VellemanInc – Super Stereo Ear MiniKit MK136 – Entry Level Audio Amplifier Soldering Project

Wow, just wow, this is one really cool kit! I purchased this for my husband who loves to put together electrical DIY kits and wasn't expecting much really. Overall the kit was easy to solder together, it took an hour or so. The kit comes in a clamshell packaging and instructions are included on the cardboard photo on the inside.All components were in the kit, nothing missing, and all worked. What was actually shocking was how well this worked once we put batteries in it, you can hear some of the most faint sounds that you normally would not notice otherwise. The only thing it didn't seem to want to pick up was the TV audio which is what I was hoping for as I am a bit tone deaf, not sure if it was a distance thing so we are looking at putting a parabollic reflector on it to see if that helps, but otherwise if needed for just hearing conversations or even ambient sounds this will certainly do the trick.Will be picking up a few more of these great kits for family members to use for hunting and outdoor guiding, they are that good!

This kit went together easily, with easy to follow instructions. The finished product does work, in that it picks up sound very well. Perhaps too well. Of course, it is a very simple design, so there is no filtering of the sound it picks up. I tried it out listening to the TV, and although there was some echo effect, it picked up the TV very well. Unfortunately, it picked up every other little sound in the room as well. Buy it for the fun of making it, not to take the place of your hearing aids.

Awesome product for specific applications. I've purchased a couple of these to use in costume helmets where outside audio is reduced. Adding 22mm wiring between the mics and the board I'm able to place the mics where I feel the aid will benefit me the most. I also use a cheap set of Sony earbuds, as earbuds help to reduce interference noise. The board circuitry is a bit tricky being it's a bit cheap however, with patience and perseverance I can assemble, and have fully functional hearing aid in about 1 hour, and that's taking my time. This kit is for the Do-It-Yourselfer that has some experience in this area. If this isn't you, buy something else.NOTE: The assembly instructions are all but non existent. Somewhere it should state you should have a working knowledge of electrical circuitry before attempting...lol, but then again for the price you can't cry too much if something doesn't quite work correctly, or at all.

What you get for the money is pretty fantastic, but you do have to be careful during construction and with subsequent handling.This device worked well for me until I bought new real hearing aids a few months ago. What I did most of the time was to plug the audio input cable from my Sennheiser Wireless Headphone transmitter into the Super Ear headphone jack. With the Super Ear placed on the mantel of the living room, I'm able to walk around the first floor and hear amplified everything that's going on. Now you have to understand that EVERYTHING gets amplified so background noise gets louder along with your spouse's voice... but it does help. From time to time I've taken the unit, with regular headphones, to meetings because I had been missing almost everything tat was spoken. Other attendees got used to me having the unit in front of me and me wearing headphones.All of the comments about the quality of the traces are true. You have to be spot on with your soldering (you need a fine tip) and have to be careful about not stressing component leads while you are soldering. If you've never done any circuit board soldering, this is probably not a good first project. I blew it on 4 soldering pads but was able to fix my goofs by soldering jumpers on the bottom side of the board. Subsequently, as the result of a few drops and other mishandlings, I've had to make similar repairs... but,it's still running.All that being said, it's a great circuit and battery life is pretty good too for on and off use.

Nice beginner soldering project. Watch when soldering microphones to the posts mounted on the circuit board. I ended up bending the mic connections around the posts to ensure a good solder joint. Use a hot iron (700 degrees), small diameter solder, and be quick about it, and all will be fine. The completed project is fun to use, has lots of gain, and is nicely self contained with the battery holder mounted on the back side of the circuit board.

Assembled and checked but it didn't work other than to give a loud hum in the earphones. Piece of junk

Bought to assemble as a father / son project. Perfect instructions for assembly with easy component identification, my son was able to understand the instructions with no issues. Worked perfectly after assembly, no disappointments. Highly recommended to introduce a youngster to soldering and general electronics.

This was my 2nd ever soldering project. I completely ruined my first one while I learned to use a lower iron temp, and where to touch the solder to the joint/iron. But once I got the hang of it, I started making good solid shiny joints. So I set to work on this one, and as a total novice, I have to admit it was a lot of fun. I ended up with a functional result! I couldn't find any cheap earbuds around the house so I had to reluctantly test the headphone output with my nice Sennheiser HD280 Pro headphones. Fortunately I wired all of the capacitors in the correct polarity, so no fireworks, and it works well. It's surprisingly loud, there's a lot of gain in this little amp!Minus a full star because my kit was missing one of the electrolytic capacitors, necessitating a trip to my local Radio Shack (yeah, I still have one in my neighborhood). It's not fun to get a kit that's missing a piece.

Velleman make great wee kits that work. Instructions clear and easily understood. They may be a bit dearer than others you can buy but quality is always worth it. My grandson was very happy with the end result.

Simply to put together good instructions and it work great.

Danke

Ce petit montage est très facile à monter et fonctionne du premier coup .Le circuit imprimé est bien réalisé et demande du soin pour les soudures :une petite remarque :le schéma théorique est imprimé en tout petit et il faut de bons yeux !! Je recommande vivement le sérieux de l'ensemble ...et son petit prix ....

Se trata de un pequeño amplificador, equipado con sus microfonos, que permite resolver problemas de perdida parcial de audición.Un consumo muy reducido, y un control de volumen sin problemas, permiten aplicaciones muy diversas.Hay que descubrir donde se hallan las instrucciones y el esquema, ya que está situado de forma algo dificil de encontrar, pero ésto sólo es un detalle secundario.