[thegopher]

I was thinking of having two headphone amps within one box. One for classical/jazz and one for pop/rock.

Anybody got suggestions for the best sounding op-amp/buffer combo for each type of music or is that a stupid question?

thegopher

 

[Luvya]

Do you really need different amp for different type of music?

 

[tangent]

I'm with Luvya -- I don't think it's a great idea to make two different amps. My philosophy is that the more a headphone amp stops interfering with the music and starts passing the input signal to the output untouched and enables the headphones to sound as good as they possibly can, the better.

This isn't to say that I'm into "colorless" amps. So far, I haven't found anything that's truly neutral. So, it's possible to have two amps of roughly equal performance ability but with a different sound. I guess it's also possible that one could sound better than the other for some things.

From my biased perspective, it seems to me that a pair of META42 boards, one inverted over the other, would fit together well. For instance, consider two of these in a Serpac H-67 case, with one mounted so it sits on the bottom of the case and the other fastened to the top half of the case. You'd be somewhat limited on component height compared to putting just one amp into the same case, of course. But it'd work.

I suggest a 4PDT toggle switch to change from one amp to the other: wire the input jack to the common lugs of 3 poles of the switch, and run wires from the other lugs to each amp board's input. Then use the fourth pole to control power to each board. Wire both amp boards' outputs to the same output jack -- I don't think the amp that's powered off will interfere with the signal from the other amp, even though the idle amp is technically in the circuit all the time.

Another way you could do it would be to hook up just one amp board's power supply and make that feed both boards, but set the amp toggle so that it sends the power supply's output to only one board at a time.

 

[ServinginEcuador]

Since he's talking about just the output stage, why not a small switch to bypass power from one set of output op amps to another? All he would need is a set of two headphone jacks, and with the flick of a switch and a change of jacks he could completely change his output path.

As to which op amps to use: for jazz and classical the Analog Devices AD825/Ad843/AD8610 and 8620 would work quite well. These are known for their midrange and tube like sound. The Burr Brown OPA627 should be better suited for the rock.

 

[tangent]

Quote:

Since he's talking about just the output stage, why not a small switch to bypass power from one set of output op amps to another?

I guess you could do it that way, too. You might have a problem with the long wires required, though, and the two op-amps being in each other's circuit might cause problems. I guess it's a reasonable thing to try first, but don't expect it to work flawlessly.

Quote:

As to which op amps to use: for jazz and classical the Analog Devices AD825/Ad843/AD8610 and 8620 would work quite well. These are known for their midrange and tube like sound. The Burr Brown OPA627 should be better suited for the rock.

None of these chips will fool you into thinking you're listening to a tube amp. Please avoid perpetuating the myth that you can make a SS amp sound tube-like with a simple chip change. And also the myth that you can't enjoy rock without a SS amp, or jazz without a tube amp. Across the board, it all comes down to sonic preferences, just like the choice between various headphones. These claims are like saying that you can make Grados sound like Senns, or that Grados are the only headphones for rock, or other such muck that keeps going around.

 

[ServinginEcuador]

Quote:

Originally posted by tangent None of these chips will fool you into thinking you're listening to a tube amp. Please avoid perpetuating the myth that you can make a SS amp sound tube-like with a simple chip change.

So far all I talked about was changing the op amps in the same SS device. There is nothing remotely related to what you are saying here Tangent! Nothing. I never said anything close to what you're saying about jazz on tubes vs rock on SS. IT sounds like you are taking issue with what I said because of some other reason other than what I actually said in my post. I will try to make it sound even less like that in the future, but my post said "tube like sound". That is not synonymous with a tube sounding amp. And if you read PS Audio's interview in the Sept or Oct edition of Stereophile you'll see that the man who runs PS Audio makes that EXACT claim - that his SS amp sounds very tube like!! It is not a myth as some tube amps sound like a SS, and some SS sound like tubes. I am just telling him what I have personally observed, and what many much more learned people than myself are saying.


Quote:

And also the myth that you can't enjoy rock without a SS amp, or jazz without a tube amp. Across the board, it all comes down to sonic preferences, just like the choice between various headphones.

I never made that claim, or anything like it. Please reread my post and you'll see nothing even remotely along those lines. All I was saying was how to use different op amps in the same exact SS device to make changes to the sound it makes. Changing the op amps on the output side of the CDP, amp, or whatever can make huge changes in the sounds it makes. To say otherwise would be misleading. To not say that a SS device,with the right electronics, can sound more tube like that SS is also a disservice, as it is possible. It may never sound exactly like a tube set-up, but aht's not what I said or am saying.

 

[tangent]

Quote:

if you read PS Audio's interview in the Sept or Oct edition of Stereophile you'll see that the man who runs PS Audio makes that EXACT claim - that his SS amp sounds very tube like!!

He didn't just change an op-amp in an existing SS design.

I'm not trying to claim that changing the chip doesn't change the sound. You're talking to someone who spent a lot of time testing op-amps -- I know this fact better than many here on this board. What I am claiming is that a simple op-amp change won't make you think your SS amp suddenly become "tube-like". If you want a tube amp, get a tube amp, don't try to tweak your SS amp into tube-ness.

What really set me off, though, is this idea that you somehow have to have a "tube-like sound" in order to enjoy certain types of music. That's incorrect and misleading besides. It's far more constructive to talk about things like smoothness, detail, attack, etc., than to roll it all up into a bipolar "SS vs. tube" issue. Otherwise, you get this bogus idea that tubes are the ideal towards which everything else is striving, and the more tube-like something is, the better it is. Yes, some people will claim that, but just because there are adherents to an idea doesn't make it a correct one.