The Opamp thread
Jan 28, 2012 at 6:24 AM Post #3,691 of 7,383
Mine are on route. I'll get them soldered up as soon as they get here and report back. I'm still loving the LT1122 in my ibasso P4. I've put OPA637BP's in my Fi-Quest and just using it in high current mode for my LCD-2 and HE-6, the OPA637's need too much gain to use them with IEM's.
 
Jan 28, 2012 at 6:42 PM Post #3,692 of 7,383
Hmmm... bin rollin' again this evening and found an awsome synergy more by luck than judgement. I remember a while back having a few conversations with certain guys about the OPA1602, I bought 2 of them and forgot I had them. I have so many different OpAmps I don't know what made me think of them but they were nestled in the corner of my spares box and thought I'd give them a blast.
 
I have only tried them in my ibasso PB2 via CLAS and have to say I am mighty impressed. Anyone else tried these?? It's late here 11:30pm and my hearing has usually peaked by now and I find it hard to find material or signatures to make me sit up and take notice but for some reason I have to keep listening...... Set up is Class into DB-2 into PB-2 and Westone ES5 and listening to mainly Ultimae/Altar Records/CelestialDragon and Interchill type material.
 
Jan 28, 2012 at 7:03 PM Post #3,693 of 7,383
1602 has a lovely midrange, but its bass and soundstaging aren't all that great.  I like ADA4898 or OPA827 better as far as bipolars.
 
Jan 29, 2012 at 7:34 PM Post #3,694 of 7,383
After trying the 2x1115 in the buffers of my X-FI titanium hd Pci-e with the OPA602BP in the matrix M-Stage. I started to roll op-amps for the I/V's of the sound card with 2x OPA2111KP which I liking so far with the combination.  With my DT880 pro 250.  I had 2x LT1057ACN8, in the I/V's but I didn't like it with the combo.
 
Feb 1, 2012 at 3:15 AM Post #3,696 of 7,383
OPA1662 sat in my cdplayer start this morning n under testing for hours, i thought they need to pass "100hours broke-in step" 
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Feb 1, 2012 at 3:40 AM Post #3,697 of 7,383
Well as is the case with rolling, the 1662's sound better/worse in different amps. Obviously a result of a closer to optimised circuit or additional components.
 
What I can say is that in my Fi-Q the 1662's are absolutely amazing (it's a great amp) and there is a sweet synergie between this Opamp, the Fi-Q and my LCD-2's. I'm using my ipod classic (lossless) via CLAS into Fi-Q so source is also good but this Opamp is very, very good and the way everything sounds in this particular set up, I don't think I would change a thing.... Nice!
 
For my DB-2/PB-2 set up the 1602's seem to be the ones to beat.
 
 
Feb 1, 2012 at 3:02 PM Post #3,698 of 7,383
Would any of you opamp aficionados be able to recommend an opamp for SE->bal conversion and buffering in a CD player? I am currently using THS4031s for the I/V conversion (with a lot of bypassing) and AD8599s for the conversion/buffer stage. I am going to be switching to a discrete I/V stage, though the THS4031s do sound good, but not as good IME. The stock components were NE5534s for I/V and OPA2604s for the buffers.
 
ADA4898-2 maybe?
 
Feb 1, 2012 at 10:08 PM Post #3,699 of 7,383
Isn't OPA1632/THS4131 designed to take a SE signal and pump out a balanced signal?  It's pin-out is very different from a lot of other opamps like 4898, 8599, 4031, etc.  I wanted to try it out, but reading people's comments on its use on diyaudio makes it seem to be pretty complicated business, more than I would like to bother with, so I didn't try it out.
 
Feb 2, 2012 at 3:28 AM Post #3,700 of 7,383
Yes, it is different. I bought some not knowing and soldered up in the usual way but when I tried them out it was like listening with a pillow over my ears. Thought I'd overheated them while soldering until I read up properly. Luckily I didn't damage anything....
 
Feb 4, 2012 at 2:18 AM Post #3,702 of 7,383
I started to wonder how 2x LT1358CN8  and 2x OPA602 BP in my sound card would sound with the 2x LT1115CN8's that I have in my Matrix M-Stage. So far I like this combination. For me it seems to work very good with each other. With my DT880 pro-250.
 
 
 
Feb 6, 2012 at 12:41 PM Post #3,703 of 7,383


Quote:
OPA1662 is impressive and kind of natural upon initial listening.  Very good imaging and layering of the sound, thick sound, very transparent, very clear, very clean, it's soundstage is more intimate than OPA602, 827, and 4627, but could be a bit more relaxed.  Vocals are a pinch more fleshed out, or maybe it seems that way because it is more intimate, I'm not sure.  There is a slight hint of warmth to the sound.
I'm loving the sound.  OPA1652 seems to sound the same, just a bit less clean and clear.  Each one has a 22nF ceramic psu bypass cap, they run lukewarm with 30V.



Report back after compare between OPA1662, LT1122 and LME49990, for my taste, i still like LME49990's natural sound than LT1122 or OPA1662 BUT these 3 opamp are nice opamp chip so far, they just have a little bit different each other, OPA1662 have a bit sweet on mids(as BurBrown opamp family) also very clean, nice sound-stage and LT1122 have a nice sparkling on tops-end n details
 
Btw, i keep using OPA1662 on my cdplayer coz' love their sweet-soft mids
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Feb 6, 2012 at 5:33 PM Post #3,704 of 7,383
Nice one guys, I too am loving the OPA1662 as I write. I have dropped the OPA602CM's out of my EF-5 and am really enjoying the change....
 
I agree 100% Tommy, the LME49990 is also a favourite of mine and yes the LT1122 does have a nice sparkle to it. I like them all but for different reasons. I also rate the OPA1602 very highly. I guess if I had to choose one to keep I think it would be the LME49990 as It sounds great in almost all of my amps.
 

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