Not everything....actually none of the 70's and 80's music did in its original analogue format.
Sad but true. Original Philips 5532 has a clean slightly warm sound with good space/soundstage.
Yeah, good point and my Nancy Wilson, Nat King Cole & Frank Sinatra recordings are even made with tubes!
Listen to Frank Sinatra "Only The Lonely" Capitol Years 1993 3CD Box Issue - direct live tube mics and tube tape recording. Outstanding dynamics and soundstage.
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After several hours of testing OPA2209 vs OPA1612 my subjective conclusion is:
When you would count the points in the categories (i.e.: bass depth, detail etc.) the OPA1612 is the winner. BUT...
When it comes to rhythm, musical flow, black background, evenness, mid texture richness, compatibility (regarding diff. recordings) and fun OPA2209 wins hands down.
OPA1612 has unnatural highs that are a tad to much and bass is too much with funk soul disco house. Mids are not that natural and it is not very forgiving. OPA2209 is so quiet and easy and natural. Sorry but after this marathon test OPA1612 is not listenable for me.
My rig:
Audio PC WIN10Pro (sounds better than Mac OSX - no joke) with mains isolation transformer, DIY Sommer USB cable.
JRiver Media player with 32bit/353kHz oversampling ASIO output, TPDF dithering and SoX resampler.
Another mains isolation transformer & DIY mains filter with Mundorf caps.
After that:
Sanskrit Pro DAC modified with DIY MOSFET/OpAmp regulated PSU and mains filter. Nichicon KZ, FG and ELNA Silmic II caps.
DIY OpAmp preamp with gain and buffer stage inbetween TKD pot. Cardas RCA sockets, Kimber & pure silver wire. ELNA Silmic II & Nichicon KZ caps. Jantzen Superior output cap. Carbon film & carbon composite resistors only. Balanced dual supply PSU with DIY mains filter and Nichicon KA & FG caps.
Jing Yang TPA3255 modified with modified Meanwell SMPS and mains filter, Nichicon KZ, FG, FW, ES, ELNA Silmic II, Jensen PIO and Siemens polystyrene caps.
ViaBlue Cables all over.
Markaudio Alpair 10.3 fullrange speakers without any correction in small BR enclosure.
DIY 2-way with Air-Motion AMT-1 & 8inch SEAS.
Triangle Titus modified.
When you would count the points in the categories (i.e.: bass depth, detail etc.) the OPA1612 is the winner. BUT...
When it comes to rhythm, musical flow, black background, evenness, mid texture richness, compatibility (regarding diff. recordings) and fun OPA2209 wins hands down.
OPA1612 has unnatural highs that are a tad to much and bass is too much with funk soul disco house. Mids are not that natural and it is not very forgiving. OPA2209 is so quiet and easy and natural. Sorry but after this marathon test OPA1612 is not listenable for me.
My rig:
Audio PC WIN10Pro (sounds better than Mac OSX - no joke) with mains isolation transformer, DIY Sommer USB cable.
JRiver Media player with 32bit/353kHz oversampling ASIO output, TPDF dithering and SoX resampler.
Another mains isolation transformer & DIY mains filter with Mundorf caps.
After that:
Sanskrit Pro DAC modified with DIY MOSFET/OpAmp regulated PSU and mains filter. Nichicon KZ, FG and ELNA Silmic II caps.
DIY OpAmp preamp with gain and buffer stage inbetween TKD pot. Cardas RCA sockets, Kimber & pure silver wire. ELNA Silmic II & Nichicon KZ caps. Jantzen Superior output cap. Carbon film & carbon composite resistors only. Balanced dual supply PSU with DIY mains filter and Nichicon KA & FG caps.
Jing Yang TPA3255 modified with modified Meanwell SMPS and mains filter, Nichicon KZ, FG, FW, ES, ELNA Silmic II, Jensen PIO and Siemens polystyrene caps.
ViaBlue Cables all over.
Markaudio Alpair 10.3 fullrange speakers without any correction in small BR enclosure.
DIY 2-way with Air-Motion AMT-1 & 8inch SEAS.
Triangle Titus modified.
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If you prefer those parts, then more power to you, as they are your ears, and not mine.
And I donated all of my tube equipment in 1994 also.
I'm nothing against 5534, but I would say NOT most music has been thru 20x 5534, many of them, though. Also, we may want to consider that majority of them are for pre-mixed materials, not for 2 channel mixed material.
At one time the ne5532 was top dog.
There are one or two better now.
in my day it was the 741 or the 741 !
i design quite a few usb scopes now so need high speed and rail to rail capability which limits options.
There are one or two better now.
in my day it was the 741 or the 741 !
i design quite a few usb scopes now so need high speed and rail to rail capability which limits options.
Fact is: Whatever recording you put on, if you change your opamp (i.e. in a preamp) from NE5532 to a newer TI or AD it will sound and measure undeniable better.
Can you show your modified TPA3255 from inside ? I wonder how it looks like ) Share some pictures please
Sorry to correct you but there is a plethora of better opamps right now. Not to forget the discrete opamps. Even an old OPA2227 (90's) is so much better...
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"so much better" is relative.
mostly by a small amount so swapping out ne5532 would be small improvement. an op amp should simply amplify without distortion.
if it isnt then its crap.
Two political posts removed. Political posts of any form violate forum rules and will be removed where encountered. Please read the rules.
diyAudio Moderation
If we like it or not the NE5532 is outclassed by a far margin. Alone the electrical performance (measurements) is in another league in comparison to newer OPAs and ADs.
Well, the lower distortion of the newer opamps are a fact and I can hear that VERY clearly. Even an older OPA2604 (better than a NE5532) sounds distorted vs OPA2209 (i.e.).
for you maybe, but many lesser mortals cant tell the difference.
what my be apparent on a spectrum analyser isnt always apparent to the ear.
in the past millions of sound systems got away with older op amps and no one was returning them coz the sounded crap !
what my be apparent on a spectrum analyser isnt always apparent to the ear.
in the past millions of sound systems got away with older op amps and no one was returning them coz the sounded crap !
@nigel
"in the past millions of sound systems got away with older op amps and no one was returning them coz the sounded crap !"
I think that the most solid proof for that is the existance of Mesa Engineering Triaxis preamplifier which is using 5 valves and a 5 band internal eq to get all the possible tones, then those tones make their exit to the output port through a TL072, yet no great guitar player using it, including Petrucci complained about the sound...
"in the past millions of sound systems got away with older op amps and no one was returning them coz the sounded crap !"
I think that the most solid proof for that is the existance of Mesa Engineering Triaxis preamplifier which is using 5 valves and a 5 band internal eq to get all the possible tones, then those tones make their exit to the output port through a TL072, yet no great guitar player using it, including Petrucci complained about the sound...
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