AMB Mini^3 Headphone Amp

I kept bumping into this AMB Mini^3 amp almost everywhere in headphone forums and DIY forums. Made me very curious to check it out and track down a local dealer here in SG for the kit. Yes, it comes in a kit form and you can buy it prebuilt too if DIY is not your thanggg...

What can I say? I love the old Govibe Petite+DAC but this amp takes the cake. Everything just sounds better, clearer and the details are amazing. I could hear little nuances like a brush on snare, little tiny details happening in the background that I never ever noticed and pretty solid bass. Vocals, female vocals especially sounds great. No regrets.







Fitted the whole load into a Lowepro Apex30 AW camera bag. Perfect solution for a portable music rig.


There even a compartment to chuck in the earphone wires.

Headphone amp and DIY Interconnect

I've been wanting to build a headphone amp for ages after stumbling onto Headwize many many moons back. When Jaben offered a kit for the same amp early this year, I just had to get it and I was glad I did. However it was running on those 9V batteries and I don't really fancy changing a new battery each time it runs dry. Not prepared to buy a set of rechargeables too. So the amp remain untouched after the first battery ran dry.

Fast forward to now. I bought this tiny little headphone amp used last week. Its called Govibe Petite with a DAC(Digital to Analogue Converter) to boot. I must say... it made listening to music such a pleasure again. It uses 4 x AAA rechargeable batteries thro a mini USB port. Spiffy.

For the DAC portion, when plugged into the lappie, the audio signal from the lappie's crappy soundcard is bypassed and goes direct into the DAC portion of the amp. So all you have to do is plug into the amp and get pristine quality music. Lovely.

Audio salvation is finally here or so I thought. After reading about getting direct line out signal from the Ipod through the Ipod dock devices. Initially wanted to DIY it. Found out some sources that actually sells them Ipod connectors here and the pinout information here. Also found out that Jaben sells em ready with a 3.5mm socket for SGD25. No brainer. Another SGD25 well spent. Now the sound is even clearer and sweeter. I rikes.

And then comes the interconnect. I've been sceptical of Hifi Mojo Snakeoil for ages and further with my involvement with building pedals for guitarist where a whole bunch of baseless Mojo and Snakeoil slathered all over unsuspecting ignorant players. However those regular molded cheapass cables just can't cut it and definitely some quality cables required.

Inspired by a bunch of DIY/Professional interconnect makers out there, here's my take.

Popped by Koba, People's Park for the 0.5mm single core silver wire and a multicore silver plated copper, can't remember the actual size. Got the 3.5mm plugs from LHS, Sim Lim Tower.

Braiding the wires.
1. Twist the silver with the copper to make a twisted pair.
2. Cut the length to half. This will make the 2 signal cable, left and right.
3. Pair them up with another multicore for grounding.
4. Braid them up like the usual 3 core.

Some pictures of the soldering process.

Straight plug


Angled plug


Completed interconnect




In use with my Ipod Nano 4G, Govibe Petite and Mylarone X3i


I love the new sound. Definitely a difference in clarity when compared to the regular molded ones. Worth the effort.

I feel that anyone who spends a few hours travelling to and fro from home to work deserves better quality music. There are budget options out there that doesn't cost much but oh the aural pleasures.

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