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Bass Boost cMoy v2.02
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 Do-it-Yourself
Bass Boost cMoy v2.02
Forward
The concept of the cMoyBB began in the summer of 2006
when I took an interest in DIY audio.
The
original cMoy design from 1998 was nothing new. In fact, I already owned a cMoy I had purchased from eBay. But as an electrical engineering
student, I was intrigued by potential modifications of the simple circuit and
wanted to increase the subpar bass response of my Sennheiser HD-280 Pro
headphones.
After
spending days reading tutorials, message boards, shopping for parts, and then
tweaking a cMoy on a breadboard, I spent more than eight hours constructing my
first hand built cMoy
on protoboard. It didn't work. I spent another eight hours assembling a second
(and functional) cMoy, later realizing I had forgotten just one wire on each
channel of the first amp. In all, it took over 25 hours to build the same
amplifier many others before me had built over the previous eight years.
Many months later, the first cMoyBB was born on a messy
breadboard. Thrilled with the result, I decided to produce a few nicer bass
boost cMoys for myself on professionally printed circuit boards and share the great circuit with fellow audio
enthusiasts. The cMoyBB has since found owners in more than 35 nations around the
world.
The cMoyBB can be electrically
completed in under 30 minutes, saving you many tedious hours over building a
regular cMoy. More importantly, the cMoyBB cannot be matched by other cMoys in
terms of audio quality.
Why DIY?
It is important to me to promote engineering creativity
and progress, thus, I am upholding DIY tradition and making the cMoyBB available
to everyone. Music, or audio in general, is a subjective topic. I greatly prefer
the sound of the cMoyBB over other entry-level amplifiers. Still, you may wish to experiment
with different resistors, capacitors, jacks, enclosures, or something more
exotic. I suggest just a few alternative components in the
BOM, but building the
amplifier yourself gives you
the freedom to build a unique, top-notch cMoy with practically an unlimited
number of options.
Will building a cMoyBB myself
save money?
The cMoyBB is a high-end version of the cMoy; it was not
meant to be cheap. A cMoyBB built to standard specifications will easily exceed $50
USD, plus the cost of any tools you may not own (not to mention your valuable
time and labor).
DIY headphone amplification is for those
who possess the interest and/or knowledge to build their own amplifiers. In
other words, this project is not intended to save you money. It is
always fastest and easiest to buy a preassembled amplifier.
Skill and Knowledge
Prerequisites
Although this guide should single-handedly provide you
with the necessary information to build a cMoyBB, I highly recommend
browsing through
Tangent's cMoy
tutorial and
Chu Moy's
original article. The cMoyBB is a derivative of the original cMoy design.
Consequently, I will not bother repeating Tangent's exceptional work. If you are not already skilled in soldering, definitely
check out Tangent's tutorial videos and practice before you begin.
Proceed to
Assembly Guide
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