Blimey, a month away and the opamp posts are still going on by the same folk. Can I suggest maybe purchasing a 'better' source? or are opamps still the most important factor in audio?
In my opinion buying a better source was much more benificial than swapping some £20 opamps in mediocre equipment.
No arguements, just an opinion!
In my opinion buying a better source was much more benificial than swapping some £20 opamps in mediocre equipment.
No arguements, just an opinion!
Also: it's much better to have a budget system (assembled with taste and wisdom) and a brilliant brain (with the subsequent musical tastes), than to have a regal audio system and a mediocre brain & taste.
I used to be myself of the "exclusive audio equipment" crowd... I now think there's more virtue and intelligence in being of the budget audio party. But...some people just need very expensive stuff to compensate for their narrowly limited perceptive faculties, I suspect. Not saying it's your personal case, Nad.
Pardon my brutality 🙂
I used to be myself of the "exclusive audio equipment" crowd... I now think there's more virtue and intelligence in being of the budget audio party. But...some people just need very expensive stuff to compensate for their narrowly limited perceptive faculties, I suspect. Not saying it's your personal case, Nad.
Pardon my brutality 🙂
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Pardon me too, I didn't realise that folk who own "exclusive audio equipment" are some what lesser in intelligence than folk who buy budget.
As I found, it's rather a tendency, than a rule. Surely they tend to have a lesser appreciation of artistic content in music.
If you haven't noticed, the true music lovers don't usually own (nor even they can afford) hi-end systems, unless they're artists themselves (and certainly not all artists are audiophiles).
At any rate, I owned hi-end audio components once, and in all honesty I'm no less happy now than I was then! I remember never being satisfied with anything, despite the money spent...
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OPA1611 is less than $2. I don't like opamps just because they're expensive... otherwise I'd have to sing odes to the mediocre OPA627. 😛
I do find that the choice of (e.g.) DAC chip + opamp pairing is a key factor in achieving sonic naturalness, at any price point.
I often see expensive audio equipment with so very generic choices of opamps (not to mention, breaking all my numerical rules on pairings) ...
That must strengthen the crucial idea that it's not so much the resources you have, it's how you use them 🙂
I often see expensive audio equipment with so very generic choices of opamps (not to mention, breaking all my numerical rules on pairings) ...
That must strengthen the crucial idea that it's not so much the resources you have, it's how you use them 🙂
Not at all.
Are you basing the general on yourself? If folk want to spend their money on high end equipment, that doesn't mean they're artists themselves, they simply have the cash to buy 'good' so why shouldn't they? (me included)
I'm glad you're no less happy now, but to the most (I guess) are more focused in day to day life and general happenings, family life, money, career etc etc than simply how good a silicone opamp sounds. I always thought of music as a pleasure or to relax to, but being as you say "not too bright" I guess I should have focused my ambitions on finding the perfect opamp instead.
Students eh? know everything, know nothing?
If they only suspected they did, they'd completely devote themselves to charity and monastic life. 😱
Forgive my exaggerated tones BTW...I just like strong images 🙂
You can buy good sound with any amount of cash, really, excepting the very low extreme..
And whatever you can't buy, you can tweak 😉
Finding the "perfect opamp" (or more like "the most natural sounding opamp") is a passion, nourished by the passion (rather, the need) for satisfactorily enjoying music on the budget.
I will say I've never been so passionate about hi-fi, as now that I'm forced to buy budget.
I'm not an electronics expert for sure, and I don't want to be as I have other purposes in life.
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BTW, myself, rather than seeking a nonexistent ideal ("the perfect opamp"), I'm more into understanding how to combine things to make them work harmoniously together... Please refer to my views on DAC chips & opamps pairings (or opamps & opamps) ruled by complementary number associations (or whatever) 🙂
Finally, I'd like to clarify that what I'm trying to do here is not so much selecting the finest sounding chips, as it is excluding the most overrated or just passively accepted ones (maybe only for ignorance of what the market offers today!). 🙂
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Yeah... I know I may sound like a pusher. 🙂 It's (I believe) just that whatever I do, I do it with passion. I really endorse whatever I feel is worth being shared, expecially if I feel that others are overlooking it.
Obviously here I'm "pushing" opamps rather than something more serious just because it's a DIY audio forum; and more specifically, because it's some of what I personally "specialize on" in DIY, particularly as it's cheap & easy to do, yet can be so rewarding 🙂
Obviously here I'm "pushing" opamps rather than something more serious just because it's a DIY audio forum; and more specifically, because it's some of what I personally "specialize on" in DIY, particularly as it's cheap & easy to do, yet can be so rewarding 🙂
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