The best sounding audio integrated opamps

[Andrea:]

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.

[Juergen Knoop]

Originally Posted by Andrea:

I showed it through an image one page back...

Don't know if those are precisely the component values though (as I said in that post).

the schematic must be wrong, because it wouldn't work.
Regards

[Andrea:]

Originally Posted by Juergen Knoop

the schematic must be wrong, because it wouldn't work.
Regards

I used the LT1028 also in an older version of the same DAC, and succesfully.

Please develop.

It could just be wrong, anyway. I've noticed that a few resistors are missing compared to the schematic one can find in the CS4398 datasheet.

[leeperry]

alright, OPA227/228 on their way

I usually very much dislike BB chips, and I'd use them as LPF unlike him...but ya never know

[Andrea:]

You could've ordered the dual OPA2228P, since the two opamps serve only 1 channel each, so it won't make much difference to use singles on adapters...

Oh, anyway the OPA227 is not such a big deal. It is a smooth & creamy sounding (in the mids) opamp though.

[leeperry]

well, they don't sample 2228

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?

[Andrea:]

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 !!

[Andrea:]

How it sound?
It have crystal clear transparency and incomparable details. Almost no ther opamp sound better in this two charactristics. While some audiophile say it sound too lean and lack warm mid. Some audiophiles do not like too analytical sound. But I think no one can challenge its 'high fidelity' performance.

I agree.

Taken from this page: Two 2x Mono to Dual OPAMP 2x LT1028 -> NE5532 OPA2604 - eBay (item 300365726668 end time Dec-10-09 10:12:21 PST)

[Juergen Knoop]

Originally Posted by Andrea:

I used the LT1028 also in an older version of the same DAC, and succesfully.

Please develop.

It could just be wrong, anyway. I've noticed that a few resistors are missing compared to the schematic one can find in the CS4398 datasheet.

probably the V- input may not be tied to ground and the + input of the opamp ist not biased.
Regards

[leeperry]

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

it barely fits, but it does fit

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

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

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