the shipping alone would be the price of a nice opamp, I live in eastern Europe, and they are too big, cost too much, I do like the v5i but I all ready have one
ProFusion PLC UK, you pay online and they ship via DHL within Europe. i purcahsed 8 x MUSES01 from them and 2 x MUSES02 plus several other electronic components.
"Refreshingly stale" would be, but even if it is??
I suppose "homemade" AD797 would be an euphemism for "fake"
I would have NO idea, but I trust that authorised distributors are law-abiding and have appropriate control systems in place.
As to why, AD797A produces 1.1-.1.2 mV DC offset, AD797B - 0.5mV, while it appears insignificant I don't mind 6dB reduction (or lack of clicks/pops when plugging headphones in). But CERDIP package would require separate PCB to mount opamps on and I doubt there would be much gain especially since bypass caps would end up miles away.
"Refreshingly stale" would be, but even if it is??
A pair of AD797B from arrow.com is just under $20, about 10 times above the going rate for other opamps, but on the second thought I have bought Bursons and Muses opamps which were ridiculously expensive in comparison.
I suppose "homemade" AD797 would be an euphemism for "fake"
I wanted to insure that I'm buying 100% genuine brand new opamps from the same batch as for me it was mission critical.
I do buy opamps from ebay and AE (player.ru does not sell opamps AFAIK), including AD797 but it's a lottery as stated above.
Fresh example from yesterday: ordered AD797B from AE where lot clearly advertised as AD797B (including photos), they sent me AD797A - already opened a dispute.
I would have NO idea, but I trust that authorised distributors are law-abiding and have appropriate control systems in place.
Having said that neither of AD797 grades are specced as military as its military grade has completely different code, 5962-9313301MPA (which comes in CERDIP package and is no longer in production AFAIK anyway).
As to why, AD797A produces 1.1-.1.2 mV DC offset, AD797B - 0.5mV, while it appears insignificant I don't mind 6dB reduction (or lack of clicks/pops when plugging headphones in). But CERDIP package would require separate PCB to mount opamps on and I doubt there would be much gain especially since bypass caps would end up miles away.
I've used 4x MUSES01 & 2x MUSES02 inside my ASUS Essence One MKii combo; I got a more pleasant sound with a bigger soundstage, also microdetails seemed better. I have removed when I did some tests and realised than MUSES01 used in I/V stage of this DAC introduced unwanted harmonics (not much, but still there). I had replaced the 6 opamps with NE5532 and LME49720.
I've used MUSES02 and SS V6 Classic inside my Matrix HPA-3B headamp and I got both better measurements and lower background noise over the originals LME49860. For HPA-3B both MUSES02 and SS V6 are totally recommended (it's voltage amplification stage in there). Also, MUSES8920 are OK as well.
Can you imagine a better opamp for the gain-stage of Objective2 than the original NJM2068? Well, with SS V5 I got an even lower background noise (tested with ears and scope @6.5X of gain).
If it worth the price paid for solid-states opamps is not my call, but all I know is that if you want no opamps in audio signal path, then you can replace them all with solid-state devices from BURSON or similar manufacturers. Although, I'm aware than >90% of existing audio records on Terra are done through at least a pari of 5532 opamps.
L.E.: Given the fact that these solid-state opamps are built in a very small quantity, and given the high quality transistors and "1% precision" resistors inside, I don't think anyone should call such "opamps" as being overpriced. Let's agree to call them expensive and just that. Feel free to read my review and inside pics of the SS V6 and you'll see how internal PCB and components look like.
