[francisdemarte]

Thanks purrin! Removing those caps will be my next mod on the Lovely Cube, maybe along with trying the Burson discrete opamps.
 
Coming from an hybrid tube amp like the EF5, I am finding that this amp sounds a little bright and lean to me. I'm hoping to find an opamp to warm it up a little.
 
 

 

[kwkarth]

Quote:

Thanks purrin! Removing those caps will be my next mod on the Lovely Cube, maybe along with trying the Burson discrete opamps.
 
Coming from an hybrid tube amp like the EF5, I am finding that this amp sounds a little bright and lean to me. I'm hoping to find an opamp to warm it up a little.
 
 

What does Fang use for output devices in the EF5, mosfets?

 

[francisdemarte]

Quote:

What does Fang use for output devices in the EF5, mosfets?

It's hard to see since the case and heat sinks covers most of the visible portions. From what little I do see , I believe they are  MOSFETs. I'll have a better idea and post some pictures in a few weeks I take it apart to upgrade the volume pot and change the gain resisters.
 
 
Off topic, does anyone know of high quality volume pot thats smaller than the Alps RK27? I think the EF5 uses a RK097 or something similar. It's small and green.
 
 
 
 
 

 

[purrin]

 
Quote:

Coming from an hybrid tube amp like the EF5, I am finding that this amp sounds a little bright and lean to me. I'm hoping to find an opamp to warm it up a little.

 
Quote:

What does Fang use for output devices in the EF5, mosfets?

Short of modifying the output devices, I'm not sure it would be possible to warm up this amp significantly with just an opamp change (especially after removing the caps and direct coupling the inputs).
 
The BB opamps are about laid back as you can get (although I don't know about the Bursons). This is one of the reasons I avoided AD opamps. I tried a very cheap JRC4556, and this chip really warmed things up, but adds a layer of fuzziness. The OPA2604 is dark, but rather dead sounding. I'm thinking perhaps OPA627 which may be even a bit more laid back than the stock OPA2134, but these are expensive. IMO, the OPA2107 is a little bit on the bright side comparatively.
 
I mainly run my portable Sony X, which I consider a very warm source into the M-Stage.

 

[reiserFS]

Quote:

They're coming out with a new DAC? Successor to the Mini-i?

 Matrix Cube DAC, thread was deleted for whatever reason.

 

[dpump]

An opamp that might be a little warmer than the 2107 is the LM4562NA. I'm going to try the 4562 next in my Matrix and I'll report back. In my Cute Beyond I compared the 2107 and the 4562-the 2107 is a little more upfront and a little brighter. The 4562 is smoother and a little more mellow sounding. There's one USA seller on Ebay who sells a number of different opamps that seem to be genuine. I would stay away from all the Chinese sellers. 

 

[purrin]

Let us know how the LM4562 works out. It may be a perfect fit based on what you said and what I've read others have said about it.

 

[Frank I]

Quote:

Let us know how the LM4562 works out. It may be a perfect fit based on what you said and what I've read others have said about it.

I think you are doing great work regarding the sound signature of the different op amps. Can you provide the best plug and play op amps the prices and where to purchase them. It would be a great service to Matrix owners. I do not like thinkering or soldering but I am interested in plug and play if it would indeed step up the sound quality if thats possible. Thanks

 

[dpump]

I listened to the Matrix V1 with the LM4562 and the V2 with the OPA2107. The sound was pretty much as I expected from my comparisons with the Cute Beyond.
 
The 4562 is smoother and not quite as bright as the 2107. Keep in mind I was using A/T AD700 phones, which tend to be a little bright sounding. I prefer the 4562 as it is easier to listen to but still provides as much detail as the 2107. The 4562 seems to have more 'body' to the sound. Of course if you have darker sounding phones you might prefer the 2107.
 
Ebay seller Audiosector has both opamps and he is based in the USA. I purchased my opamps from him. As far as I can tell, they are genuine. I know there are other opamps you can try but you might go 'crazy' doing comparisons! With these two opamps you have a sound that is better than the stock 2134, IMHO, without spending a lot of time and money looking for other compatible opamps.   

 

[mobayrasta]

Quote:

I listened to the Matrix V1 with the LM4562 and the V2 with the OPA2107. The sound was pretty much as I expected from my comparisons with the Cute Beyond.
 
The 4562 is smoother and not quite as bright as the 2107. Keep in mind I was using A/T AD700 phones, which tend to be a little bright sounding. I prefer the 4562 as it is easier to listen to but still provides as much detail as the 2107. The 4562 seems to have more 'body' to the sound. Of course if you have darker sounding phones you might prefer the 2107.
 
Ebay seller Audiosector has both opamps and he is based in the USA. I purchased my opamps from him. As far as I can tell, they are genuine. I know there are other opamps you can try but you might go 'crazy' doing comparisons! With these two opamps you have a sound that is better than the stock 2134, IMHO, without spending a lot of time and money looking for other compatible opamps.   

I have some LM4562's I need to stick them in and give them a try. I am perfectly happy with my m-stage stock coming from the eastern Electric Tube DAC. A great combo.  I have had 4562's in my sound card for years and have always liked the sound. MAybe it will be a good match.
 
Oh and buy the way the above combo of Eastern Electric Dac and the M-Stage is a GREAT combo with my LCD2's. My Bijou has lush lush mids and I probably still prefer it over the M-Stage, but the M-Stage is just so damn fast and detailed with the LCD'2's. Having both is just awesome. 
 
Changing a tube in the EE DAC has huge impact on sound because the Audeze's are so source dependent. I am curious if changing the op-amps in th matrix will have as big of an impact. Only reason I have not done some op-amp rolling is pure laziness. I need to get off my butt and try it.
 
Chris
 

 

[purrin]

Quote:

 
The 4562 is smoother and not quite as bright as the 2107...
Ebay seller Audiosector has both opamps and he is based in the USA. I purchased my opamps from him. As far as I can tell, they are genuine... With these two opamps you have a sound that is better than the stock 2134, IMHO, without spending a lot of time and money looking for other compatible opamps.   

LOL just ordered from the same guy a few days ago. Can't wait since your conclusions sound promising. Do you know if the LM4562 responds well to class A biasing?
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by mobayrasta /img/forum/go_quote.gif
 
... Only reason I have not done some op-amp rolling is pure laziness. I need to get off my butt and try it.
 

Just four screws. 

 
I think opamp rolling does do a little bit. Little bit more detail, little bit different sound balance, etc. However I felt the most gains were with removal of the input caps (and direct coupling) and pushing the opamps into Class A (though I understand that results will vary according to each opamp).

 

 

[kwkarth]

Quote:

I think you are doing great work regarding the sound signature of the different op amps. Can you provide the best plug and play op amps the prices and where to purchase them. It would be a great service to Matrix owners. I do not like thinkering or soldering but I am interested in plug and play if it would indeed step up the sound quality if thats possible. Thanks

For all of you intrepid OpAmp rollers...  I suspect that one of the more positive things one can do is to apply
DeOxit-D5 / Pro-Gold to all of the pins on the OpAmp before insertion.  Just in case you all weren't aware of it, it can make a tremendous difference in the sound quality.

 

[Sid-Fi]

Quote:

For all of you intrepid OpAmp rollers...  I suspect that one of the more positive things one can do is to apply
DeOxit-D5 / Pro-Gold to all of the pins on the OpAmp before insertion.  Just in case you all weren't aware of it, it can make a tremendous difference in the sound quality.

Sweet, thanks for the suggestion.

 

[Kuze]

How about the LME49720 and 2x LME49710 in dual DIP TO-99 socket, will they work, i've heard good things about them from the Asus ST thread, i also had them installed while i had the Asus ST, sounds great "very detailed"
 
Still have them both but not yet recieve the Matrix-M so i can't comment.

 

[francisdemarte]

I have to say, now that I've had the ADA4627-1's in my amp for several weeks I am just in love with it. Super detailed, neutral, and near limitless extension for bass and treble. Best of all it was a free sample from AD.
 
Don't just take my word for it: http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&safe=off&q=+site:diyaudio.com+ADA4627-1&sa=X&ei=JWZhTJfJN8GKnQfh7YWODw&ved=0CCwQrQIwAw