ULTIMATE OPAMP SHOOTOUT... Where you get to decide.

Which opamp do you prefer the sonics of ?

  • Apple

    Votes: 2 5.0%
  • Banana

    Votes: 7 17.5%
  • Damson

    Votes: 1 2.5%
  • Kiwi

    Votes: 1 2.5%
  • Orange

    Votes: 6 15.0%
  • Peach

    Votes: 6 15.0%
  • Pear

    Votes: 3 7.5%
  • Pomegranate

    Votes: 11 27.5%
  • Raison

    Votes: 2 5.0%
  • Satsuma

    Votes: 1 2.5%

  • Total voters
    40
  • Poll closed .
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Polls. There is a poll attached to this thread where you can vote for the best sounding opamp.
There is also an additional poll CLICK HERE where you can vote for the worst sounding opamp.

Edit There is an additional new "quick fun test" at post #88 CLICK HERE

From the industry standard 741 to todays dedicated high performance opamps that are firmly aimed at the very top end of the audio market these common devices generate huge interest and polarise opinions. How far have we really come though in the last 40 odd years ? I thought it would be a really fun thread to take some common devices and put them to the test... or rather, for all you out there to put them to the test by actually listening. Could you identify a 741 compared to say an LM4562, or a TL072 versus an NE5532. Well now is your chance to find out :D

OK, so this is what I have in mind and of course I'm constrained by working with what I have available which is just a Dell and Acer laptop and Audacity. The source is a Marantz Pearl Lite SACD playing a test file I have prepared, the file consisting of four short music snippets. These are loaded onto a USB drive and plugged into the Marantz USB port. The basic opamp circuit consisting of two opamps per channel is shown here. It is a simple attenuate/amplify/attenuate/amplify scheme where the signal is brought back to approximately where it started amplitude wise. Its a tougher test than it looks though. Have you noticed the output loading on each opamp. 680 ohms plus driving the feedback networks.



(Note, R9 and R10 are 680 ohm and not 620 ohm


So here is how the test works. We take the analogue output signal from the Marantz and pass it through each opamp test circuit, digitising the final opamp output using Audacity. From this a 320kbs MP3 and WAV file is generated. Its up to you which you use (the MP3 files are around 7.5mb and the WAV just over 30mb). We do that for each of the opamps under test. And all you have to do is listen and try and decide what is what. It would be great to hear any comments on how you feel each snippet sounds too. All you will have to work on for identification are the file names all of which are named after fruit. So if you think "Damson" is the best then mark it as 1st place and so on.


The opamps I had available are 741, 4558, 4560, 5532, LM4562, OPA134, TL072, TLE2072 and a "wild card" that if all goes to plan would only be revealed at the end of the test. Oh, and the original file of course played direct.


So what do you all think :D Interested ?
(I can use dropbox to post the files :))

Here are the files,

Apple MP3 https://www.dropbox.com/s/4pxj0gkqqhbha96/Apple MP3.mp3
Banana MP3 https://www.dropbox.com/s/sqqawagzxowro5o/Banana MP3.mp3
Damson MP3 https://www.dropbox.com/s/1xcjrz2ec4xs16s/Damson MP3.mp3
Kiwi MP3 https://www.dropbox.com/s/g5nu8s2omr42nur/Kiwi MP3.mp3
Orange MP3 https://www.dropbox.com/s/7tsula4xkkub288/Orange MP3.mp3
Peach MP3 https://www.dropbox.com/s/y0cqmn0a97qma4k/Peach MP3.mp3
Pear MP3 https://www.dropbox.com/s/v7hvtvravthp17p/Pear MP3.mp3
Pomegranite MP3 https://www.dropbox.com/s/09geygvwi6xb9h2/Pomegranite MP3.mp3
Raison MP3 https://www.dropbox.com/s/4pi10guur2p7ebp/Raison MP3.mp3
Satsuma MP3 https://www.dropbox.com/s/87mmvuza6qhzzzy/Satsuma MP3.mp3

Apple WAV https://www.dropbox.com/s/dfk0id2s7ffxnws/Apple WAV.wav
Banana WAV https://www.dropbox.com/s/uxiftiqoh3dyxi7/Banana WAV.wav
Damson WAV https://www.dropbox.com/s/19w57e4cyvpxwfs/Damson WAV.wav
Kiwi WAV https://www.dropbox.com/s/xyfrfn5duau19g5/Kiwi WAV.wav
Orange WAV https://www.dropbox.com/s/6tzpw9bere56fvn/Orange WAV.wav
Peach WAV https://www.dropbox.com/s/m5h3ygpxx9yniy6/Peach WAV.wav
Pear WAV https://www.dropbox.com/s/9idk24bb1kusysi/Pear WAV.wav
Pomegranite WAV https://www.dropbox.com/s/v5774o1digxe5ku/Pomegranite WAV.wav
Raison WAV https://www.dropbox.com/s/nvpayrm6l4929zc/Raison WAV.wav
Satsuma WAV https://www.dropbox.com/s/f1vavw94v9qqang/Satsuma WAV.wav
 
Well, not to parade on anyone's rain... happened across this thread, and was curious.

I'd like to know more about the performance of the circuit itself, and how the files were captured to digital. For example the 47ufd output cap? That alone has the potential for masking differences. The 620ohm load is a *heavy* load for many of the opamps listed. That will effect performance. The quality of the resistors, is the circuit open air? Shielded? What about RFI? Noise floor? Details, details... always a PIA.

Watch, the 741 will win! :p

_-_-
 
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A PIA :D It would never cross my mind :p

The 620 (Actually 680 ohm... forums having upload issues at the moment and I couldn't alter the diagram) is a tough load, outside of what many of those opamps can officially drive.

I would just say, listen to the files and make your own mind up :) You might think they all sound rubbish... or not...

The files had to be captured using just what I had available which is a Dell Vostro laptop and its Realtek sound do-dah. So the audio was fed straight into the laptop and Audacity used to record it.
 
Great idea, i recently built an ebay DAC with a 5532 and picked up a 4562 for it just to see if i can tell the difference between them, so this thread is perfectly timed. Cant wait to go home and give these a proper listen now, using cheapo ear buds on my work pc i cant tell any difference at all lol....
 
Disabled Account
Joined 2010
Why,

haven't you got a vote on the thread for each one so we can vote for what we think is the best?:D

I have had a quick listen to the MP3's and it is a quick listen. (laptop permitting )
Some of them are a mess of smear. Some sound very similar.
A few stand out.:)

Regards
M. Gregg
 
Thanks for putting these up, Mooly, I'm very deliberately not looking at anyone's comments until I do a ranking - will work with the WAV files ...

Immediately, without listening seriously, a huge gap between the best and the worst, quite surprising that this should be so - I wonder whether it's the implementation of the pass-through circuit ... I'll be interested in other's comments ...
 
Well, not to parade on anyone's rain... happened across this thread, and was curious.

I'd like to know more about the performance of the circuit itself, and how the files were captured to digital. For example the 47ufd output cap? That alone has the potential for masking differences. The 620ohm load is a *heavy* load for many of the opamps listed. That will effect performance. The quality of the resistors, is the circuit open air? Shielded? What about RFI? Noise floor? Details, details... always a PIA.

Watch, the 741 will win! :p

_-_-


Yes, I'm sure the result will not be useful to show which opamp is better. But I want to try this with my transparent speaker... I think old opamps such as 471, 4558, 4560 will not win. Must be in the "wild card" or OPA134 which is fast and has dominant second order harmonic content.
 
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Joined 2007
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Yes, I'm sure the result will not be useful to show which opamp is better. But I want to try this with my transparent speaker... I think old opamps such as 471, 4558, 4560 will not win. Must be in the "wild card" or OPA134 which is fast and has dominant second order harmonic content.

And the 741 and 4558 and 4560 really are old in the real sense too. They are not "modern" offerings but devices of 30+ yrs ago. The 4558's were from an old Sony C9 Betamax and the 741's from when I first started out in electronics. 4560's were really popular in rack and midi systems of the 80's and 90's.

I was wondering about another poll in a separate "closed thread" where you could all vote for the worst sounding one too.