Hi Quality/Hi Fi Opamps?

[swinginguitar]

I routinely stock my bench with the usual suspects like TL08x and 4558, but also want to grab some of the known hi quality/low noise units (burr brown, OPA, AD, etc) for hi fi work

what are some recommended all around good ones to have in stock?

[roseblood11]

for guitar effects?
LM833, NE5532AP, 4580, OPA2134, AD712, OP275...
The OP275 isn't hifi at all, but I kike it as a replacement for overdrive circuits...

[swinginguitar]

for guitar effects?
LM833, NE5532AP, 4580, OPA2134, AD712, OP275...
The OP275 isn't hifi at all, but I kike it as a replacement for overdrive circuits...

thinking more for hi fi audio gear (should've specified since it's slightly OT on this board)

[Mike Burgundy]

Don't forget the old TL07x. It's the low-noise version of the 8x, and actually very good. the '7x and NE5534 are still seen a LOT in studio desks, and that really is good enough praise for me. I think the way you use them makes more of a difference than the actual IC, once you have something as good as the TL07x or 5534.
I recently got interested in the TL05x which is presented by TI as the next generation, better-than-TL06/7/8x, but apparently it's not, for audio purposes.

[Mark Hammer]

http://www.national.com/ds/LM/LME49710.pdf
http://www.national.com/ds/LM/LME49720.pdf

[swinginguitar]

http://www.national.com/ds/LM/LME49710.pdf
http://www.national.com/ds/LM/LME49720.pdf

now *that* is what i had in mind....

[pappasmurfsharem]

http://www.national.com/ds/LM/LME49710.pdf
http://www.national.com/ds/LM/LME49720.pdf

Definitely going to try a sample of these.

Probably wont be much different then typical op-amps but why the hell not.

[12Bass]

LME49990: http://www.ti.com/product/lme49990

ADA4627-1: http://www.analog.com/en/all-operational-amplifiers-op-amps/operational-amplifiers-op-amps/ada4637-1/products/product.html

[WhenBoredomPeaks]

lotsa rewievs of the good stuff: http://tangentsoft.net/audio/opamps.html
also there are some discrete opamps out there which are even more expensive

btw for maximum quality you should eliminate as much caps from the signal as possible and use expensive film caps where you really must use them (don't let me get started on the audiophile capacitor market and brands)
entry level good caps: wima mkp10

btw the argument about XXXX opamps used in studio desks can be misleading because most of those desks are still used because of certain degrading stuff happening to the signal (coloration, distortion, harmonics, etc.)

[lespos]

I can recommend TLC2262 from Texas Instruments (or TLC2264 - this is TLC2262 quadamp version)

[jonasx26]

btw the argument about XXXX opamps used in studio desks can be misleading because most of those desks are still used because of certain degrading stuff happening to the signal (coloration, distortion, harmonics, etc.)

"With horrible inevitability, the very popularity and excellent technical performance of the 5532 has led to it being criticized by subjectivists who have contrived to convince themselves that they can tell op-amps apart by listening to music played through them.
This always makes me laugh, because there is probably no music on the planet that has not passed through a hundred or more 5532s on its way to the consumer."

- Douglas Self, Small Signal Audio Design
(Excerpt from http://www.eetimes.com/design/audio-design/4218273/Op-amps-in-small-signal-audio-design---Part-3--Selecting-the-right-op-amp)

I (re-)read that part of the book just as I saw this thread. Don't want to "rain on anyones parade" or open any kind of canned worms but it seemed relevant, couldn't resist posting. Carry on  

[Mark Hammer]

It's a fair comment.  The same way that our sense of the dynamics in music is shaped by the lengthy history we have of hearing music that has passed through any number of stages of limiting along the way to our headphones or speakers.

FWIW, Elektor had a project just a few years ago that used a rather large handful of ganged 5532s to make 20W/ch amplifiers.

[swinginguitar]

btw the argument about XXXX opamps used in studio desks can be misleading because most of those desks are still used because of certain degrading stuff happening to the signal (coloration, distortion, harmonics, etc.)

"With horrible inevitability, the very popularity and excellent technical performance of the 5532 has led to it being criticized by subjectivists who have contrived to convince themselves that they can tell op-amps apart by listening to music played through them.
This always makes me laugh, because there is probably no music on the planet that has not passed through a hundred or more 5532s on its way to the consumer."

- Douglas Self, Small Signal Audio Design
(Excerpt from http://www.eetimes.com/design/audio-design/4218273/Op-amps-in-small-signal-audio-design---Part-3--Selecting-the-right-op-amp)

I (re-)read that part of the book just as I saw this thread. Don't want to "rain on anyones parade" or open any kind of canned worms but it seemed relevant, couldn't resist posting. Carry on  

The hidden bonus of this thread has been the mention of DOuglas Self's book....*that* is the book I 've been looking for....got it right after I read your post.

THANKS!

[Mac Walker]

It's a fair comment.  The same way that our sense of the dynamics in music is shaped by the lengthy history we have of hearing music that has passed through any number of stages of limiting along the way to our headphones or speakers.

FWIW, Elektor had a project just a few years ago that used a rather large handful of ganged 5532s to make 20W/ch amplifiers.

I remember that, it's actually on my build list, somewhere......

Found it here, 32 of them actually!

http://www.elektor.com/magazines/2010/october/the-5532-opamplifier-part-1.1529745.lynkx

[swinginguitar]

This is a bit of a hijack of my own thread, but somewhate related...

what about known "hi-fi" transistors? Been reading the Douglas Self book mentioned earlier in the thread, which gives plenty of good design/theory; and while he mentions specific op amps often, he rarely if ever gives specifics on transistor models in his discrete designs....(would specifically like to know good ones to use in mic and line preamps )

[Kesh]

If you only want a few of these fancy op amps you can often get TI to mail you them to try out. I got a few lm4562, which is a incremental improvement over the lm49710 mentioned above. Not tried them yet. But I'm guessing they'll sound exactly the same to me as any other half decent op amp.

[WhenBoredomPeaks]

once i made a CMoy headphone amplifier, and you could hear significant differences between the sound of the ICs (TL072, 4558, 5532, OPA2132, OPA2228)
i am pretty sure that the circuit/headphone affected the sound greatly, the 4558 distorted so bad that i am pretty sure that it had problems with driving the headphone (sennhesier hd595)
(i liked the sound of the last one the best)

[Mike Burgundy]

Headphone amps are different than line stages - a headphone is a mini speaker, and so requires current as much as voltage. I have a HD600, which is close to a 595, and it has a nominal impedance of 300 Ohms. That is definitely stretching some opamps a lot. Some even go down to 50Ohms or less! I'm not surprised there's a big audible difference between opamps in this application. In a well-designed line stage, I'm not so sure, as long as you have a good-quality, low-distortion, low-noise opamp which is not pushed to its limits by the circuit. I would be very interested in a double blind A/B, but I realise that is so much work to get right, probably nobody will really bother ;P

PS: that said, I have filed every opamp mentioned in my datasheet folder for future reference - good thread  ;P

[swinginguitar]

yep great thread - i have also noted these suggestions.

Anyone have any favorite discrete transistors along these lines?