Headphone Amplifier project by Wayne Colburn
WHAMMY
History
Wayne's Headphone Amp Must Make Yourself
Given the explosion in the popularity of headphones, as well as the unbelievable amount of choice and variety in the market, it seemed that a simple and great-sounding headphone amp would be a great addition to the DIY community. Wayne wanted a universal headphone amp for his desk. This is the fruit of that idea.
This amp is designed to work with almost any headphone; from planars to IEM's, high impedance or low. It has a Class-A output stage with enough current to drive almost anything. It also makes a great linestage / pre-amplifier, and the kits include line-level RCA outputs.
August 2025 Update
The WHAMMY Complete kit now includes everything you need to complete you WHAMMY down to the last nut and bolt; the chassis, the PCB, all the parts, all your wire, all your connectors, all the bits and pieces, and even some heatshrink tubing. You even get a power cord. There is also a new build guide featuring all the parts and the new chassis. It provides step-by-step examples of WHAMMY construction.
Reviews
Ear Fidelity review of the WHAMMY
How to build it
Video
Here's a video of Wayne talking about the Whammy at Burning Amplifier Festival 2017 -- Wayne Colburn at BAF '17
Note - Photos include parts available at the time of publishing. Individual components are subject to change based on availability.