[wein07]

Hi there. I'm currently trying to do some OpAmp upgrade to my Creative titanium HD. Prior to my purchase I was using my Auzentech Bravura with a 2x AD797BR chips soldered on a Browndog, which I loved so much for being "Smooth" sounding. And I hope to keep with the AD797BR unless there are better alternatives.
 
As I've got no soldering skills, these are the options i can think of.
 
1) Buy another 2x AD797BR chips soldered on a Browndog
 
http://www.ebay.com.sg/itm/mod-1x-AD797BR-Dual-to-Mono-Op-amp-module-ultralow-noise-replace-a-dual-op-/261176178327?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3ccf503697
 
my concern is the chip numbers (while still AD797BR) on the above item is different to my current one, AD797BR, 0433, 12001. The possibility of using them together resulting in my audio sounding different from left and right speaker sounds hilarious, but probably wouldn't be enjoyable for me

 
2) Purchase AD797BN
 
http://www.ebay.com/itm/1PCS-IC-ADI-DIP-8-AD797BN-/251062547952?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3a747e75f0
 
I suppose I could buy 2 of them above and manually insert them onto a browndog adapter like below (more expensive tho)
http://blog.still-laughin.com/archives/images/DSC01072.jpg
 
Which leads me wondering, the soundcard by default comes with a single chip JRC211D  in the I/V section. Is there any downside in sound quality if I just use a single AD797BN on each Left and Right I/V section on a soundcard, VS Dual AD797BN OpAmps on a Browndog on both Left and Right I/V section?
 
3) As shown here,
 
http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages/sound_blaster_x_fi_titanium_hd_review,10.html
 
The TitaniumHD uses LME49710HA  as the buffer OpAmp. Are there any benefits to swaping these out as well?
 
 
Appreciate any advice and Thanks for reading

 

[PurpleAngel]

I believe the Titanium HD uses 2 dual channel JRC2114 op-amps and two single channel LME49720.
So we are talking about a total of 6-channels.
And the op-amp slots used on the Titanium HD are DIP-8 slots
AD797BR op-amps (SOIC) are single channel op-amps.
 
So if you want to use all AD797BR op-amps on the Titanium HD
You would need 2 dual SOIC to DIP-8 adapters, two AD797BR op-amps soldered to each adapter.
And 2 single SOIC to DIP-8 adapters, one AD797BR op-amp soldered to each adapter.
 
Audjade_chn has a good reputation (I've bought from them).
Audio_chn uses used AD797BR op-amps and would solder everything for you.

 

[wein07]

Do u know if the BN chips are worth paying a premium over the BRs?

 

[PurpleAngel]

Quote:

Do u know if the BN chips are worth paying a premium over the BRs?

I guess the "N" version is the DIP-8 version, which would not work plugged directly into the same slot the JCR2114 are.
The N version might work in the 2 slots used by the current 49710NA