?

I had this:

I needed this:

I also realized I hadn't purchased the T-1 LED specified, although I had a couple that would "work"...specifically I had regular power red, yellow or green, where I needed high power Blue and Red. The unfortunante thing about where I live is that hardly anyone is willing to build or fix anything for themselves. Even the Lowes here has changed their slogan from "Let's build something together" to "Let's hire someone to build something for you". The part I needed wasn't available at Radio Shack, which is the only parts option I knew of.

I got online....$8 to ship a $0.31 part. Noooooo. Even with the LEDs I was looking at way more in shipping than the cost of the parts, plus it would be like 5 days. I checked on some forums and another Dallas resident pointed me to Tanner Electronics http://www.tannerelectronics.com/. I called and they not only had what I needed, the guy who answered the phone new what it was by part number. Of course this was still a drive, being 16 miles from my work, but it was lunch-hour(and a bit) doable.

Tanner Electronics is AWESOME. I was like a kid in a Candy store...they have everything (within reason). I was able to get the part I needed, the LEDs(great price on them) and a volume knob...not the one i wanted but it will work for now.

When I got home I finished the amp, performed the tests they specified, and I was rocking. This little amp is pretty hefty in weight, although it is the size of a credit card and < 1" thick. I can see why they are so expensive....by the time I was done I spent 4 hours assembling it, and parts were about $70. I didn't spring for the custome engraved end panels, as they were an additional $40 per kit. I will get a picture of my build up later, but it turned out just like the ones pictured above, but with a different knob(not as purdy of a knob).

Best part is, i can hear my tunes! Now I need to figure out where to mount my Amp and MP3 player...and i need a shorter cable to connect them to avoid too many wires everywhere.