[Mad Max]

 
Quote:

Can it not be both ? I guess it comes down to what you consider 'bright' - most here consider Grados to be both bright and warm.

 
Grados sport warm bass/mids and bright treble.
 
AD797 is similar, except treble isn't bright or sparkly and lacks a little definition, giving it a "dark" character.  It is not rolled-off or lacking detail; quite the contrary, actually.  I would love it if it wasn't for its strangely "soulless" sound.  I also find this chip to be pretty serious business otherwise.  LM4562 is like a cheap, plasticky joke by comparison, lol!

 

[mmayer167]

My v2 m.stage showed up today. Ran direct comparison to the ld1+ with my favorite opamp and tube setup and found the following initial sq changes. The LD+ has a bit more power for the Thunderpants but its not as controled. This might be due to the SS vs Tube hybrid but it does sound nice to have such control and cleanliness over the sq. Bass is less boomy and doesnt extend as far as the ld with the mstage. In class A with 627ap op the amp is a detailed neutral treat
Overall i like the mstage better but not sure im ready to give up that tubeness for ss. Really happy with this simple ss amp from matrix!  oh and the soundstage from the mstage is a welcomed change compared to the smaller stage of the ld1+. i'll post back if people want more thoughts as ive got more time with them.
 
M
 
 

 

[Jibbie]

Hey I have had the M-Stage for awhile now, and am finally considering changing the opamp.  I'm thinking of getting the LME49860, but am unsure exactly what is needed for installation.  Is just buying one of those opamps enough, and all I have to do is stick it in place of the old one?  Are there adapters that I need?  Any help would be awesome.  Thanks

 

[ETAHL]

Quote:

Hey I have had the M-Stage for awhile now, and am finally considering changing the opamp.  I'm thinking of getting the LME49860, but am unsure exactly what is needed for installation.  Is just buying one of those opamps enough, and all I have to do is stick it in place of the old one?  Are there adapters that I need?  Any help would be awesome.  Thanks

The LM4562, LME49720 and LME49860 are the same opamp. They are a direct replacement of the original OPA2134. All you need to do is buy the chip, no adapter is needed. Plug and play. Make sure it is plugged in the same direction as the original.

 
If you need to do the class A mod, you can buy the class A adapter and plug that on the socket first, then the opamp on top.
 

 

[Jibbie]

Can I find the class a adapter on ebay? I'm not really sure what the class A mod does, but I guess from what I've read that an opamp with the class A mod sounds better than if it wasn't.  I have no idea though.  Thanks for the help.
 
Quote:

The LM4562, LME49720 and LME49860 are the same opamp. They are a direct replacement of the original OPA2134. All you need to do is buy the chip, no adapter is needed. Plug and play. Make sure it is plugged in the same direction as the original.

 
If you need to do the class A mod, you can buy the class A adapter and plug that on the socket first, then the opamp on top.
 

 

 

[ETAHL]

 
Quote:

Can I find the class a adapter on ebay? I'm not really sure what the class A mod does, but I guess from what I've read that an opamp with the class A mod sounds better than if it wasn't.  I have no idea though.  Thanks for the help.
 


 

Strange, coolfungadgets use to sell it. They don't have it any more. Maybe it is too easy to make and he doesn't sell too many to make it worth his while. http://coolfungadget.com/store/index.php?route=product/category&path=39_46
 
It looks like this.

If you can handle a soldering iron, it is only a buck or two of parts to make. A DIP socket and two 3.9k ohm resistors.
 

 

[critical d]

Just picked up one of these amps and after one day, pretty happy with it so far.
 
Just curious how some of you are wiring it up...  My DAC has a balanced +4dBu output, so when making cables, what's the best way to go into RCA for this amp?
 
I was thinking using TRS on the DAC end and leaving the ring floating...  Does this sound right?
 
Thanks

 

[Dubwisee57]

Hello there
 
I just ordered my Matrix M-Stage few days ago for my k701, will probably let a little review after some serious long hours listening

 

[Jibbie]

K701 was my first headphone, and its an amazing pairing with the Matrix.  You won't be disappointed. 
 
Quote:

Hello there
 
I just ordered my Matrix M-Stage few days ago for my k701, will probably let a little review after some serious long hours listening

 

 

[Jibbie]

Also, does the LME49860 have a minimum gain setting for it to run stable?  I run the Matrix @ 0 gain with my Pro 900s, so I'm just curious if I'll need to bump it up to the 10db gain setting. 
 
Thanks

 

[ETAHL]

Quote:

Also, does the LME49860 have a minimum gain setting for it to run stable?  I run the Matrix @ 0 gain with my Pro 900s, so I'm just curious if I'll need to bump it up to the 10db gain setting. 
 
Thanks

The spec sheet for the LME49860 said it is unity gain stable. I ran the LM4562 and the LME49720 at 0 gain with no issues.

 

[AlfBaxter]

For anyone still rolling opamps with the M-Stage, I can strongly recommend the LME49720HA. It's the metal can version of the LM4562NA, and for some reason it's much better. The bass is richer and deeper, and the highs are more refined, but the overall sound retains the punch and clarity of the 4562. Very impressive - and it doesn't need class-a biasing, because the main reason for going class-a with the 4562 was to warm the sound up a bit, which this chip doesn't need.
 
Far better IMHO than anything else I've tried, which includes OPA627, LM4562 and LME49860, all with various resistor values for class-a biasing. This guy is selling them on eBay, and offers excellent service: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=110678957781

 

[Jibbie]

Interesting, I'll have to try it out.  @ETAHL, thanks for the response.

 

[Vargtass]

Ohai. 
 
Have any of you had any issues with white-noise on the m-stage? 
 
I swapped stock opamp for the 627 class a yesterday and everything was just awesomely smooth. When I powered on the amp today, I get horrible amounts of noise and it'sreally frustrating. 
I have been trying out both the stock and 627 opamp and I get noise on both now. When I hold one hand on my amp and the other one on my dac, the sound mostly goes away. I'm very puzzled over this, as I havent noticed it before and I have every wallplug in my appartment groundwired. My EF-1 never did this - and when I plugged it in earlier today it displayed total silence. 
 
Is it just the Matrix being VERY sensitive to currents? I know the system isnt the best in my appartment, but I have never experienced this before. What else could be wrong? 100% sure the new op-amp is inserted the right way - with the same mark on the socket as the opamp. 
 
Any help / thoughts are appreciated. 
 
Other than that - this amp sounds fantastic with the Denon AH-D7000s. I'm constantly blown away over how good it sounds, especially with the 627 class a. As soon as I can fix the "grounding-sound" I'll be happy as a hippo. 

 

[Vargtass]

Seems swapping signalcables somehow helped me tremendous with the ground-noise. Don't know why - they'we worked flawlessly  up to now - but hey - whatever fixes it makes me happy. Back to being gobsmacked by the magic of this amp. It's THAT good <3