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I have seen Altoids diy projects popping up all around the internet, and the other day I saw one about making a pocket amp for your headphones. What's your take on this?
They've been making the CMoy headamps in Altoids tins for a long time. They didn't start in the tins, but kind of went there for the novelty factor. The CMoy (named after the designer Chu Moy) sound surprisingly good for what they are. There are quite a few variations on the theme from different opamps for different sounds and even mini vacuum tube versions that will fit in a tin. I've built several and I've never had anyone that's listened through them not like it more than just coming direct from the source. I think they are an excellent way to get your feet wet in the DIY headamp scene. It's almost a rite of passage. Here's a link to some pics of the ones I've built. http://www.rollinghillsimagery.com/Electronics/My-DIY-Equipment
I would like to make some printed circuit boards. The only PCBs I have done were a long time ago where you used a pen to trace the circut over specially coated copper, then immersed the board in a solution to remove all the copper except where the lines were drawn.