[mrarroyo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by macfly /img/forum/go_quote.gif Just ordered myself a couple LME49710's from Digikey. I'm brand new to opamp rolling. Where can I get a few gold-plated 8 pin DIP sockets within the US? Searched eBay...all of the sellers who are selling 10 or less sockets are overseas, and I don't want to wait that long for shipping. Apologies if this has been covered already elsewhere on Head-Fi.

They are available at: Cimarron Technology, Inc.

 

[dfkt]

Quote:

Originally Posted by macfly /img/forum/go_quote.gif Just ordered myself a couple LME49710's from Digikey. I'm brand new to opamp rolling. Where can I get a few gold-plated 8 pin DIP sockets within the US? Searched eBay...all of the sellers who are selling 10 or less sockets are overseas, and I don't want to wait that long for shipping. Apologies if this has been covered already elsewhere on Head-Fi.

The LME are available in DIP8-style (see my photo here), you don't need an adapter when you bought the right style. You only would need it if you bought SOIC-style by accident.

No adapter is better than a gold plated adapter.

 

[mrarroyo]

Good point dfkt, just posted the adapter since macfly asked for an adapter source. Cheers!

 

[macfly]

I actually did order the LME opamps in DIP8 style. Just to make sure I have this correct before I go and remove the stock AD8610 -- dfkt, looking at your photo, the next step would be to remove the DIP8 adapter in your Minibox and simply plug in the LME to the board itself, correct?

I'll probably order up some gold plated adapters so I can swap out opamps that only come in SOIC form. Thanks to both of you for the assistance.

 

[morfic]

there will be sockets under the adapted ad8610, your DIP8 LME goes into those sockets.

 

[macfly]

Quote:

Originally Posted by morfic /img/forum/go_quote.gif there will be sockets under the adapted ad8610, your DIP8 LME goes into those sockets.

Exactly the confirmation I needed to go ahead. Thanks, morfic!

Thought of one more quick one and I'm good to go: having no soldering experience whatsoever, should I attempt to desolder the AD8610, or simply pull it off of the board with a careful bit of force? If it's safe to pull off the AD8610, I'd prefer to go that route so as not to damage any surrounding parts with the heat of the soldering iron.

 

[morfic]

The AD8610 is soldered to a pcb with 8 pins, this pcb with pins is your adapter, you pull it out of the socket holding it on the pcb.
Keep your soldering iron tucked away.

Note the notches in the socket, note the notch on the LME. Bend the legs of your brand new LME slightly inwards from either side, until they are parallel to each other, then insert the chip into the sockets, with the nothces on socket and chip on the same side, then enjoy the new sound.

http://www.head-fi.org/forums/5737775-post304.html

Check the above great images, your amp will look like there after you remove the AD8610s

 

[mrarroyo]

Here is another picture of the MiniBox-E+ internals showing the op-amps.

[/IMG]

 

[Nirvana1000]

Quote:

Originally Posted by morfic /img/forum/go_quote.gif The AD8610 is soldered to a pcb with 8 pins, this pcb with pins is your adapter, you pull it out of the socket holding it on the pcb. Keep your soldering iron tucked away. Note the notches in the socket, note the notch on the LME. Bend the legs of your brand new LME slightly inwards from either side, until they are parallel to each other, then insert the chip into the sockets, with the nothces on socket and chip on the same side, then enjoy the new sound. http://www.head-fi.org/forums/5737775-post304.html Check the above great images, your amp will look like there after you remove the AD8610s

Oh good!You answered my question also.I guess you can't change the "buffers",since they are soldered straight to the board?Unless you are experienced in soldering.

 

[Nirvana1000]

Quote:

Originally Posted by dfkt /img/forum/go_quote.gif The LME are available in DIP8-style (see my photo here), you don't need an adapter when you bought the right style. You only would need it if you bought SOIC-style by accident. No adapter is better than a gold plated adapter.

I see you have the same push button model as me.Did you try the AD797's.If so how did they sound?

 

[morfic]

There are not many buffers around, and not many pin compatible to one another, buffers are not as easily exchanged as opamps.
I never noticed the sound signature changing when i listened to headphone on my XM5 with and w/o BUF634 installed. Buffers shouldn't change the sound.

So don't worry about your buffers, just find the opamps that sounds best *cough*LME49710*cough*

 

[macfly]

Quote:

Originally Posted by morfic /img/forum/go_quote.gif The AD8610 is soldered to a pcb with 8 pins, this pcb with pins is your adapter, you pull it out of the socket holding it on the pcb. Keep your soldering iron tucked away. Note the notches in the socket, note the notch on the LME. Bend the legs of your brand new LME slightly inwards from either side, until they are parallel to each other, then insert the chip into the sockets, with the nothces on socket and chip on the same side, then enjoy the new sound. http://www.head-fi.org/forums/5737775-post304.html Check the above great images, your amp will look like there after you remove the AD8610s

These directions are great, appreciate your clear explanation. But I think I've figured out why I'm confused. As you can see in the attached photo, my Minibox-E+ doesn't have a DIP8 adapter with sockets underneath the pcb that the 8610 is soldered to. So it looks like I'm going to have to order a couple of DIP8 adapters after all.

 

[dfkt]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nirvana1000 /img/forum/go_quote.gif I see you have the same push button model as me.Did you try the AD797's.If so how did they sound?

No, didn't try that one yet. Might be worth a try, though.

Quote:

Originally Posted by macfly /img/forum/go_quote.gif These directions are great, appreciate your clear explanation. But I think I've figured out why I'm confused. As you can see in the attached photo, my Minibox-E+ doesn't have a DIP8 adapter with sockets underneath the pcb that the 8610 is soldered to. So it looks like I'm going to have to order a couple of DIP8 adapters after all.

That looks very weird indeed. The square red plate where the AD's are soldered onto certainly looks like a browndog adapter - it even has the notch cut out where pin 1 is. But why would it be soldered directly on the main PCB?

 

[Nirvana1000]

Quote:

Originally Posted by macfly /img/forum/go_quote.gif These directions are great, appreciate your clear explanation. But I think I've figured out why I'm confused. As you can see in the attached photo, my Minibox-E+ doesn't have a DIP8 adapter with sockets underneath the pcb that the 8610 is soldered to. So it looks like I'm going to have to order a couple of DIP8 adapters after all.

Oh crap!If yours is the same model as mine(and it looks like it).Then i have the same DIP8 adapters.I'll open it up tonight to make sure.I guess "Three Stones" cut some corners and saved some money on their parts.

 

[macfly]

Quote:

Originally Posted by dfkt /img/forum/go_quote.gif That looks very weird indeed. The square red plate where the AD's are soldered onto certainly looks like a browndog adapter - it even has the notch cut out where pin 1 is. But why would it be soldered directly on the main PCB?

So how would you recommend proceeding at this point? Looks like I'll have to solder the DIP8 adapters with sockets onto the main PCB. How should I get the browndog off of there? Again, no soldering experience, but I have access to a soldering iron and I suppose I can practice a bit on other stuff and then move to the Minibox if need be.