My 2 cents,
I have not built a discrete preamp yet. However I have cobbled together a few preamps recently around the NE5532 and the LME49720.
For the cost and simplicity, a well optimised LME49720 sounds incredible.
No need for coupling caps, just hand full of resistors to set gain, an RC filter and some power supply decoupling.
Here I will shamelessly plug Rod Elliot for his contributions to the community:
Op Amp
High Quality Audio Preamp
Discrete
Minimalist Discrete Hi-Fi Preamp
A few questions which might shed some light:
1) Whats the budget?
2) How much gain do you want?
3) How much voltage swing do you require?
4) What are the size constraints within your desired chassis?
5) How confident a builder are you?
One advantage of an opamp design is that they are fairly universal. Meaning that you can change opamps for a different sound (assuming you use a socket of course). Something much more difficult with a discrete design.
If this is your first rodeo, then I would suggest having a play with some low cost options to see what you like before throwing all your eggs into a potentially expensive basket.
A +/- 15Vdc PSU should be able to supply most of the preamp designs you might find, so it won't be difficult to swap out different preamp designs to see what sounds best.
I have not built a discrete preamp yet. However I have cobbled together a few preamps recently around the NE5532 and the LME49720.
For the cost and simplicity, a well optimised LME49720 sounds incredible.
No need for coupling caps, just hand full of resistors to set gain, an RC filter and some power supply decoupling.
Here I will shamelessly plug Rod Elliot for his contributions to the community:
Op Amp
High Quality Audio Preamp
Discrete
Minimalist Discrete Hi-Fi Preamp
A few questions which might shed some light:
1) Whats the budget?
2) How much gain do you want?
3) How much voltage swing do you require?
4) What are the size constraints within your desired chassis?
5) How confident a builder are you?
One advantage of an opamp design is that they are fairly universal. Meaning that you can change opamps for a different sound (assuming you use a socket of course). Something much more difficult with a discrete design.
If this is your first rodeo, then I would suggest having a play with some low cost options to see what you like before throwing all your eggs into a potentially expensive basket.
A +/- 15Vdc PSU should be able to supply most of the preamp designs you might find, so it won't be difficult to swap out different preamp designs to see what sounds best.
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