[wakeride74]

I'm gearing up to write a review of the SM3 Vs. Micro and wanted to ask a couple questions before I sit down and get busy.

SM3 owners - What would be a good opamp to use for this comparison? Trying to keep the battle ground level I was thinking of using the stock NE5534 class A biased to go stock vs. stock. (I have the AD797 in now)

The Micro amp has the desktop module and the SM3 has the 4 feature switches. I will be using DT770-250, HD650, and E4c's and iriver H10 20gb for the review.

Anyone with suggestions feel free to chime in!

 

[NightWoundsTime]

Slip in the 797 after you've drawn some conclusions about the stock SM3. See if it bring it ahead or what changes it makes.

 

[Gremlin255]

The AD744 opamp is another popular one by other SM3 users. It can also be set to class A biased. I'm using AD797's on my SM3 and have stuck with it the longest.

 

[crazyfrenchman27]

I voice the amp to the headphone and source.

That seems like the only reasonable way to do it.

With some headphones, the AD797 will sound to thick, with others, the AD744 sounds too grainy. You also have to look out for background noise with things like canal phones.

How I rank them, in general:

AD797 > AD744 > OPA637 > LM6171 (I'd rank it higher if the background noise was lower; it really depends on the headphone) > AD843 > OPA627 > NE5532 > OPA227...something like that.

The LT chips sound fine (like the LT1028) to me but they start hurting my ear after I listen to them for a long period of time.

Haven't tried AD829 or class A-biasing, but I will work on that soon enough.

Try to borrow an ABx switchbox, if you can. The difference between amps is more subtle than you think.

-Matt

 

[Jon L]

What opamp does micro use? Might be fun to start off with that in SMv.3 just to see. But eventually, AD744 in class A HAS to be tried.

 

[Teerawit]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jon L What opamp does micro use? Might be fun to start off with that in SMv.3 just to see. But eventually, AD744 in class A HAS to be tried.

AD822 in Headroom's Micro amp.

 

[wakeride74]

I don't want to use too many opamps as I'd like to keep the scales somewhat level. I will probably stick with the AD797 (which is all I've had in it so far and sounds great). This opamp has also gotten the most praise along with the 627.

I'll be sure to try and give some explanations of the pros and cons with each set of cans I use as well. From what I can tell so far the SM3 seems to mate best with my E4c's out of the three.

I'll get a full shoot out review posted within the next few weeks.