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The Opamp thread
Apr 26, 2018 at 9:00 PM Post #5,971 of 7,383
I destroyed a DAC chip that I was replacing once with similarly-sized pins. Dammit.

But I've been successful with MSOP chips with the help of excess flux paste and a smaller tip on my Hakko 936. Like it has been said around the web, flux is the "secret sauce" to good soldering, and especially SMD soldering.
I dare not live without it.

Working quickly is good, yes, but I prefer to take my time. Very quickly solder a pin, blow on the chip to cool it down for several seconds, solder the next pin, cool the chip, and so on and so forth. No risk of burning the baby that way. :wink:
 
Apr 27, 2018 at 10:10 AM Post #5,973 of 7,383
i was pretty sure that i can't solder anything smaller than soic8 before watching this video;



beveled tip and dragging technique with some flux paste are working like a magic stick..


IMG_20180411_012325s.jpg IMG_20180412_091714s.jpg
 
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Apr 28, 2018 at 6:06 PM Post #5,976 of 7,383
I've been lurking for a while and decided to try the OPA2209. Damn! These are seriously good opamps. They absolutely blow the LME49990 away. I used the song "Within" from Daft Punk to AB compare and without a doubt the 49990 sounds like it has a grey hole in the soundfield compared to the 2209. I thought I was done with the opamp rolling since moving to Burson V5 and Sparkos 3306. After those two I felt that all other opamps just left me feeling somewhat bored when listening to my music. Once you have that level of detail, attack and decay it is hard to go back to the dull, harsh, hollow, narrow (choose your defect) of regular chip opamps.
Imran27 got me excited for the first time in over a year about opamps again, Thank you! Now I'm wondering, how many of you have AB compared the OPA1692 to the 2209? Anyone else have a review of them?
 
Apr 28, 2018 at 6:24 PM Post #5,977 of 7,383
pelopidas said:
I've been lurking for a while and decided to try the OPA2209. Damn! These are seriously good opamps. They absolutely blow the LME49990 away. I used the song "Within" from Daft Punk to AB compare and without a doubt the 49990 sounds like it has a grey hole in the soundfield compared to the 2209. I thought I was done with the opamp rolling since moving to Burson V5 and Sparkos 3306. After those two I felt that all other opamps just left me feeling somewhat bored when listening to my music. Once you have that level of detail, attack and decay it is hard to go back to the dull, harsh, hollow, narrow (choose your defect) of regular chip opamps.
Imran27 got me excited for the first time in over a year about opamps again, Thank you! Now I'm wondering, how many of you have AB compared the OPA1692 to the 2209? Anyone else have a review of them?
Click to expand...
OPA1692: Better level of detail, a hell lot darker background kinda deceptively dark, much cleaner attack and decay. Better rumble in the low end, a shallow/slow roll off in the highs. So comparatively more forgiving than OPA2209 but you'll hear harshness (on bad recordings) if you crank it up.

I had all V6 Vivids in my Burson Play.
Now, OPA1692 in I/V, LME49720 in LP and OPA209 in Gain, blows me away. I'm not using V6V anymlaa.

I'm sure OPA2209 in LP would perform better than LME, just that I don't have it right now.

OPA2209 is very transparent and resolving
 
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Apr 28, 2018 at 11:38 PM Post #5,979 of 7,383
pelopidas said:
I've been lurking for a while and decided to try the OPA2209. Damn! These are seriously good opamps. They absolutely blow the LME49990 away. I used the song "Within" from Daft Punk to AB compare and without a doubt the 49990 sounds like it has a grey hole in the soundfield compared to the 2209. I thought I was done with the opamp rolling since moving to Burson V5 and Sparkos 3306. After those two I felt that all other opamps just left me feeling somewhat bored when listening to my music. Once you have that level of detail, attack and decay it is hard to go back to the dull, harsh, hollow, narrow (choose your defect) of regular chip opamps.
Imran27 got me excited for the first time in over a year about opamps again, Thank you! Now I'm wondering, how many of you have AB compared the OPA1692 to the 2209? Anyone else have a review of them?
Click to expand...

When I had done a bit more playing around with the OPA2209 I did notice some areas where the LM4562 and LME49xxx had more impact and the OPA2209 sounded a little more dull in those areas - overall though the 2209 has a more natural, wider sound without the brittle hollowness of the LM/LMEs.

That said I was running them directly off an ESS Sabre DAC and I think the LM/LMEs tend to play to the DAC's strengths and offset its weaknesses more while the OPA2209 tends to show up its weaknesses - haven't had time to try them from a wider range of sources.
 
Apr 28, 2018 at 11:40 PM Post #5,980 of 7,383
Rroff said:
When I had done a bit more playing around with the OPA2209 I did notice some areas where the LM4562 and LME49xxx had more impact and the OPA2209 sounded a little more dull in those areas - overall though the 2209 has a more natural, wider sound without the brittle hollowness of the LM/LMEs.

That said I was running them directly off an ESS Sabre DAC and I think the LM/LMEs tend to play to the DAC's strengths and offset its weaknesses more while the OPA2209 tends to show up its weaknesses - haven't had time to try them from a wider range of sources.
Click to expand...
Absolutely
In fact a full OPA2209 configuration 8n Burson Play would be unbearable.

I have to have something to control highs and provide a bit more rumble to low end.
 
Apr 29, 2018 at 5:57 PM Post #5,981 of 7,383
I am using the 2209 only in the gain stage of my headphone amp. I am using a Xonar dac with Burson V5. This is a pretty magical mix right now. I can see how having only 2209 could be too bright, but right now I am enjoying a level of transparency I have not heard yet. The soundstage is incredibly intimate with voices while also being so deep I have wondered at times if there might be an added level of reverb. But no, its just extending out into space and all instruments are detailed and crisp. I guess now I have to try the 1692 and see what that is all about. Damn, I got sucked into opamp rolling again :thinking:
 
Apr 30, 2018 at 3:08 PM Post #5,983 of 7,383
dumbears said:
I received OPA1692 today, and I was eager to solder them to the adapter boards right away. However, I failed. I fried 3 of them, and I don't know why. Everything looked right in appearance, but when they put into test, there's a lot of background noise. One of them even got heated up and ended with nothing just noise. Before I put them to test, I checked the connectivity of each pin to the SSOP to DIP adapter board.

I know there're many of you being much more experience, please advise what can possibly went wrong. My solder is too hot? I tried 3 temperatures: 300C, 250C and 230C, according to the thermostat. I have soldered tens of SOIC with only 3 failures (if my memory serves me), but this is the first time I dealed with SSOP.

Pls help. Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...

I'm not an expert, this is just my personal experience from this hobby.
Some other chips could be more forgiving, but if an opamp is inserted in the socket the wrong way, in my personal experience it will burn the IC, I did this once by mistake.
Some soldering irons have a lot of AC current on the TIP, it's important to use a wall socket with good earth.
I use 11 Watt ceramic resistance soldering iron with less than a 1mm tip for that kind of work and have another 25 Watt iron for other type of work.
I use ceramic resistance for less inductive current at the iron tip.
For example, I measured aprox. 8V AC in my ceramic irons tip and 50V to 80V AC in my metal resistance irons, so it's important to connect them to earth.
I always use flux and after soldering clean it with alcohol making sure its clean and dry before use.
When it's too small I use magnification lens to inspect the result, to see if there are any bridges.
I have other lens, but recently bought this inexpensive low quality macro lens:
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/60X...o-Camera-Clip-LED-Lenses-For/32705459182.html
This photo is with the lens attached to the mobile phone camera, but I use it detached from the mobile without the clip, you have to put the other side just on top of the contacts to focus:
IC.jpg
 
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