So are you in a crafty mood? Break out your soldering iron and choke down a tin of Altoids- MAKE Magazine has a nice little project for the audio geeks. In the forums and frequently in our IRC channel we often discuss Headphone amps. These amps typically sit in between your MP3 player and your headphones. The amp will drive more demanding headphones and can also enhances sound quality. Headphone amps can range from $9 to thousands of dollars.

Interestingly, the basic function of a headphone amp, amplifications, requires relatively few components so it’s even a great beginner project. Check out the video below, then head over to MAKE to download the schematics.

I've been using this incredibly tiny and cheap headphone amp we already mentioned earlier for a few days now and I'm really impressed with its performance. My expectations weren't exactly high when I ordered it, but after testing it with several phones I'd say the Chinese FiiO company managed to design a really fine product.

The amp's construction is very simple. It's powered by one AAA battery and sporting only a 3.5mm input jack that connects to the headphone output of an MP3 player and another 3.5mm output jack where the headphones plug in. The output also acts as the power switch. A red LED lights up when phones are plugged in, indicating that the amp is active. Rumor has it that a National Semiconductor LM4917 op-amp works at the core of the amp. However, this has yet to be verified.

The FiiO E3 was not designed to work with line-out connections since it lacks a volume control. However, what it does for low- (and not-so-low) powered headphone outputs can be quite nice - when one's headphones synergize well with the amp, that is.

When I came across the FiiO headphone amp a few days ago I immediately dismissed it as crap and posted a topic on it on Head-Fi presenting it as the cheapest headphone amp out there. Someone then mentioned that there was an entire thread dedicated to the thing and that feedback is pretty darn good.

According to the Head-Fi thread the FiiO amp is far from crap and offer very good sound quality. The size adds to the usability as it seems to be about twice as big as the AAA battery it runs on. Headphone amps are normally a bit bulky for most people and few other ampsthe FiiO's size. It all sounds (too) good and for $8.50 shipped worldwide it might turn out to be the best thing since sliced bread. I myself have ordered one just to see if there is any truth to the Head-Fi fuzz. I still think it's too good to be true, but I guess I'll know in a couple of weeks.

Podcasts are available in ridiculous quantities around the net ranging from tech news to transsexual talk shows and everything in between. Podcast downloaders have been around for a while in software form like iTunes and Juice, but the first one requires actually using iTunes and the second failed rather epically when I tried it as it didn't even detect any MP3 files in the RSS feed I gave it. Software downloaders of course also reuires the computer to be on and the player to be connected and it's not really that automatic if you still need to fulfill those criteria.

The CastGrabber is the first standalone podcast downloader for pretty much any MP3 player on the market and it might just make it that much simpler to get updated podcasts automatically. Its basically a box where you plug in an Ethernet cable and the USB cable of your MP3 player and it will do it's thing without further hassle after the initial setup along with charging the player. It's all very easy and according to the website you manage everything online with no complicated processes whatsoever. It all sounds well and good, but there is very crucial (for many, including me) feature missing - WiFi. Since you can only connect with an Ethernet cable, that means that it simply won't work unless you place it directly beside your router. I'd imagine a lot of people would use this at work, on the nightstand or similar places and that's not exactly the most common place to put a router. Either way, nice piece of hardware that might just be worth the $120.

[CastGrabber Home Page]

The last few years the number of hard drive players have diminished drastically and we're left with only the iPod Classic, Zune and a few large media players that still use this technology. There has been somewhat of a gap between HDD players going off the market and flash players replacing them as there's still only a few players doing 32GB of flash. A forum topic about a new 32GB PNY card on Amazon is the first sign we're getting that SDHC cards have now reached 32GB at a reasonable price. This means that players using SDHC cards will now get a drastic memory boost. Read on to see the possibilities of these new cards.

One of the great things about SanDisk’s line of Sansa MP3 players it the microSD card slot. All of them have this feature except for the Sansa Clip. This means you can double, sometimes triple the capacity of the player relatively cheap. The microSD slot is a great future proofing or rather life extending feature on an MP3 player.

While SanDisk Sansa players lead the industry in upgradable and removable storage there are a few others that contain that will be able to take advantage of this microSD card. These players include the Insignias, the Cowon D2, Creative Zen, and some of the newer irivers like the E100 and the Spinn.

If you are looking for great sounding equipment a good place to turn to are recording studios since their everyday activities depends on high fidelity sound gear. Usually, studio monitors can cost an arm and a leg compared to most MP3 player docks or the cheap studio monitors don't have a big sound advantage. But there is a little gem made by KRK that does fall into great sound quality at a reachable price.

The KRK RP5 was routinely popping up as a best buy studio monitor for under $300 so I wanted to see how these would translate into a consumer environment. This review is not geared towards music producers but towards the average MP3 player owners looking for a future proof way to “dock” their player to speakers. Additionally, it is geared towards computer user that has a little bit of extra desk real estate for great sounding speakers.

Ok... before you laugh at the brand names ridiculous prefix, hear me out. I have listened to the iHome stuff for the iPod- a few of the clock radios and they sound fantastic for the price, so I’m pretty hyped to see one for the Zune. I have a few Zunes laying around that need a home (yeah what a terrible problem to have).

Cesar over at Zune Insider reports that this is the first clock radio (ZN9) for the Zune that will features a gradual wake or sleep to your favorite crunchy tunes. Additionally, you have the ability to set the alarm for weekends and weekdays. The table radio (sorry not pic available) is housed in a “retro-classic” wooded speaker cabinet with a line in for other non-Zune gadgets.

I will definitely pick one up, but I really wish they would change the brand name- it kind of creeps me out.

[iHome via ZuneThoughts]

A few of us in the forums have been hacking together our own custom cables for the sport of it, but additionally we don’t want to pay monster prices for cables. David Randolph, a 12 year video broadcast engineer is joined by Diggnation co-host Kevin Rose to discuss the hype of overpriced cables (I know the video is wicked old, but still very relevant). Most of the episode is a great how to on making your own high end reference cables for a fraction of the price of those expensive cables your find at Best Buy. Not only will you get a great quality cable you also stand to gain in sound quality by not having excess cable wound up on the floor.

This is an absolute must watch for the AV enthusiast that values their hard earned dollar looking to squeeze out every bit of performance with just a little more effort than driving to the local big box retailer. Also, a quick note that if you decide not to roll your own cables, please check out MonoPrice for the same quality cables you would find in the store.

[Systm]

Sleeping with headphones, particularly IEMs, would be more common then you think. Lately people have been dozing off with the Q-Jays since they are so small and nearly disappear in your ears. While it may not be the safest thing, considering possibilities of a midnight strangulation, there are some low-fi but safer alternatives.

We have reported on previous sound pillows, but they were merely decorative (and ugly). The Sound Asleep pillow is actually a standard pillow which you can throw your own pillow cases on blending it in nicely with your bed set. Teamed with an MP3 player containing a sleep feature- you have a pretty nice bed time set up.

The Sound Asleep pillow is only selling in the UK at the moment for £20, but we will keep our eyes out for a US release.

[Sound Asleep Pillow]

There are a few problems with in-vehicle accessories such as player docks and other player specific accessories. Let’s say that you bought an iPod and had a dock professionally installed to look and work seamlessly with your car’s stereo or after market head unit. Then you finally see all the cool features and devices you are missing outside of the fascist iPod ecosystem. Now you have to tear out that incredibly slick install you just paid top dollar for.

IME has developed and answer to this problem with the IME Dock. The modular dock system will give you a clean install and allow you to upgrade your device across different brands. Each dock will power and supply audio and video line out to your factory stereo or after market head unit.

Currently docks for Microsoft Zune, SanDisk Sansa, and iPod. But IME also has future plans for other players and mobile phones. An interesting thing that I found out while talking with IME was that the Zune dock system has been selling the most preorders. Go Zune!

Soon to be released the dock system will sell for $250 and include one snap on dock for the brand of your choice. When you are ready to change brands a new dock will only cost you around $90. I will be checking one of these out as soon as they are released. This will be a very useful accessory for my massive collection of MP3 players.

[IME Dock]

Samsung had nothing new to show in terms of MP3 players, but I did find out from a Samsung rep that they will be releasing a 16GB version of the P2 sometime in Q1 of 08.

I did get a chance to check out the S5 which will replace the K5. It sounded just as good but slims down and gets a color screen and Bluetooth. This will actually make an interesting accessory for Bluetooth mobile phones being that it will give you a nice and loud speaker phone conferencing set up. The S5 is available now in the US in 4GB versions and can be picked up for around $180.

The other interesting portable audio accessory was the portable Bluetooth speakers, the BS300. It sounded a bit better than the speakers in the S5 and K5 from what I could tell over all the noise. It will tie into your Bluetooth MP3 player or operate as a speakerphone with its built in mic for your cellphone. It retails for $130.

I snapped a few pics at the booth- a bit blurry but still fun to look at.

Confirmed Fake- sorry for the bad info =\

As if the all the current features were not enough for the P2, it will now get more with an addon cradle. The cradle will attach to the bottom of the player and add 4 brand new editions: Wi-Fi, MicroSD, FM transmitter, and even a built in speaker. This is really interesting in that it brings the P2 in closer competition with the iPod Touch. Maybe even as to trump the iPod Touch on features. This is a very welcome features really making the P2 a jack of all trades MP3 player. No pricing or availability is know right now, but we will find out more at this years CES.

Check out the video below and if you didn’t get a chance, check out the Samsung P2 review.

Rarely does anyone get too excited over stick-on decals, but I found this one to be especially interesting and flawlessly executed. Almoxil, one of our forum members, took customizing his Meizu miniPlayer M6 to another level. The M6 is wrapped in a custom vinyl skin that is blended beautifully with a custom background. The vinyl skin has a removable adhesive and a special “rapid air” feature that lends itself to bubble-free installation.

Almoxil claims that the printing is top notch and creates no problems with the M6’s touch interface. He is planning on making another custom skin for his Meizu M3 and will post the pics soon. Stop in the forum for more pics and details on how you can get your own for around $12.

[Custom Skin]

Replacing the phono jack on your headphones is a fairly easy process if you know how to solder and an easy skill to learn with a few practice wires if you don't. There are a few reasons you may want to replace the jack. First, you may be getting some crackling caused by a bad connection. Second, an angled plug may work better for your particular MP3 player than a straight plug. Third, you may want to upgrade the plug to something more sturdy and rugged (Neutrik, Switchcraft, or Canare to name a few).

The cost of this project is minimal. Even if you went with a higher-end military grade plug, you will only be set back about $4 for the plug. If you don’t have any of the soldering tools, plan on spending another $10-$20 on a starter soldering kit and the tools needed.

One of our forum moderators put together a great how-to on this. Check it out.

[Replace Minijack]