You'll find more info on the LM833P in posts above and below this,
http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/solid-state/274575-about-op-amps-use.html#post4361276
http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/solid-state/274575-about-op-amps-use.html#post4361276
I've found Foobar quite fatiguing (mentally) and often resort back to just listening normally and seeing which seems the best that way.
Go for it
There must differences due to the files being made individually as well as the fact the devices changed.
One reason I haven't put the original up is simply that it would instantly stand out when analysed, if only because of the AC coupling and associated phase shift.
That's great Frank. Appreciate you trying them. Would you say the audible differences are as large as you might have thought (just by seeing the list) or not ?
Hey, thanks for trying them.
If you find these all sound pretty similar at a first listen then that's a perfectly valid and honest result.
I'll tell you something, and its this
When I try files like these, and of course knowing what they are, and seeing 'This is device xyz' on the screen and then flipping to another device and seeing that on the screen then its 'easy' to imagine and think you prefer the device you really believe to be better is better. The silent bits are darker, the vocals stand out, hey, I just heard that faint backing track carry over in the left channel... that wasn't there on the other. But then you repeat the test blind and that difference can melt away.
Of course all these devices can be sorted into order via their technical specs and strengths but when we listen to them, well is that difference as apparent as we perhaps imagined
If you find these all sound pretty similar at a first listen then that's a perfectly valid and honest result.
I'll tell you something, and its this
When I try files like these, and of course knowing what they are, and seeing 'This is device xyz' on the screen and then flipping to another device and seeing that on the screen then its 'easy' to imagine and think you prefer the device you really believe to be better is better. The silent bits are darker, the vocals stand out, hey, I just heard that faint backing track carry over in the left channel... that wasn't there on the other. But then you repeat the test blind and that difference can melt away. Of course all these devices can be sorted into order via their technical specs and strengths but when we listen to them, well is that difference as apparent as we perhaps imagined
I'll give it a whirl on some headphones soon as well.
Perhaps I didn't read the OP correctly, but is there at least a straight-through DAC->ADC normal (or several salted it)? Don't know what to expect, honestly, as they all technically seem competent for the application (x5 might have an effect, though).
Perhaps I didn't read the OP correctly, but is there at least a straight-through DAC->ADC normal (or several salted it)? Don't know what to expect, honestly, as they all technically seem competent for the application (x5 might have an effect, though).
Did try a second run, but didn't really find anything more to add. Unfortunately, some stupid Windows process has suddenly decided to randomly rev up to max disk access while playing, to the point of causing the playback to glitch at times - which is throwing off any chance of doing more subtle evaluation. I went through the exercise of killing off all these silly things some time ago, but obviously there is still one around to cause me grief - I'm not in the mood right now to track it down ...
Karl, how subjectively apparent the differences are depends, at least for me, on the state of tune of the playback setup - strangely perhaps for some people, a halfway there status is often the best for distinguishing variations like these here: one is still registering the playback quality as well as the recording qualities - if one of the latter sources is just a bit better then it may more dramatically overshadow the playback deficiencies, and stand out as being "much" better.
The list of devices means little to me, I would not attempt in any way to associate what I'm hearing with the particular items,
.
All the files here are: Micromega Stage 2 player > opamps > ADC. There is a rip of the original (level matched as best as possible) that I'll put up later for any of these files to be compared against.
There is no problem in saying that. Perhaps when used as pure buffers these devices are all essentially transparent, more so than we might ever have suspected.
The list of devices means little to me, I would not attempt in any way to associate what I'm hearing with the particular items,
That's a big part of what this is about. As I mentioned earlier, when I can see the device I'm listening to, then I'm 'certain' I hear what I want to hear. When that visual cue is taken away and I'm listening blind, those obvious differences disappear.
I don't think I could muster ten of these from stock, hadn't even got five 1458's which could have been fun.
Mooly, I'm falling into this thread late, but did you read SY's article in Linear Audio? His conclusion, IIRC, was that his personal threshold for hearing the presence of the opamps in the chain was exactly around your point of 5 opamps in series.
Maybe you should use even more to get any difference between them at all.
Jan
Maybe you should use even more to get any difference between them at all.
Jan
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