[Hadakan]

Thanks for the info mnemoniak.

I am still curious whether the replacement of those three opamps for superior types directly affects the quality of the headphone out as well as the RCA connectors.

 

[mnemoniak]

O.K. back on my first statement, what I was missing in the LM4562, soundstage + detailed highs, are here with the opa627's, each instrument seems at the right place, with the right tone, but, what is lacking now is the life and ejoyment factor which was given with the LM4562, unfortunately, voices seems to got a sort of veil which is wasting the overall presentation.

Despite the qualities of the OPA627's, i'm going back to the LM4562, unfortunately, I would had let the OPA's, only if the voices had been sounding a different way, it is killing, in my configuration (LISA III + K701), all the benefits of OPA's.

 

[majkel]

@mnemoniak, OPA627 is good but completely not worth its price due to lack of PRaT. It's too slow and boring. And the LM4562 is of course a midrange killer, overdetailed and bass-crazy, wherever I tried it. AFAIR the Lisa III uses AD744's. I would replace it with the AD825's because other good sounding op-amps are mostly bipolar and I never recommend switching from one type to another - from FET to bipolar isn't always safe, from bipolar to FET makes no sonical sense.

 

[frankR]

I just popped in three BB OPA2134PA I found from a past active xover project.

I also disabled the 250% gain.

The first minute impressions are:

- Much much brighter, sharper highs, almost too bright will need to get used to it.
- Bass is stronger, but a little muddy, although I'm listening to finger plucked accoustic bass, probably how it's supposed to sound
- Sound stage is much wider and deeper

 

[GuyMe]

Thanks for making this thread, glad someone finally started to compile a list of combinations.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hadakan /img/forum/go_quote.gif F --- 2x LT1364 + LME49720NA (worse than config E - lost some midrange and had extremely harsh highs)

I'm currently using this and I'm generally pleased by it. I don't get the harsh highs, but most of my headphones are closer to neutral than some. I did try this setup with a bright headphone and I heard the harsh highs, but I fault the headphone, not the opamps.

I think I will give these two setups a try, I'll try to remember to post impressions here.
Quote:

E = C --- 2x LT1364 + LM4562NA (nice sound, punchier bass, mellow highs, and a more detailed midrange, recommended by two users so far)

Quote:

BEST --- 2x LT1364 + LT1361 (punchier bass, great midrange, and nice and mellow highs - favorite setup)

 

[mnemoniak]

Quote:

Originally Posted by majkel /img/forum/go_quote.gif @mnemoniak, OPA627 is good but completely not worth its price due to lack of PRaT. It's too slow and boring. And the LM4562 is of course a midrange killer, overdetailed and bass-crazy, wherever I tried it. AFAIR the Lisa III uses AD744's. I would replace it with the AD825's because other good sounding op-amps are mostly bipolar and I never recommend switching from one type to another - from FET to bipolar isn't always safe, from bipolar to FET makes no sonical sense.

Thank you for your advices majkel, but I'm not really familiar with those FET and bipolar questions, if you are talking about replacing LISA's Op-amps, I'm not ready to do this kind of thing, the only thing I'm able to do right now is swapping op-amps on DIP sockets (is this the way I should call that ?).
I was not aware of those safes or not safes replacements. thanks again, but I need to learn a lot more about all of this, thanks to you, I will be more cautious while playing the sorcerer's apprentice.

 

[majkel]

You're welcome! Mostly it's not harmful to use one type instead of another but this kind of puristic approach makes choices easier.

Look at the topic this way: FET is necessary evil, when not needed, better avoided but sometimes you just have to use them.

 

[psc001]

Have you guys seen this one before ? AUDIOTRAK DR.DAC2 Digital to Analog Converter - eBay (item 120258608404 end time May-15-08 17:45:41 PDT)
It looks very promising and I might actually buy it !!!

 

[frankR]

Is three OPA2134's a resonable configuration, or should I consider purchasing some of the other op-amps posted in this thread?

So far this sounds much better then the stock op-amps. The highs are a bit on the harsh side, that is my complaint.

 

[Hadakan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by GuyMe /img/forum/go_quote.gif Thanks for making this thread, glad someone finally started to compile a list of combinations.

I selfishly started this thread to get as much feedback as possible so I could comfortably choose what upgrades are worth trying

.

So thanks for all the great feedback I was getting. I'll try to keep up and keep the first post up to date and accurate. Please, don't be too mad if I mess up some description or fail to credit some of you properly.

 

[vvvvvv]

Quote:

Originally Posted by frankR /img/forum/go_quote.gif Is three OPA2134's a resonable configuration, or should I consider purchasing some of the other op-amps posted in this thread? So far this sounds much better then the stock op-amps. The highs are a bit on the harsh side, that is my complaint.

1) I have the same question. Does anyone here know? I myself can only get the OPA2134, and I have the european version of the Prodigy HD2, with the NE5535's... So do three OPA2134's sound better than the stock op-amps?

2) Another question.. Do I need to buy 3 of them by any means? Or 2 can work better? Because I know the HD2 Gold version has 1 NE5532 and 2 OPA2134's. So would 3 OPA2134's sound better than that? Or 2+1 is better? I expect a fast answer because there are not many left in stock to buy here. Thanks a lot, in advance!

 

[majkel]

OP2134 is popular and nothing spectacular. I'm not sure there will be improvement over the NE5532's. Just different sound but disputably better. Use two OPA2604's and the AD8022 at the front. You'll need an adapter to insert it into the socket.

 

[vvvvvv]

Thanks a lot for the reply, but it didn't really answer any of my 2 questions. :/
So which would be better: all three OPA2134's or two OPA2134's + a 5532?
Anyone?
Quote:

Originally Posted by vvvvvv /img/forum/go_quote.gif I myself can only get the OPA2134

 

[vvvvvv]

Busy forum this is..............

 

[FallenAngel]

Since the AK4396 is a voltage out DAC, has anybody tried to bypass the opamps all together? Very interested as I just bought this card and since I have some very strong amps, I don't really want any extra line-driving opamps.

I'm also going to be looking at the coupling caps on this thing, perhaps I can change those to something nice and skip the opamps altogether.