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I need to rant about DIY gear kits. I went in thinking I'd save money and learn somthing new, but I've mostly just learned how to swear fluently while soldering.The promise of a personalized, customized widget is always dangled in front of you, but the reality is usually struggling with poorly illustrated instructions and components that may or may not actually be compatible.
I recently tried building a little headphone amplifier kit, and after three evenings of squinting at diagrams and accidentally melting the insulation off wires, I ended up with a device that... well, it makes noise. I'm not entirely sure it's amplifying anything, and it definitely introduces a healthy dose of static.Is the minimal cost savings really worth the hours of frustration,the risk of damaging components,and the lingering suspicion that a pre-built version would have sounded better and been far less stressful?
Anyone else feel like the "DIY" aspect frequently enough outweighs the "reward" part when it comes to these kinds of kits? Maybe I just have terrible fine motor skills,or maybe the marketing is just way better than the actual product,but I'm seriously reconsidering my life choices every time I pick up a soldering iron now. What are your experiences? Am I alone in thinking thay're generally more trouble than they are worth?