Everyone has different tastes and different needs and different rigs.
That's what makes Xin's SM3 so cool: opamp rolling.
Time permitting, it would be nice to try all opamps, but for me it's always pretty scary constanly opening my SM3 V3 and popping out tiny little "chips." It's nerve racking
. On the SM3 V6 it's much easier to roll as the the two boards are not "conjoined" with wires like my V3.
The good news is that many, many wonderful Xin fans have posted and shared their experiences with opamp rolling. No sense inventing the wheel again. One can either jump in and start rolling, or one can also leisurely peruse the qualitative experiences of other Xin SM3 opamp rollers.
Here are two links that I referred to in an earlier post in this thread:
http://fixup.net/talk/topic.asp?TOPI...=opamp,rolling
http://fixup.net/talk/topic.asp?TOPI...=opamp,rolling
Yes, they are really, really long threads, but informative: How opamps sound, how to change them out, where to get opamps, what is OB, OBCA, CA etc.
It also shows the evolution of the different socket tweakings used with SM3: Output Bypass (OB), Class A (CA), and OBCA (both).
The thread is classic Xin. It's not corporate or homogenized or neat. It's just a bunch of guys (and gals maybe) who dig messing around with tiny headphone amps and don't mind sharing their findings. It just happens that Xin's one o' the guys too
. There aren't many summaries and terms can get confusing.
I would like get around to making a summary for everyone, but I'm just too lazy. Even if I did, it would never get stickied and we Xin fans always end up answering questions again. That's ok, though, that's part of the fun of all this stuff: helping others out with a shared interest.
Anyway, if you dig a little all the info's there. There's plenty of other threads here at Head-Fi and fixup.net on opinions of Xin's business and "servicing" model, but for me I take the good with the bad.
The good news is there's plenty of people who are always willing to help you to more fully enjoy your Xin products.
Myself, I'd like to try OPA627/637 and other opamps but I'm really happy with what I'm using and I don't like messing with a good thing much less dealing with my nerves and shaky fingers as I simultaneously pray while prying out another opamp/socket. Yeah, I'm chicken
. Or perhaps just too protective of my Xin amp knowing if I F*$& it up I'll be waiting months and months to get it fixed.
Anyway don't be shy to roll opamps that's how Xin designed it.
Have fun
.
