Using the AD844 as an I/V

BUF03

I would recommend you to try the good old Buf03 in mono
mono as the output buffer Torchwood. Will be an eye opener

Cheers

I was the guy way back when that made the original recommendation to use the BUF03 off the TZ. It is a good performer. The OPA627 (soic) is actually better and now the OPA1641 outperforms that. If your interested in holographic imaging. ;)
 
DS vs Multibit

I agree that the traditional multibit dacs always sound more direct and more organic than sigma delta dacs even though the latter may achieve greater resolution. I always feel delta sigma dacs lack the fast attack of traditional multibit dacs.

Hi quatran, I recently did a comparison of my PCM1704 dac vs my replacement Sony UHP-H1. This is before moving on to a OPA1641 buffer. They had the identical output level and I did an A B for hours. The SONY (Delta Sigma dac) had a less focused sound stage. The instrumental outlines were fuzzy and indistinct. The 1704 dac was sharply focused, faster sounding and the treble was delicate and accurate. Completely agree in your assessment. ;)
 
It could be that BB tunes some opamp for audio application. However, the opa627 seems to have better specs than opa164x. Opa627 costs around 10 times more than opa164x so it must be something quite special.

I think they are special, but they get bad press/reviews from users that have not purchased wisely and got fakes, there are many fakes of these around, and they look identical.
So get them from reputable suppliers that are BB affiliate, and pay the right money for them.

Cheers George
 
Hearing is very subjective and depends on various factors. In my experience, if we put a small resistor before the RCA socket in some case it makes quite a big difference compared to a direct connection from the opamp output as this resistor minimizes the effect of interconnect cable on the sound.

Some opamp has stronger driving capability than others even though the sound quality may not be better or even worse. In such case it depends on the load and the cable.
 
If you use a decent quality resistor it's almost impossible to hear any color added by it because the value is only about 100 ohm or less ie a fraction of the load. Any noise or distortion cause by this small resistor is very very small to be audible. The key point is that it is placed before the cable and the load is after the cable. Without this resistor the output stage will see cable capacitance directly.
 
BUF03's

Hi Torchwood
May I ask what ps did you use for the Buf03 &
did you run in mono mono mode ?
On my system its holographic

Thks

Hi sumotan, BUF03's are quite good and a little bit ahead of it's time. I have used those at various times over the years. Holographic imaging depends largely on the speakers. Having adequate power and a clean preamplifier in my experience. I use LT1083's for regulation most of the time. Configured for positive and negative voltage. My preamp is true dual mono and I think that helps ultimate channel separation. A BA-3 Nelson Pass design with Didden Jung super regulators. The sound in my system using the BUF03's is rich with a large soundstage. Not the last word in detail. Likely due to higher distortion levels. The OPA627's in SOIC are more detailed and image slightly better. The distortion specs are much better as well. The OPA1641's have a lot more going on especially in regards to holographic imaging. They have a nice smooth sound that the OPA627's lack. This could be system specific. So if your real happy with the BUF03's in your system then enjoy them. I have no qualms about using them in projects where a Class A warmth is needed. I have large ribbon tweeters and a planar magnetic bass system. The Magnepan MG2.5R's have improved crossovers. About 300 Watts per channel on tap. ;)
 
Wondering if the perceived improvement reported on piggy-backing is the buffer that gets a real benefit when no nfb applied around it. Some years ago did some measurements and found rising distortion from increased levels up to 0.3% above 2VRMS. With hindsight (which is conveniently always perfect :p), it was the buffer and not the transconductance front that caused this.

Not read every post, has anybody made any similar observation?

.
 
Wondering if the perceived improvement reported on piggy-backing is the buffer that gets a real benefit when no nfb applied around it. Some years ago did some measurements and found rising distortion from increased levels up to 0.3% above 2VRMS. With hindsight (which is conveniently always perfect :p), it was the buffer and not the transconductance front that caused this.

Not read every post, has anybody made any similar observation?

.

I think most people are not using the internal buffer of the ad844.

I tried triple stack a while back but using only the internal buffer of one chip. I found the sound become a bit hard (distorted?). But is suspected that 2 of three chips may be fake or they were from different factories.

I will give it another try with an external fet buffer connected to pin 5. I think I have got enough geniune ad844s this time.
 
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OPA1641

Thanks Torchwood for sharing.
btw re Opa 1641 at what voltage are
you using them ?

thanks again

I run the rails at +15 and - 15 volts DC. I will be trying a discrete op amp solution in the next few days. Kind of curious to see how that may compare. The discrete's cost more then OPA627's. I got a small bonus from work. So decided it was worth getting them to try. ;)