Crazy idea for the OPA860

[Russ White]

Ok, so this morning I read my email and I see one from TI touting this "new" opamp/buffer the OPA860.

Ok, it does not look at all like it was designed for audio, but it has some intersting features which made me wonder...

Could this thing be used for a headphone amp?

1) Excellent slew rate.
2) Awesome power bandwidth.
4) Very low output impedance.
5) Built in buffer with 65ma output.

Some downsides as well.

1) Small form factor (SO-8). Not a huge deal.
2) Small working voltage (max 6.5V). Not a big deal for headphones.
3) Bi-polar... And I am not sure how to design the circuit/feedback loop for this chip.

Any ideas?

Thanks,
Russ

 

[DSP_Geek]

The harmonic distortion increases a fair bit when it's loaded by less than 200 or 300 ohms, and the noise isn't particularly low. It's not a bad part - as a matter a bloody good one if you want to work at megahertz frequencies - but in my opinion not a great match to headphones.


Francois.

 

[Russ White]

Thank you for the response. I suspected as much. It does look like quite an IC.