[phalanger]

Yeah after hearing various genres of music I think it's indeed a tossup. I did do a (ear-based) frequency range test to see if there was a rolloff of basses but the lower frequencies responded with no notable rolloff until the one that is to be expected by limit of my ears and/or amp/speakers/phones.

I also put a AD8599 as the input opamp and first impressions are excellent. I'll compare some recordings i made with both opamps later on to see about differences.
I spent some time reading ADC schematics and measuring connectivity on many points trying to find input coupling caps. The 3 near the input plug seem likely suspects, problem is its a flexijack so its line-in/mic in/digital i/o, and then theres the aux-in above it, so its a fairly complex path. The ADC datasheet says there should be two 10uF caps in the input path. I have a few suspects but until I figure out more I won't put in any precious audio caps just yet. Anyone else looked into this?

 

[hardnrg]

Quote:

Originally Posted by phalanger /img/forum/go_quote.gif And yes the masking tape made it a breeze to put/keep the SOIC in place while soldering the first legs, thanks again for that tip

Hehe, I didn't even realise it was a tip

I just did it out of necessity, I have pretty steady hands, but not steady enough to start the mod without the tape! lol

 

[phalanger]

Quote:

Originally Posted by zbomb56 /img/forum/go_quote.gif My cousin first installed the lm4562 in his xtrememusic card, so i decided to try out the ad8599 after hearing good things about it, it completely lacked low end and mid bass punch compared to the lm4562. Mid bass punch is a must have for me, didn't have the snap of the lm4562 in my opinion. So i swapped it out for the lm4562 and it sounds great, way better bottom end then the ad8599 imo. Have any of you noticed the same thing with the ad8599? or do you think i might have had a bad ad8599 and i should try out a different one, i have about 4 of them just sitting in a small package.

I was wondering how long did you have the 8599 in when you decided it lacked bass? Cause where yesterday I agreed it had less of a punchy bass then 4562, right now I would not repeat saying that. In fact I even turned off the equalizer which i usually use(d) to get a bit more bass response from my headphones. I don't know if opamps can need settling in time aswell or if its a burning in of the ears

I put it in 2 or 3 days ago. Also the burn-in of the capacitor may be a factor. Did you change yours? at the same time as the opamp? I did mine, so it could be either.

For cotdt: i plugged the 595s into the soundcard straight with the 8599 as you asked. Hard to be specific in comparing with distant memory, but it does drive these headphones quite adequately. No lack in lower frequencies here either. Sound was quite nice actually.. the amount of detail between a 8599 opamp and 595 headphones is pretty amazing. I really like this opamp for its detail and transparancy.

But I think both are great, next week somewhere I should have it set up in such a way that i can directly A/B compare them, since i decided to use 4562's for the rear speakers and my 7.1 cable turns both front and rear outs into stereo jacks, making for easy swapping and comparison.

 

[kirimaru]

yeh,you are right i also experienced similar results in the begining,after one week of burning in it sounded even way better,now it sound very detailed and transparent.
you feel that the singer is singing in front of you and the instruments around you.
i have to admit,i never heard so detailed opamp in my life,the music come alive,its just amazing.
i am not saying that ad8599 is better then lm4562,keep in mind that both have there pros and cons and they a diferent sound singnature.

 

[djork]

Quote:

Originally Posted by kirimaru /img/forum/go_quote.gif yeh,you are right i also experienced similar results in the begining,after one week of burning in it sounded even way better,now it sound very detailed and transparent. you feel that the singer is singing in front of you and the instruments around you. i have to admit,i never heard so detailed opamp in my life,the music come alive,its just amazing. i am not saying that ad8599 is better then lm4562,keep in mind that both have there pros and cons and they a diferent sound singnature.

it's the biggest improvement of sound to my pc for the least amount of money ever!

 

[phalanger]

Quote:

Originally Posted by kirimaru /img/forum/go_quote.gif yeh,you are right i also experienced similar results in the begining,after one week of burning in it sounded even way better,now it sound very detailed and transparent. you feel that the singer is singing in front of you and the instruments around you. i have to admit,i never heard so detailed opamp in my life,the music come alive,its just amazing. i am not saying that ad8599 is better then lm4562,keep in mind that both have there pros and cons and they a diferent sound singnature.

Yep i think you're right, as a few more days pass by the sound seems to get better and richer still. I must say I'm quite impressed with this opamp! detail and transparancy are definately the keywords, but it is also very musical and plenty of rich bass, maybe its the jfet design making it need some time to reach its full potential, i dont know enough about that sort of thing to tell, but it definately took a few days to really come to life, and right now i'm totally in love with its sound <3
I still won't say a bad word about the 4562 because i liked that one a lot aswell, but personally my preference is with this one, its at the least an equally good alternative with probably better luck on getting free samples.. at the moment anyway. Very recommendable for the line-in aswell if you use that for anything hifi related.

 

[zbomb56]

Quote:

Originally Posted by phalanger /img/forum/go_quote.gif I was wondering how long did you have the 8599 in when you decided it lacked bass? Cause where yesterday I agreed it had less of a punchy bass then 4562, right now I would not repeat saying that. In fact I even turned off the equalizer which i usually use(d) to get a bit more bass response from my headphones. I don't know if opamps can need settling in time aswell or if its a burning in of the ears I put it in 2 or 3 days ago. Also the burn-in of the capacitor may be a factor. Did you change yours? at the same time as the opamp? I did mine, so it could be either. But I think both are great, next week somewhere I should have it set up in such a way that i can directly A/B compare them, since i decided to use 4562's for the rear speakers and my 7.1 cable turns both front and rear outs into stereo jacks, making for easy swapping and comparison.

I only played with them for about an hour before i decided the lm4562 was the sound i preferred. Not sure if it would have helped to let everything break in a little more, but i think either choice is fine.

Glad to hear you are liking those ad8599's though.

and i have the blackgate FK series 1000uf 16v cap in my card, my cousin has the standard polarized. But the ad8599 was only tested with the standard polarized cap.

 

[Evisu]

can it use OPA627 opamp?

 

[eriksson]

Just put the 2200uf BlackGate capacitor on my X-Fi Xtrememusic

Liking the bolder sound, thanks for the guide!

 

[cotdt]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Evisu /img/forum/go_quote.gif can it use OPA627 opamp?

No, a dual opamp is required. There is a way to use it, but if you have to ask, it's probably too complicated for you. There are better sounding opamps anyway.

 

[cotdt]

Quote:

Originally Posted by eriksson /img/forum/go_quote.gif Just put the 2200uf BlackGate capacitor on my X-Fi Xtrememusic Liking the bolder sound, thanks for the guide!

glad you like it!

 

[djork]

Before the mod, I used to listen to the music with the CMSS3D / crystalizer on, now after the opamp & cap mod it sounds even better than with the "enhancements"!

Loving it......

 

[ichiboy]

OCworkbench did an article on this-

link

 

[cotdt]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ichiboy /img/forum/go_quote.gif OCworkbench did an article on this- link

Cool! I'm amazed how many people are doing this mod. Will add link to original post.

 

[Evisu]

Quote:

Originally Posted by cotdt /img/forum/go_quote.gif No, a dual opamp is required. There is a way to use it, but if you have to ask, it's probably too complicated for you. There are better sounding opamps anyway.

Thanks for the answer, Cotdt. ill try to get LM4562MA.
may i also ask which you prefer between the caps below? wanted to get better sound quality and dont have the money to fiddle around with different parts.

FK 1000uF 16v BG (smaller in size better fits in pc, pinkfloyd mentioned its better quality) vs Standard 2200uF 16v BG
Shorting the 4 caps near the opamp vs Replacing them with 22uf 16v BG (x4)?

i apologize if you have already answered to this. i only skimmed thru the 1st 30 pages, may have missed it.