Anyone tried this op-amp. Apparently outperforms the AD8610...
Taken from headwize:
"The opamp choice will be LM7172 or THS4062, I'm more inclined towards the latter. I tried THS4061 and THS4081 chips in my ppa a couple of days ago and was pleasantly suprised, if not to say more. The resolution and clarity was phenomenal, excellent highs with cymbals going all the way to the ultrasound region instead of being mudded with other instruments. The separation of the instruments is a way better than AD8610, the bass is sharp clear and very very deep.
Overall, with THS4081 the music seems to be created effortlessly and it makes you feel like listening to the same music over again. It's like looking thru a foggy window, cleaning the glass and looking thru the window again."
Taken from headwize:
"The opamp choice will be LM7172 or THS4062, I'm more inclined towards the latter. I tried THS4061 and THS4081 chips in my ppa a couple of days ago and was pleasantly suprised, if not to say more. The resolution and clarity was phenomenal, excellent highs with cymbals going all the way to the ultrasound region instead of being mudded with other instruments. The separation of the instruments is a way better than AD8610, the bass is sharp clear and very very deep.
Overall, with THS4081 the music seems to be created effortlessly and it makes you feel like listening to the same music over again. It's like looking thru a foggy window, cleaning the glass and looking thru the window again."
It's too bad not all opamps fit into our particular applications. I would love to try some of the "other" opamps, but things like excessive input bias current, P.S. voltages being limited to +-5v, instability from using too high of a resistor value under certain conditions(THS4601) all keep me from it........grrrrrrr.
Just from specs and looking at what little schematics they give away, I'm sure there are some giant killers out there. The THS4601 looks pretty good to me, although a schematic would be nice.
I got a question,... has anyone else noticed AD opamps having weird phase curves to go along with the response, or is it just me and maybe not reading it right?
Just from specs and looking at what little schematics they give away, I'm sure there are some giant killers out there. The THS4601 looks pretty good to me, although a schematic would be nice.
I got a question,... has anyone else noticed AD opamps having weird phase curves to go along with the response, or is it just me and maybe not reading it right?
Further impressions
Well, been running this op-amp for sometime in my "pavel macura/carlos fm" style pre-amp with a NIGC based on LM3875.
The short conclusion is that this op-amp is better in this application (i.e coupled with BUF634) than the OPA627.
What does the THS4061 do well?
First there is an open window onto music, much more so, believe it or not, than with the OPA627. The OPA627 is very precise, but it is almost shut-in compared with the THS. The THS has more "air" for wnat of a better description.
Second, highs are so much better resolved with the THS. I have a recording where the sound engineers have done their best to make the highs sound splashy. The 627 seems to help the splashiness, the highs being white, unresolved, unpleasant to listen to. Against expectations, the THS4061 actually gave some detail and structure to these same highs and made them more listenable.
Mids seem on par with the excellent presence provided by the 627, while bass is at least as deep and powerful. One area of uncertainty relates to soundstage depth, only because I have been running one channel vs another, but I'll report on this in due course.
I have not tried class A bias yet (with JFETS) and of course the THS is only available in SMT, but I have found, assuming you have the right adaptor, (which is very easy to DIY as a PCB) that working with these SMD's using a thin tip for the soldering iron is no problem at all.
Well, been running this op-amp for sometime in my "pavel macura/carlos fm" style pre-amp with a NIGC based on LM3875.
The short conclusion is that this op-amp is better in this application (i.e coupled with BUF634) than the OPA627.
What does the THS4061 do well?
First there is an open window onto music, much more so, believe it or not, than with the OPA627. The OPA627 is very precise, but it is almost shut-in compared with the THS. The THS has more "air" for wnat of a better description.
Second, highs are so much better resolved with the THS. I have a recording where the sound engineers have done their best to make the highs sound splashy. The 627 seems to help the splashiness, the highs being white, unresolved, unpleasant to listen to. Against expectations, the THS4061 actually gave some detail and structure to these same highs and made them more listenable.
Mids seem on par with the excellent presence provided by the 627, while bass is at least as deep and powerful. One area of uncertainty relates to soundstage depth, only because I have been running one channel vs another, but I'll report on this in due course.
I have not tried class A bias yet (with JFETS) and of course the THS is only available in SMT, but I have found, assuming you have the right adaptor, (which is very easy to DIY as a PCB) that working with these SMD's using a thin tip for the soldering iron is no problem at all.
DIY guide: SMD to DIP adapter
Me?
Hi Carlos.
A pic would be better than a 1000 words, but no digital camera... yet.
Here it goes:
Take an 8-pin "machined" socket.
Take some of the legs that you cut from caps (if you bother to keep them, I do ).
Insert and solder one by one on the socket.
Bent them to the middle of the socket, orient them, cut them to size.
You need to have the socket secured to work freely, without hassle.
Now put the SMD op-amp on it's position and solder one of it's pins, just to position it properly.
Now solder all the pins.
Oh, if you want, you can solder a small cap, like a 0.1~0.22uf multi-layer ceramic inside the adapter (socket), it will fit there.
Voilá, an SMD op-amp that you can fit everywhere.
carlmart said:
Me?
Hi Carlos.
A pic would be better than a 1000 words, but no digital camera... yet.
Here it goes:
Take an 8-pin "machined" socket.
Take some of the legs that you cut from caps (if you bother to keep them, I do
).Insert and solder one by one on the socket.
Bent them to the middle of the socket, orient them, cut them to size.
You need to have the socket secured to work freely, without hassle.
Now put the SMD op-amp on it's position and solder one of it's pins, just to position it properly.
Now solder all the pins.
Oh, if you want, you can solder a small cap, like a 0.1~0.22uf multi-layer ceramic inside the adapter (socket), it will fit there.
Voilá, an SMD op-amp that you can fit everywhere.
Yes, that's fine too.
But be careful no to put too much solder on the socket's pins, or it will not fit straight.
It's really easy to make an adapter, no need to buy Browndog adapters for op-amps.
Save your money to buy adapters for those 28-lead SSOP chips like modern dacs, receivers... those are so small it really becomes difficult to make adapters for them.
But be careful no to put too much solder on the socket's pins, or it will not fit straight.
It's really easy to make an adapter, no need to buy Browndog adapters for op-amps.
Save your money to buy adapters for those 28-lead SSOP chips like modern dacs, receivers... those are so small it really becomes difficult to make adapters for them.
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