By far the best of the 5 different headphone amps I have built. I also think the OPA2134PA is the best sounding standard DIP, reasonably priced opamp. You may never feel the need to change it.
If you eventually get adventurous, want to test your soldering skills and are willing to experiment with SOIC adapters, the OPA1612AID is my favorite for sheer listening pleasure. The OPA6156ID a close second if you prefer a more "studio monitor" analytical type of sound.
Fabricio: One more thought, you may be uncomfortable working with potentially dangerous AC line voltage components inside a chassis. It is admittedly important that you know basic electrical safety or have someone who does review your work.
My second favorite headphone amp is Mark Johnson's Noir, which is also available through the DIYaudio store. It is a design that uses an external SMPS power supply, so no AC line voltage safety issues as long as you are using a commercial certified supply.
My second favorite headphone amp is Mark Johnson's Noir, which is also available through the DIYaudio store. It is a design that uses an external SMPS power supply, so no AC line voltage safety issues as long as you are using a commercial certified supply.
Just a small loop back to a post I made a few months ago after I finished my build. I had problems with a high noise floor. I checked and addressed everything that has a potential for noise. No change. Today I swapped out the 3 braid wire I was using for input with a shielded Mogami cable. Noise is now exactly zero 🙂
LOL...your favorite headphone amp that you have, really??
There are several commercial offerings for around $100 that'll mop the floor with this inferior-sounding "WHAMMY" thingie.
I know because I built a "WHAMMY" when the boards first became available in the DIY Store.
I tried just about every op-amp out there in this "WHAMMY" thingie and still its sound quality wasn't even in the same category as the inexpensive commercial offerings at that time.
I clearly understand your loyalty to Nelson Pass, Wayne Colburn and this diyAudio site, but don't you think it's time to be 100% honest and stop telling folks here that this "WHAMMY" thing sounds "absolutely fantastic" when in the real world it doesn't regardless of the op-amp chosen.
I admire your many constructive posts for assembling different projects here, so keep up the great work!🙂
mercedese63:
I have had a professional recording studio engineer say that the Whammy/OPA1612AID with Sennheiser HD650s is the best studio headphone/amplifier system he's ever heard. I was in professional and commercial audio systems and product design for 40 years. Whammy is the real thing, not boutique golden ear audiophool hype. If you can't hear the difference between the opamps in the front end, I suggest either better headphones or better ears.
I have had a professional recording studio engineer say that the Whammy/OPA1612AID with Sennheiser HD650s is the best studio headphone/amplifier system he's ever heard. I was in professional and commercial audio systems and product design for 40 years. Whammy is the real thing, not boutique golden ear audiophool hype. If you can't hear the difference between the opamps in the front end, I suggest either better headphones or better ears.
From my experience, it's all about the op amp you use. When I first built it with the default RC4580 I thought...this is a joke right? This thing is terrible. Been playing around with a few different op amps and the difference is massive. The OPA2134PA makes this a killer amp. And the damn thing costs just $4.79 at Digikey lol.
A Jedi:
I agree with you on the OPA2134PA. I thought I had found my "go no further" opamp.
I was using 3 different headphone amps to match my headphones:
HD650 open air dynamics on a Mark Johnson Noir
HE400i planars on a Pete Milet NuHybrid and
MH40 closed dynamics on the Whammy.
Once I discovered the OPA2134, I was able to use and enjoy all 3 headphones on the Whammy and retired the other two amps. Then I bit the SMD/SOIC bullet, tried the OPA1612 and have never looked back.
I agree with you on the OPA2134PA. I thought I had found my "go no further" opamp.
I was using 3 different headphone amps to match my headphones:
HD650 open air dynamics on a Mark Johnson Noir
HE400i planars on a Pete Milet NuHybrid and
MH40 closed dynamics on the Whammy.
Once I discovered the OPA2134, I was able to use and enjoy all 3 headphones on the Whammy and retired the other two amps. Then I bit the SMD/SOIC bullet, tried the OPA1612 and have never looked back.
There may be more of these bad days.
Contrary to that he probably had a good one when he sold his Whammy as he considered it a great amp in his offer.
I am almost finished building my WHAMMY. I expect to try an OPA1612 as well as OPA2134.
Did you guys mount C2/C7 for these two opamps?
Did you guys mount C2/C7 for these two opamps?
This was the reply I get from farnell 🙁 oh wells... I'll just re-order another one I guess. Perhaps there was indeed some fault of mine in soldering? Oh wells..
"Based on the provided information, the part has undergo assembly and is not considered “fault found during 1st time usage”. Solder and assembly process exposes the part to many possibilities that may cause fault. (The part was 100% tested in factory and packed in controlled condition). Even if the part is faulty, it is very hard to proof to manufacturer it is manufacturing fault.
Additionally, the provided information does not show measured value that shows the component itself is faulty. The circuit was designed for a different opamp (OPA2604), there is a possibility of it to be unfit."
"Based on the provided information, the part has undergo assembly and is not considered “fault found during 1st time usage”. Solder and assembly process exposes the part to many possibilities that may cause fault. (The part was 100% tested in factory and packed in controlled condition). Even if the part is faulty, it is very hard to proof to manufacturer it is manufacturing fault.
Additionally, the provided information does not show measured value that shows the component itself is faulty. The circuit was designed for a different opamp (OPA2604), there is a possibility of it to be unfit."
Funny thing FS: Pass DIY WHAMMY Headphone Amp
Selling it only five days after he got it up and running, after he some blummers in building it. I wonder how much testing is was able to do in this 5 days. And without a chassis to put it in. And only after newyears this year he discovered that the amp sucks. A year and a half after he sold it. all posting from the guy this year have been rude and condescending.
Opamp in Whammy
Good day,
I do have some different opamps and tried them all. As I remember should only have types that were mentioned here on this thread. I do consider the one from the photo the best one for me in this amp and unfortunately I do not have any idea, what opamp this could be. I went through all my ebay and other purchases but I could not find more about it. Maybe somebody here can be of help. Thanks!
Cheers, Ernst
Good day,
I do have some different opamps and tried them all. As I remember should only have types that were mentioned here on this thread. I do consider the one from the photo the best one for me in this amp and unfortunately I do not have any idea, what opamp this could be. I went through all my ebay and other purchases but I could not find more about it. Maybe somebody here can be of help. Thanks!
Cheers, Ernst
Attachments
You have to expect that someone, sometime, just isn't going to like this project and obviously, mercedes likes a very different sounding headlamp and we're not left in any doubt!
I wonder if "olen" found it okay? I think he went on to build the ACP+ last year.
I wonder if "olen" found it okay? I think he went on to build the ACP+ last year.
Good work Brian hope you like it.
For now, fit the caps in place on top of the pads, do it so you can quickly whip them out to test.
The parallel feedback caps are there for stability to prevent oscillation (extreme unexpected heat) for certain fast op-amps. It appears from experience that most op-amps are stable in the circuit, however please do take the time to find out yourself if you can.
For my own part I have used the amp for a while with no caps for C2/C7 and everything worked well. The only time I ever had an issue was when I rasised R4/R8 to 10K and used 100pF in C2/C7, my LT1028's did not like that at all!
The advice from mighty Zen Mod was to reduce C2/C7 value if R4/R8 was raised, the values are relative to each other. Right now I have 39Pf and 6.5K for R4/R8 and everything is still fine.
The only true way to see what is happening is with a scope, which I'm keeping an eye out for.
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I had similar issues when I used the SOIC adapter, and again when I used the Sparkos discrete OpAmp. Basically I hadn't seated things properly and not only saw fluctuating measurements, I also could hear the channel cutting in/out. Try reseating everything (with the power off and caps drained) and see where you are.
Before I strike red hot soldering tip to tin/lead solder combo, can you please elaborate on your negative insinuations? I mean thingie should be thingy shouldn't it?
I don't know who that guy thinks he is but I have also built a Whammy and it does sound incredible and believe me I have also tried many op amps. If you want a detailed write up I did an article on my site. This is a cracking headphone amp and anyone that says otherwise is obviously using knackered headphones! 😂
the only negative thing i found with the whammy, is a little low gain for me in my setup.. So i use a DAC and preamp before the amp. A fetaudio DAC with AD1855 dac and a Aleph P1.7 preamp.
OP amp wise i went for the AD823. and i must say it's wonderfull.
OP amp wise i went for the AD823. and i must say it's wonderfull.
I hadn't built any audio equipment since Heathkit tube gear and Dynaco amps many years ago, but I got the bug to diy again when I found DiyAudio a couple of years ago. My first project was a Whammy which remains in my desk system today. My op-amp rolling stopped at a Burson V6 Vivid. Best sound I have ever heard from anything I've built and most anything I've ever bought. But tastes vary, it's hard to believe that really negative posts don't have some unseen motivation. Unless it's built wrong or has defective parts there's no way a Whammy sounds awful. Not your cup of tea? Ok, that happens, we don't all like the same stuff. Move on to something else. I've built the SSII and Noir and I think they both sound very good too but they don't destroy my Whammy. It's kind of like my first love ....
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