No matter what anybody says, you can
take it with you. . .here’s the low-down
on a small, inexpensive, portable headphone amp.
Pocket Rockit,
A Personal Amplifier
BYJIM FIORE
here Iwas, on the shore ofa lovely
‘Adirondack lake, bathed in the cool
light of mountain sunset. ..play-
ing my bass guitar. Yes, thanks toa pock-
evsized personal amplifier, designed to
drive Walkrman-style headphones from a
single 9-volt battery, the full sound of my
clectric bass was right there with me in
the sylvan mountain setting,
ince the “Pocket Rockit” (catchy
name, eh?) seemed to work so well, 1
thought Id share the design with other
{folks who like to play theirinstrumentsin
odd surroundings, or practice, for exan-
pile, at 3 am. but find that inconsiderate
neighbors, policemen, or vigilante groups
interrupt much to0 regulary, The Pocket
Rockit is designed for guitarplayers, key-
beardists, electronic drummers, and any-
cone who needs to monitor che output of
When not harassing his Electrical Engineer
ing Tech, students at Mohavk Valley Com-
munity College in Utica, NY, Mr. Fiore
spends vast amounts of time in his home
studio commauning wath smal pices of sticon
and lots of wire Jim plays drums in deference
to ether Primal Scream therapy or Est. His
hobbies inchude diving sdoway’s dow coun
try roads, complaining about the high cost of
“yogurt and Zelda,
Fig. 1 Schematic
an electronic instrument via headphones
‘orthrough small loudspeakers, Function-
ally, the unit has volume and overdrive
(istortion) controls, a “bright” switch,
and bass, mid, and treble EQ controls.
‘THE SCHEMATIC
Referring to the Rockit’ schematic (Fig.
1), the first stage is a preamp/distorion
block centered around opamp IC la. An
LF353 offers low battery drain, although
an NES332.could be used for lower noise
“Toeliminate the need fora bipolar power
supply, R2, R3and RA bias the LF353 for
single-ended operation, R4 and C2 de-
couple the input from the power supply
noise while C1 and Céare the inputand
output coupling capacitors, respectively
C5 restricts frequency response at sub-
audio frequencies. C3 and RI minimize
RFT (radio frequency interference). C4
bypasses the op amp power supply.
The gain of this stage equals
(Q#PL/R6 and is adjustable from unity
upwards coward 68 (about 36 dB). The
load for this stage is non-linear and con-
sists of B7, R8, D2 and D3. At low signal
levels, the signal is passed on with no
change in waveshape, but at higher levels,
the rwo diodes kickin and ciip the signal
However, the clipping will tend 10 be
somewhar softer than that produced by
normal diode clippers thanks to RS, R7,
and R8, These resistors tend! to “butler”
the drastic change in diode impedance
‘once conduction begins. Heavy Metal
Bletrome Musician jure 1987 44users fear not.as high overdrive setings
will sill produce the classic, full bore
transistor distortion.”
Stage 690, buiaround op amp (Cb,
provides the bass, mid, and treble EQ
(equalization) functions. This circuit isa
typical inverting configuration witha fe
quency selective feedback nevwork. 89,
RIO, P2, C7 and C8 produce high fte-
quency shelving R11, R12, RIS, P3, C9
and C10 comprise a 2 ki midraage
peak/dip function, and Rt, RIS, R16,
P4,C11,and C12 produce low frequency
shelving, RI7-RI9 and CL3-C15 provide
Dissidents
Pocket fockit
V0 T/a0 ne
: °
ona
Fig. 2 Fall side of PC board
‘.
he
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Fig, 3 Stufing Guide
42 Becronic Musician June BA
‘i
—F ‘
Lei
Sigal
is
Fig 4 Wiring How to avod the counter cloclowse Dues
biasing and coupling P5 is the volume
control Like Pl, P5 must be alg (audio)
taper device for proper “ee.
The final stage consists of the L386
power op amp. It is bypassed with C18
and C19 while C20 maximizes the PSRR
(power supply ejection ratio). The bright”
switch connects in a single pole lag net
work (low pass 6 dB/octave fier) hinged
a3 kHz, The normal poston is with the. |
Sinich closed. Thiswil echoche response
of ypical 12- and 15-inch loudspeaker,
‘which stato rll off once they each theit
‘mass controlled region (hisuaaly accare
Derwcen 2 and ke), Openinghe switch
will produce nue fa response, which is
subjecrively bright when compared t0 a
Fig, 5 Completed PC Board
‘ypical guitar orbass amplifier loudspeak-
ex semup. (Keyboards, drummers and
‘thers who normally play through full
range systems with a fa top end should
considerthistobe a’ dul” switch instead —
actualy a more appropriate name, sine i
was designed with rock guitarists in mind
Harde-harchar)
Now that Ive alienated several ead-
ers and the editor (Just remember who
signs your check, Jim—Ed.), le’s con-
tinue, R21 and C2i stabilize the LY3B6
at high frequencies and C22 servesasthe
courput coupling capacitor. Finally, a the
output we connect the load. Normally
this will be a pair of mini Watkman-style
headphones. Note that a stereo ouputplug is required to send the instrument
signal (in mono, of course) to both ears,
(itsalso possible w connecta small loud-
speaker here instead; for best perform-
ance make sure that the load does not
drop below 8 ohms.) A pair of mini head-
phones connected in mono will usually
produce around 25 ohms. (The load im-
pediance is usually listed in the speci
tions for a panicular loudspeaker, other-
wise, those who have access to sophisti-
cated electronics devices can measure
load impedances with an impedance
meter)
The maximum ourput powerisabout
Ys watt, which won't make a loudspeaker
seream but can produce very high levels
with headphones —so be careful. You can
‘maximize battery life by keeping the vol-
ume low and using high impedance
headphones (like the Sennheiser HD
414), Alternately, you can power the cir-
cuit from a 9-volt battery eliminator. If
batteries are realy important, you can get
longer life by using six 1.5-wlt AA bat-
teries instead of the single 9-volt uni
The AA's will come out cheaper in the
long run, particularly if you opt for the
Fig. 6 Suggested layout for complete project
rechargeable Ni-Cad variety. They do,
however, take up more space
Fig. 2 shows the PC board (fil side)
anwork, Fig, 3 shows the component
layout. When assembling, make sure that
you obey the polarity markings for the
‘capsand diodes. Also make sure thatthe
ICsare oriented correctly, Miswiting the
pots can produce some strange results,
for all pots requiring three leads, the
wiper arm should connect tothe center
pad on the PC board, The other wires are
‘connected as shown in Fig. 4. Connect-
ing them backwards will make your volume, drive, and other controls decrease | River Falls, MN 56701, Jameco Electron-
‘when you rotate the por clockwise, so | ies, 1355 Shoreway Rd,, Belmont, CA
pay attention. Fig. 5 shows a completed | 94002; and JDR Micro Devices, 1224 S,
board and por assembly, and Fig. 6 is 2 | Bascom Ave, San Jose, CA 95128. If you
Grawing of the completed unit use good, standard soldering techniques,
FINDING PARTS
IC sockets and the like, your Pocket Rock:
i should give you no trouble during as-
Ifyou cant find pans locally, there are } sembly and test. 1 hope you find this
several good mailorder sources including, | circuit useful, and that i gives you a
Digi-Key Electronics, PO Box 677, Thiet | fetime of service.
Parts List
R), RUT, RI
2, R3, R18, RI
Re
RS
R6
7, RB
R9, RIO
RB
RI. RIS,
RIG
RI7
R20
Rat
Pl
PD, PB, Pa
PS
Capacitors (15 working
a
C2, c13.c16, c19
3
cH
cs
cs
a
3
ro
co
cn,
cir
cis
20
ca
an
Semiconductors
Ic
12
Di
D2,D3,
Mechanical Pars
Sl, $2
Misc.
Resistors (All resistors & W, 5% carbon film)
4K7 (4.7K)
220k
470k
20
1k
68 (68)
313 3.3K)
68 (68K)
5k6 (5.6K)
27k
1M.
10k
wow)
100k log potentiometer
100k linear potentiometer
Uk log potentiomerer
volts DC or greater)
100n mylar 01)
10p electrolytic
68p disc
145 analum
224 electrolytic
33x elecwolytic
560p disc
1n5 mylar (00015)
2n2 mya (0.0022)
4n7 mylar (0.0047)
22n mylar (0.022)
6n8 mylar (0.0058)
oon mylar (0.1)
47 electrolytic
47m 50V mylar (0.047)
470q electrolytic
1LF353 dual op amp (National Semi)
1LMB86 power amp (Nacional Semi)
IN40OL rectifier
IN9I$ or equiv. diode
SPST switch
Knobs, case, hoolup wire, IC sockets, &” and "6"
{jacks (mono and stereo), batery clip, ete