The best sounding audio integrated opamps

[Andrea:]

Originally Posted by leeperry

well, it's time you play my game now that I've played yours...get some 1124ACN8 and roll

trebles are much more HighDef, bass is far nicer to listen to and SS is awesome!

low THD doesn't mean jack(look at the LME49722MA), actually the lower the THD the tamer the bass IME...ok back to the 1124ACN8 ftw, this one will be hard to beat

Ok, it's all clear now... You Burson is unbalanced like I have read, and you need something to correct it. Glad you found it.

Regarding treble resolution, no opamp I've heard so far has more than the LT1028. I love how it resolves the most minute details yet makes things sound so 'analog'. By comparison, the LME49720HA had the same level of detail resolution, but sounded much more 'digital'.

[Andrea:]

Originally Posted by leeperry

low THD doesn't mean jack(look at the LME49722MA), actually the lower the THD the tamer the bass IME...

An emphasized bass is often a sign of higher distortion. Take the LT1363... it has an emphasized bass and is higher distortion

But the LT1028 is not too tame in the bass... That would be the LME49710NA, at most... or also the OPA827...

[leeperry]

haha, now the problem comes from my burson final buffer? hehehe, well honestly believe what you want

I know some day you'll be bored of not rolling again, and will try the 1124...lemme know what you think on that day

bass on the 1364CN8 is way over the top, along w/ 2132P/2111KP...fully agreed! but the 1124ACN8 is much smarter than that...and I rest my case that the trebles are much more High-Def than on the 1028ACN8.

these chips are free, get 2 of them sent to a relative of yours and roll

hah, the LME497xxNA/MA are so bass shy that it's laughable to read everyone raving about them like if they were the 8th world wonder..

and I didn't choose the 1124 by luck of the draw, it's been recommended by a very experienced Chinese DAC builder.

[Andrea:]

The LT1363 would have a bass "way over the top" ?

I wanted to say it has a bit more bass quantity than I consider neutral, making for a slight loundness effect (that can be interesting). On the other hand, the LT1028 has more bass dynamics, the bass is more effortless...

And the LME49710NA was just slightly short of being neutral, not all that bass shy by any stretch of the imagination. BTW, the LME49723 sounds fuller than the LM4562/49710NA, as I've been saying... One of the reasons why I prefer it (together with a better, more engaging, tonality).

Sorry to disagree

[Andrea:]

I would try the LT1124, just to hear what you're talking about - but I have no place to decently test it, at the moment.

[leeperry]

yes ok, it would appear that 49723/725 sound better than 720/722...well 723 has a 10 times higher THD than 722 I think, so again low THD doesn't equal better SQ

1124 has a less invasive bass than 1364(I wasn't too lucky w/ 1363), that's all I'm saying..and the trebles are High-Def to death and very clean..a high GBW would only make things unstable if the circuit wasn't built for it IMHO...going from the 49720NA/HA to the 2132P on a few Asus soundcards I tried was a night and day...you went from unstable to perfectly stable.

put the NG97 on santa's list maybe, fit it w/ 2*1028ACN8 and 1*1124ACN8 for instance

PS: ah, SS is so great on the 1124

[Andrea:]

I think there's a virtuous middle way... Probably in looking for the lowest distortion figures ever, they lost the musicality along the way. That's the weak side of those engineers, designers... making abstraction from reality. Hopefully not all of them though... or they wouldn't have created the LT1028.

Anyway I haven't yet tried the LME49725 (which I do have); on paper, at least, this one looks more similar to the usual LM4562/49720.

[Andrea:]

Originally Posted by leeperry

yes ok, it would appear that 49723/725 sound better than 720/722...well 723 has a 10 times higher THD than 722 I think, so again low THD doesn't equal better SQ

1124 has a less invasive bass than 1364(I wasn't too lucky w/ 1363), that's all I'm saying..and the trebles are High-Def to death and very clean..a high GBW would only make things unstable if the circuit wasn't built for it IMHO...going from the 49720NA/HA to the 2132P on a few Asus soundcards I tried was a night and day...you went from unstable to perfectly stable.

put the NG97 on santa's list maybe, fit it w/ 2*1028ACN8 and 1*1124ACN8 for instance

PS: ah, SS is so great on the 1124

Ok, the LT1124 sounds like an interesting dual opamp. Anyway, what you say about it seems to fit perfectly the LT1677. Why not give it a try


BTW, the LME49722 was the worst (least musical) of the entire series, for me. Its detail resolution was appealing, though. It's always an alchemy...

[Andrea:]

Hmm... nice idea the NG94 for christmas.. if I only manage to put a little money aside.

[leeperry]

I did try the L1678 but SOIC8>DIP8 browndog's appear to be a no-no in a computer case...poor engineering at work, they all sound overly bright..end of story.

LME49722MA made my ears bleed, literally.

well, yeah...atm I'm in the market for a balanced/High-Def op-amp to feed the burson w/ a very clear DAC output...1124 on its own is boring.

w/o the burson, LT1364 remains a valid choice I think, it gives a nice tubey sound(many Prodigy HD2 and external DAC's owners run it)...but it's got nowhere near the same resolution and crazy SS as the 1124+Burson combo.

I'll try the other op-amps I told you about in PM, maybe they'll kill the 1124..time will tell