[BlutoSlice]

I am more than happy with my stock M-stage v2 and have I only ordered the new ppamp class A bias mod out of curiosity piqued from the posts here and the headfonia write up..
 
Upgrade SQ improvement claims must always be taken with a pinch of salt as placebo and other factors will be at play. £18 was cheap enough for a bit of experimentation and sometimes that's part of the fun with the hobby.
 
Saying that I'm sure this mod will give the ol 'stage a nice boost.
 
 
Quote:

It's funny reading the first half of this thread, vs the last half.  In the first half you have glowing comments about the M-Stage and in the second half, the amp doesn't sound all that great on its own and has to be upgraded.  I have to wonder if the V1 and V2 really are different sounding.
 

 

 

[Bobcow]

Quote:

Cool, thanks for the super quick reply!
 
Another question...Can I use the input 1/2 switch while listening to sources?  Sometimes I like to compare CD players and switch back and forth.  Will I get a POP noise when doing this?

I can use the switch to switch between sources while listening without getting any pop sound or anything at all, it is fine.
 

 

[Pratt]

Quote:

The $20 dollar version is fine. The $30 one just uses DIP socketed version of the OPA627. Both work the same.
 

Thanks, but what is DIP? lol

 
Quote:

All true. But it should be noted that the $30 version will allow you to try different op amps with the class A bias mod.
 

So the $20 is plug and play but the opamps are not switchable without soldering as opposed to the $30 one?

 
Quote:

It's two opamps because they are mono opamps. Therefore you need two for stereo sound. The OPA627 is a mono opamp. Class A Bias uses a resistor to bias the opamp into class A. If you buy the adaptor you can plug certain opamps in to bias them.
 

 
Got you on the need for two, but I don't know what bias means, I guess to "change" the class? (into A in this instance).
 
 
Quote:

It's funny reading the first half of this thread, vs the last half.  In the first half you have glowing comments about the M-Stage and in the second half, the amp doesn't sound all that great on its own and has to be upgraded.  I have to wonder if the V1 and V2 really are different sounding.
 

Yea, it is strange. I have the V1 M-Stage.
 
Quote:

I am more than happy with my stock M-stage v2 and have I only ordered the new ppamp class A bias mod out of curiosity piqued from the posts here and the headfonia write up..
 
Upgrade SQ improvement claims must always be taken with a pinch of salt as placebo and other factors will be at play. £18 was cheap enough for a bit of experimentation and sometimes that's part of the fun with the hobby.
 
Saying that I'm sure this mod will give the ol 'stage a nice boost.
 
 
 

Yea this makes sense. I hardly think my stock V1 is bad or "needs" upgrading, but if it will sound better for fairly cheap that will be worth it. If not, it will be $20 or $30 wasted, not tragic.
 
 
So basically the best option is the $30 one...right? I just want to be able to plug it in and be able to switch opamps easily. (I don't care about the Moon or Sun ones). Sorry I'm dense on this, I'm not techie!
 

 

[TitaniumDust]

Don't get me wrong, I love the M-Stage stock.  I'd still take it over any amp I own or have heard in the past (I'm a bang-for-your-buck guy who couldn't justify the $$$ on an $800+ amp, or any other single component).  We all talk about how great opamp x is vs y, but its not nearly as big a change as, say, changing headphones.  Once you have your headphones decided on, opamp swapping is a great way to tailor the sound to your liking, at least it has been in my experience.
 
I also wanted to say that I used OPA627APs from a well known retailer instead of the ones CFG supplied with the $30 adapter.  Perhaps I didn't burn the chips in as much as needed -- I did for 24 hours -- but I felt the ones I ordered sounded better than the ones from CFG after the same amount of burn-in, and on the same adapter.

 

[mobayrasta]

Quote:

Don't get me wrong, I love the M-Stage stock.  I'd still take it over any amp I own or have heard in the past (I'm a bang-for-your-buck guy who couldn't justify the $$$ on an $800+ amp, or any other single component).  We all talk about how great opamp x is vs y, but its not nearly as big a change as, say, changing headphones.  Once you have your headphones decided on, opamp swapping is a great way to tailor the sound to your liking, at least it has been in my experience.
 
I also wanted to say that I used OPA627APs from a well known retailer instead of the ones CFG supplied with the $30 adapter.  Perhaps I didn't burn the chips in as much as needed -- I did for 24 hours -- but I felt the ones I ordered sounded better than the ones from CFG after the same amount of burn-in, and on the same adapter.

 
I could not have said it better. I love the stock M-Stage I have a V1. I just found it even better with an op-amp change. I have always liked the 4562 so of course I like it in the Mstage. It is a great sounding opamp if you like a more analytical sound. It really meshes well with the laid back LCD2's and gives them a little more high end energy. I would been pefectly happy if I would have never changed the opamp, it is a GREAT sounding amp all by itself.
 
Biasing an opamp into class A means it is always ready for huge changes in the music it is always operating at its best.  (easiest way I can explain it to people who are asking what it does.) It is not a huge change but still very very noticible.
 

 

[svfoo123]

Has anyone tried the Audio gd Earth opamp in the Matrix? If so could you write some impressions?
Thank you

 

[Mad Max]

Quote:

Has anyone tried the Audio gd Earth opamp in the Matrix? If so could you write some impressions?
Thank you

Check the previous pages.
It's a lot, I know.
 
I tried it for a bit.  It was okay.  It was an upgrade over the stock 2134, though plenty of opamps are.  It needs extension leads to fit in there.

 

[luke2112]

Regarding the Class A biasing mod - has anyone compared whether soldering resistors onto the opamp directly gives any sonic improvement over soldering the resistors to a DIP8 adapter then pluging the opamp into it?
 
I recently purchased a second-hand M-Stage and I have a DIP8 adapter with 3.9K resistors (assuming 3.9K, as it was originally purchased from CFG) and I have some LM4562's on the way which I will switch out for the OPA627AU. Would there be any benefit in soldering new resistors to the LM4562 and skipping the DIP8 adapter? Or is there little to no sonic benefit?
 
If I owned a soldering iron and could solder it myself, I'd just try it, but since I don't, I want to know if it's worth going to the effort.

 

[Mad Max]

It depends, but ideally you want components as close to the opamp as possible, sometimes right on its leads.
Still, in the case of just moving components you already have closer to the opamp, nah, it won't really be worth the trouble, unless you decide to do other things with learning to solder as well like trying out all those nice SOIC opamps most others cannot or building your own cables, etc.

 

[PhaedraCorruption]

I'm sure this has been asked before, but a quick search in the thread revealed nothing, so I'll just ask here. Overall, would it be wrong to assume that the OPA627AP  would sound sonically superior to the LM4562NA? I will be using this amp with my Fostex T50RP.

 

[Mad Max]

OPA627, probably.

 

[jeff119]

Just got my OPA627 class A biasing from CFG.
Took a while to install it.
There is an noticeable improvement in the sound! especially the soundstage!

 

[PhaedraCorruption]

Just ordered the Burr Brown OPA627AP with Class A Biasing Mod 

 

[zibra]

Im an owner of matrix m stage, very pleased with it, but can anyone compare it with another chinese product this time with tubes like darkvoice 3322 for example? or wooaudio? can anyone who compare matrix to other headamps tell me which product is generally "next step" from it? mainly for high impedance headphones (beyerdynamic dt880).

 

[Mad Max]

Isn't the DV337 it was compared against a better model than the 3322? Just a guess by the hundreds of dollars of price difference, lol.
If you want a "next step", then grab a high-end amp.  M-Stage is just mid-fi or so, not high-end/hi-fi.