The best sounding audio integrated opamps

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Andrea:

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Joined 2009
Heard that majkel prefers the OPA228 to everything, the AD797B and even the LT1028. OK. I don't think but they're great all three.

I guess you would want to try two OPA2228 in your card -- should be a great post-DAC opamp. Then place something with a 5 and a 7 in its name as the buffer... like an LME49725. Then enjoy. :cool:
 
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leeperry

Member
Joined 2007
well, they don't sample 2228 :D

ah well, I love Earth...it's tubey just the way I like it, and LT1124 feeds it w/ a very clean DAC output.

anyway, if I wanna go 2*single DIP chips, I'll either have to use additional DIP8 sockets as risers..or use the A-GD extension leads, I'll see if I can get away w/ only a bunch of risers...but I don't really see it happening.

how about adding some (decoupling?) caps to minimize oscillation like A-GD puts on their discrete chips?

and can I still try LT1126? or would it fry something that it's decompensated?
 
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Andrea:

Member
Joined 2009
It isn't reasonable to expect that an opamp made for a gain of 10 or higher would be stable in your application but...

Nothing's ever true as gospel with opamps. Soooo... if you feel adventurous, give it a try (just after the DAC - not as a buffer). If it gets burning hot... immediately turn off your computer. :)


But why go with single DIP chips and not with single SO8 chips? As I said I'd suggest the LT1028 after the DAC and the AD797 for the buffer, rather than the contrary... you could use the LT1028CS8 for the one and the AD797BN for the other. No? What I found to sound better than everything else I've tried is the LT1028CS8, after all, and not the ACN8 which I only tried (and liked, naturally) in the other DAC.

Obviously, even if there was an insignificant difference in sound quality between ACN8 and CS8 (I really doubt), not using awful extensions, or awful piled sockets, will make a very much more significant difference to the advantage of the CS8 !!
 
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A

Andrea:

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leeperry

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Joined 2007
ok, no need for extensions after all: ImageBam - Fast, Free Image Hosting and Photo Sharing

it barely fits, but it does fit :cool:

I'm currently listening to 2*LT1213ACN8 as AK4396 LPF and 2*LT1028ACN8 as final buffer(all fed w/ ±8.8V): ImageBam - Fast, Free Image Hosting and Photo Sharing

had to use one riser on the 1028 otherwise the red WIMA cap would get in the way...well, the 1028's sound like IC's, they clearly cannot touch the Earth as buffer w/ their uber-wide SS/high definition...well, all the fluff you can read on the burson page basically: Burson Opamp :spin:

so it'll boil down to :
-AK4396 LPF: 4*LT1028ACN8/4*AD797BN/4*OPA228P/4*OPA227P, to get a nice and clear DAC output
-final buffer: 1*Earth/1*new burson, to get a nice tubey sound

and if all that fails, the LPF candidates will be LT1632/LT1211/LT1215/LT1630 :p

LT1124 is nice, but what it gives in the trebles...it seems to take it off from the low end bass :gnasher:
 
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A

Andrea:

Member
Joined 2009
leeperry said:
ok, no need for extensions after all: ImageBam - Fast, Free Image Hosting and Photo Sharing

it barely fits, but it does fit :cool:

I'm currently listening to 2*LT1213ACN8 as AK4396 LPF and 2*LT1028ACN8 as final buffer(all fed w/ ±8.8V): ImageBam - Fast, Free Image Hosting and Photo Sharing

had to use one riser on the 1028 otherwise the red WIMA cap would get in the way...well, the 1028's sound like IC's, they clearly cannot touch the Earth as buffer w/ their uber-wide SS/high definition...well, all the fluff you can read on the burson page basically: Burson Opamp :spin:

so it'll boil down to :
-AK4396 LPF: 4*LT1028ACN8/4*AD797BN/4*OPA228P/4*OPA227P, to get a nice and clear DAC output
-final buffer: 1*Earth/1*new burson, to get a nice tubey sound

and if all that fails, the LPF candidates will be LT1632/LT1211/LT1215/LT1630 :p

LT1124 is nice, but what it gives in the trebles...it seems to take it off from the low end bass :gnasher:
Click to expand...

The LT1213 looks like a better audio opamp than the LT1124.

I think the most interesting (for audio) LT dual opamps are LT1632 and LT1213, with the addition of the LT1469.


The OPA-Earth did not sound like integrated opamps but... sure it's for the better? :rolleyes:

Judging by Samuel Groner's effort, it really seems it's not. I really couldn't stand the way they reproduced vocals. And, the way the midbass was...gone, and the low bass wasn't 'stiff' enough and was less dynamic than that of an LT1028. Treble detail was quite interesting though, I admit.
 
A

Andrea:

Member
Joined 2009
Juergen Knoop said:
probably the V- input may not be tied to ground and the + input of the opamp ist not biased.
Regards
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I hear what you say, but, the V- of the opamp is really tied to ground (it's a single 12V supply voltage feeding the DAC); instead I don't know if the + input is biased (with that resistor from the output) or not. After all, as long as it works, what do I care :spin:
 
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Andrea:

Member
Joined 2009
If the LT1028CS8 lacks anything, it would only be a touch of treble brilliance.

I hope that the Supra TRICO digital & the Audioquest King Cobra / Van Den Hul The Bay C5 interconnects can do something to fix this little thing.

Maybe it's only the fault of the 1m Sommercable Classique interconnect I've been using recently (with a Gotham digital coaxial). I'm keeping the better cables for when everything will be set up more definitively [when I'll have the time].
 
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leeperry

Member
Joined 2007
hehe, you're gonna make me try LT1469 again ^^

LT recommended it to me ages ago w/ 1364...1364 was amazing, but too distorted to feed the Earth. I need something clearer.

EDIT: Little Dot MK1 opamp rolling - Head-Fi: Covering Headphones, Earphones and Portable Audio
The LT1469 is very fatiguing on the high end. The veil has been lifted, but it is very bright IMO. The shimmer on the cymbals and high hats is too much.
Click to expand...

and some guy on a french forum says the exact same thing, yes very agressive trebles...also what I found out :rolleyes:
 
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A

Andrea:

Member
Joined 2009
It's an opamp that sounds quite precise... but not very mellow. It doesn't mean it's too forward and bright though - it's pretty warm from the low bass to the mids. Of course with such a fast opamp (faster than an LM4562 for instance) you have to take the due precautions as to power supply decoupling. For instance you could try a .1uF ceramic directly soldered between its pins 4 & 8 ...


I will put a 100uF 16V Rubycon ZLH (very fast, low ESR) directly on the browndog with the two LT1028 on it. This should help open up the treble that last bit, without the negative effects (slight midrange hardness) previously caused by the 33uF tantalum I'd been using.
 
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A

Andrea:

Member
Joined 2009
leeperry said:
well Earth as final buffer(it didn't sound good as LPF, too much distortion) is amazing...any IC in comparison sounds metallic/thin/blurry/computer-sounding.

there's a good reason Burson has been selling them for $100 a pop, that's because as final buffer they are totally mind blowing :)
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I did use the "Earth" as a final buffer and it sounded pretty metallic, a little like the OPA-Sun (first version) did. :headshot:

I still remember finding the LT1028ACN8 and the LT1122ACN8 to sound much more fluid, and with a more 'filled' midbass..


While to me the OPA-Sun V2, the best of the bunch of discrete opamps I tried, was kind of woody rough in the mids, and tonally slightly too yellow-sounding, but still a lot more coherent and engaging than the OPA-Earth.
 
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