[gsilver]

Has anyone compared the AD797 and the OPA627 with this amp? I see them both available on adapters for about the same price.
 
The OPA627 from Coolfungadget also has a class-A mod to it.

 

[snakeeater69]

Quote:

Well I ordered one 15 days ago and still have not got it yet! I'm getting pissed and am regretting my purchase honestly because I have no patience. Jeremy's tracking number shows that it shipped from China on the 24th, and expected to arrive with the USPS on the 28th. Well the USPS tracking (which admittedly ALWAYS sucks) says that they have STILL not received it!!! And I don't care about the Chinese holiday blah blah everyone is using for an excuse...it's been 15 DAYS! I am obviously extremely dissatisfied at this point, when most people are telling me they got their's in 5-7 days, and mine supposedly hasn't hit US shores after more than 2 weeks?! All in all so far, I would NOT do business with him again (whether it's his fault or not) I think it would have been quicker going a different route. Oh, and you MUST EMAIL Jeremy to even GET a tracking number from him...I consider that fairly unprofessional from my viewpoint.
 
*waits for all the happy customers to come to his defense*
 
/end rant (for now lol)
 
-Daniel

 

I bought my M-Stage from the HLL Audio dude off ebay and it shipped pretty fast but I just purchased the adapter from Tam recent'y so I am hoping the transaction goes smoothly. 

 

[francisdemarte]

That sucks! I can understand your frustration. Why is it being sent USPS? That's the slowest route ever 2-3 week on average.  
When I ordered from Coolfungadget he shipped my order via EMS and it arrived quick. 

 

[livewire]

@BP- Sorry to hear of the long delay. Betcha you wont be ordering from China again anytime soon!
 
Ordered mine from HLLY, it was here in six days.
They used EMS, although when it hit this shore,
the package was passed off to USPS for final delivery to my doorstep.

 

[ninjikiran]

 
Quote:

That sucks! I can understand your frustration. Why is it being sent USPS? That's the slowest route ever 2-3 week on average.  
When I ordered from Coolfungadget he shipped my order via EMS and it arrived quick. 

Same EMS was super fast, but EMS hands it off to USPS in the United States.  Overall speed was super fast all things considered and I got a tracking number right after it shipped.  Just a little bad luck on that guys part, but I also can't fault him for being frustrated.  I know I would be as well.  I got it from CoolFuNGadget on ebay, and would do business again.  Communication was spot on with me.
 
Patience has its limits

.
 
@LM4562, I don't notice the plastic sound some talk about.  Overall sounds fine to me biased or not.  Though all in all if I could hear a difference at all Biasing the chip seemed to make the largest difference in overall enjoyment.

 

[Mad Max]

Quote:

Much brighter than stock, and much less bassy. Initially seems a lot better and certainly more detailed but literally hurt my ears after extended listening. Tried switching stock for LM4562 several times and always ended up going back to stock. Currently using OPA627 and very impressed so far. Similar tonal qualities to stock but a lot more refined treble and less bloated bass. Will be checking out class A bias mod as soon as my adapter arrives.

 
LM4562/LME49720 has "rolled-up" treble, making it fatiguing in some circuits.  A friend of mine really likes LME49880, might be up your alley if you don't mind the National Semiconductor tone.

 
Quote:

I picked up a pair of AD797BRZ on an adapter on e-bay - they do sound good (again too early to make other comments) - but I have noted a higher noise floor with these when I RMAA's them 
 
Havn't got any HA3-2525-5 so no comment on those!

 
lol, that's why I'm mentioning them.  You should give them a try, you'll love them.  That 797 module could be faulty if not counterfeit.  I bought my pair of 797B from Digikey, though.  Soldering required in that case.
 
avnet and Arrow Electronics carry Intersil opamps.  I haven't bought from them before, but I will soon - I want to try the metal can version of HA3-2525-5, among others.
2525 is relatively colorless except for some bassiness, but it is quality bass unlike Earth and OPA2134, and more like ADA4627-1 and THS4081.  It is smoother and clearer in this amp than the other four I just mentioned and has deep bass and sky-reaching treble like 4627, more detail than the others except THS4081 and is never fatiguing or sounds unnatural like LM4562/LME49720 does to me.  No dryness like Earth and 797.  It is difficult to fault in general - heck, I can't.  Soundstage is very big and precise, but not as precise as Earth and 4627 if I'm not mistaken.  I haven't compared 4627's and 2525's soundstages thoroughly, it's usually the last thing I pay attention to if I don't forget about it, lol.


 
Quote:

Has anyone compared the AD797 and the OPA627 with this amp? I see them both available on adapters for about the same price.
 
The OPA627 from Coolfungadget also has a class-A mod to it.

 
There are comparisons throughout the forums and elsewhere on these two.  797 sounds about how it has been described plus it is kind of dry and often soulless, OPA627 will probably also sound as people have described it.

 

[Frank I]

 
Quote:

 
LM4562/LME49720 has "rolled-up" treble, making it fatiguing in some circuits.  A friend of mine really likes LME49880, might be up your alley if you don't mind the National Semiconductor tone.

 
 
lol, that's why I'm mentioning them.  You should give them a try, you'll love them.  That 797 module could be faulty if not counterfeit.  I bought my pair of 797B from Digikey, though.  Soldering required in that case.
 
avnet and Arrow Electronics carry Intersil opamps.  I haven't bought from them before, but I will soon - I want to try the metal can version of HA3-2525-5, among others.
2525 is relatively colorless except for some bassiness, but it is quality bass unlike Earth and OPA2134, and more like ADA4627-1 and THS4081.  It is smoother and clearer in this amp than the other four I just mentioned and has deep bass and sky-reaching treble like 4627, more detail than the others except THS4081 and is never fatiguing or sounds unnatural like LM4562/LME49720 does to me.  No dryness like Earth and 797.  It is difficult to fault in general - heck, I can't.  Soundstage is very big and precise, but not as precise as Earth and 4627 if I'm not mistaken.  I haven't compared 4627's and 2525's soundstages thoroughly, it's usually the last thing I pay attention to if I don't forget about it, lol.


 
 
There are comparisons throughout the forums and elsewhere on these two.  797 sounds about how it has been described plus it is kind of dry and often soulless, OPA627 will probably also sound as people have described it.

Does the 2525 require soldering. I really not into doing any mods except plug and play. I want to see if I can get some less noise in the amp at higher volume. Basically stock sounds good but it is a light presentation but if I could get an opamp to add weight to the sound and have all the detail and bass while lowering noise is what I am looking to accomplish. I like the stock sound stage and bass and detail missing weight to the presentation.

 

[francisdemarte]

Quote:

 


Does the 2525 require soldering. I really not into doing any mods except plug and play. I want to see if I can get some less noise in the amp at higher volume. Basically stock sounds good but it is a light presentation but if I could get an opamp to add weight to the sound and have all the detail and bass while lowering noise is what I am looking to accomplish. I like the stock sound stage and bass and detail missing weight to the presentation.

 
Search on digi-key.com or mouser.com for the op amp names, in the results look in the Package / Case column for 8-DIP or DIP8. These will fit into the M-Stage without soldering. You can also Google the name of the op amp and check the datasheet to see if they come in 8 pin DIP or 8 Pin PDIP packaging.
 
 
It should look like this: 

 

[Frank I]

 
Quote:

 
Search on digi-key.com or mouser.com for the op amp names, in the results look in the Package / Case column for 8-DIP or DIP8. These will fit into the M-Stage without soldering. You can also Google the name of the op amp and check the datasheet to see if they come in 8 pin DIP or 8 Pin PDIP packaging.
 
 
It should look like this: 

thanks will do so and appreciate the help.

 

[Mad Max]

Quote:

 
Search on digi-key.com or mouser.com for the op amp names, in the results look in the Package / Case column for 8-DIP or DIP8. These will fit into the M-Stage without soldering. You can also Google the name of the op amp and check the datasheet to see if they come in 8 pin DIP or 8 Pin PDIP packaging.
 
 
It should look like this: 

HA3-2525-5 looks like that: DIP8 opamp.  Digikey hardly carries any Intersil opamps, so you may not find it there.  The opamp goes right in the opamp socket, but you need two of them with an adapter because they are mono opamps.
 
HA3-2525-5
TLE2081ACP
AD797ANZ or AD797BNZ
 
These specific part numbers are all for DIP8 versions of these opamps like in the picture above, so no soldering necessary, that's why I recommended them.

 

[Frank I]

thanks I will check it out

 

[lessblue]

Question about Class A Biasing, will it do damage to the opamp in time?
 
Finally, if pairing the HD650s with the M-Stage, is OPA627 biased a good choice? Would it balance out what most would say are laid back highs on the HD650s?

 

[zoso947]

Quote:

Question about Class A Biasing, will it do damage to the opamp in time?
 
Finally, if pairing the HD650s with the M-Stage, is OPA627 biased a good choice? Would it balance out what most would say are laid back highs on the HD650s?

Picking one component to balance out a shortcoming on another is not the way to go.  If the 650's don't have enough treble to thrill you, adding something upstream isn't going to change that.

 

[lessblue]

Quote:

Picking one component to balance out a shortcoming on another is not the way to go.  If the 650's don't have enough treble to thrill you, adding something upstream isn't going to change that.

 
Umm, that's one opinion I guess, I've heard others. Certain amps pair better with certain headphones. Certain Opamps are suited to certain amp/headphones as well from what I've gathered. Some will emphasize the highs, others create a warmer signature. So anybody else have thoughts on an Opamp for the Matrix and HD650?
 

 

[JoetheArachnid]

Quote:

Picking one component to balance out a shortcoming on another is not the way to go.  If the 650's don't have enough treble to thrill you, adding something upstream isn't going to change that.

 
So you could blow a load of money on new cans... or you could change opamps... or you could tweak the EQ a bit. Each are completely viable. There's nothing wrong with adjusting your source to provide better sound, as long as you're not going overboard and adding +20dB in the >5kHz range or something. No, EQ is not entirely natural but it doesn't sound bad either. So neither should rolling opamps - it's a good way of making small hardware adjustments to a sound sig without having to spend a lot of cash. As for this particular example I can't say, but as long as you're only looking for small changes you can probably get results with the right choices.