[Albinoni]

I'm down the track planning to buy a Altoids headphone amp from Bioscience Geek from Ebay, been reading alot on his amp and the hard work he's put into buildng these.

I know as standard he uses to 2227 chip and very highly reccomends this AMP chip from Burr Brown.

How do you find this amp chip and would you say its one of the best sounding amp chips around?

 

[qusp]

no its not one of the best op-amps around; its good value and is quite acceptable, but absolutely not one of the best around. perfectly OK for a CMOY though I guess. one of the best around is the OPA627 or AD-825 with the AD744 being my favorite. all of these are too pricey to put in a CMOY though, except maybe the AD-825 which isnt as rare or sought after as the OPA627

all that being said, the BSG CMOYS are great little CMOYs cant go wrong with them, well made and he dopes use better parts than some. but there are some guys on the forum you could contact about a really nice CMOY; try SpudHarris sent him a PM the CMOY he posted in the gallery the other day is one of the slickest built DIY amps I think ive ever seen. check the posts in the portable rigs gallery from a couple of days ago; may have even been yesterday.

actually here it is ttp://www.head-fi.org/forums/f15/pictures-your-portable-rig-part-xiii-371737/index127.html check his posts on this page. said he had some boards left, you could probably PM him and organize something. he's not a pro builder, but he's very very pro; they are very clean and he knows what good components are. you may be able to choose an op-amp with him I dont know

 

[a19als]

Quote:

Originally Posted by qusp /img/forum/go_quote.gif no its not one of the best op-amps around; its good value and is quite acceptable, but absolutely not one of the best around. perfectly OK for a CMOY though I guess. one of the best around is the OPA627 or AD-825 with the AD744 being my favorite. all of these are too pricey to put in a CMOY though, except maybe the AD-825 which isnt as rare or sought after as the OPA627

you right! i think the best op-amp is OPA128 in market! but very expensive!

 

[qusp]

Quote:

Originally Posted by a19als /img/forum/go_quote.gif you right! i think the best op-amp is OPA128 in market! but very expensive!

whats the power consumption like on the OPA128?? I should have actually put the AD744 first in my list, because even though its not as well known as the OPA627; IMO its far superior. dont know if ive heard the OPA128, any amps I may have heard that use it??

 

[a19als]

Quote:

Originally Posted by qusp /img/forum/go_quote.gif whats the power consumption like on the OPA128?? I should have actually put the AD744 first in my list, because even though its not as well known as the OPA627; IMO its far superior. dont know if ive heard the OPA128, any amps I may have heard that use it??

OPA128 also made from burr-brown, but it was discontinued, you can find it used or nos. hard to find OP-AMP in market! top model is OPA128SM same as OPA627SM.

check the link:OPA128SM (Burr-Brown) - Difet Electrometer-Grade OPERATIONAL AMPLIFIER, Operational Amplifiers

 

[qusp]

Quote:

Originally Posted by a19als /img/forum/go_quote.gif OPA128 also made from burr-brown, but it was discontinued, you can find it used or nos. hard to find OP-AMP in market! top model is OPA128SM same as OPA627SM. check the link:OPA128SM (Burr-Brown) - Difet Electrometer-Grade OPERATIONAL AMPLIFIER, Operational Amplifiers

yeah I figured it was Burr Brown with that naming convention and all

just hadnt heard it before., i'll see if I can find some to try out.

 

[a19als]

Quote:

Originally Posted by qusp /img/forum/go_quote.gif yeah I figured it was Burr Brown with that naming convention and all just hadnt heard it before., i'll see if I can find some to try out.

let me know if you get it(where)! i saw it before they supply new one at 80$, but you need a pair....! good luck!!

 

[Albinoni]

Are there any amps out there like brand name amps that use the 2227 chip?

 

[SpudHarris]

Quote:

Originally Posted by qusp /img/forum/go_quote.gif no its not one of the best op-amps around; its good value and is quite acceptable, but absolutely not one of the best around. perfectly OK for a CMOY though I guess. one of the best around is the OPA627 or AD-825 with the AD744 being my favorite. all of these are too pricey to put in a CMOY though, except maybe the AD-825 which isnt as rare or sought after as the OPA627 all that being said, the BSG CMOYS are great little CMOYs cant go wrong with them, well made and he dopes use better parts than some. but there are some guys on the forum you could contact about a really nice CMOY; try SpudHarris sent him a PM the CMOY he posted in the gallery the other day is one of the slickest built DIY amps I think ive ever seen. check the posts in the portable rigs gallery from a couple of days ago; may have even been yesterday. actually here it is ttp://www.head-fi.org/forums/f15/pictures-your-portable-rig-part-xiii-371737/index127.html check his posts on this page. said he had some boards left, you could probably PM him and organize something. he's not a pro builder, but he's very very pro; they are very clean and he knows what good components are. you may be able to choose an op-amp with him I dont know

Ahhhhh, you say the nicest things, thank you sir!

Problem with the better opamps like the 627 or 637, and a lot of the Analogue Devices chips is they can be unstable in a Cmoy circuit unless decoupling caps are used of course and not many Cmoy builders (with the exception of John Seaber) at JDS Labs bother with this level of detail.

This is one I have up on e-bay at present its not decoupled though so amp rolling is limited, but stangely enough it also has a 2227 in it.

 

[majkel]

Let's get it straight - the OPA2227 is terrible wherever you use it. Dull, dark, slow, boring, with poor resolution. The best dual op-amps I know are LME49720, LME49860 (a bit warmer), LME49725 (again something towards warmness). If you like "vintage", the OPA2111 is quite good sounding and still under production. I prefer it to a pair of OPA627 even from BP series. Best single op-amps I know are OPA211ID and AD797BRZ. Both outperform OPA627. There was a direct comparison between the AD and the OPA by one user, as well as you can read the review from my signature.

Looking for ultra-expensive vintage hardcore? Buy a pair of OP27E!

 

[Brighten]

Quote:

Originally Posted by SpudHarris /img/forum/go_quote.gif Ahhhhh, you say the nicest things, thank you sir! Problem with the better opamps like the 627 or 637, and a lot of the Analogue Devices chips is they can be unstable in a Cmoy circuit unless decoupling caps are used of course and not many Cmoy builders (with the exception of John Seaber) at JDS Labs bother with this level of detail. This is one I have up on e-bay at present its not decoupled though so amp rolling is limited, but stangely enough it also has a 2227 in it.

That Altoids amp kicks ass.

 

[qusp]

Quote:

Originally Posted by majkel /img/forum/go_quote.gif Let's get it straight - the OPA2227 is terrible wherever you use it. Dull, dark, slow, boring, with poor resolution. The best dual op-amps I know are LME49720, LME49860 (a bit warmer), LME49725 (again something towards warmness). If you like "vintage", the OPA2111 is quite good sounding and still under production. I prefer it to a pair of OPA627 even from BP series. Best single op-amps I know are OPA211ID and AD797BRZ. Both outperform OPA627. There was a direct comparison between the AD and the OPA by one user, as well as you can read the review from my signature. Looking for ultra-expensive vintage hardcore? Buy a pair of OP27E!

you do know we are talking about budget amps here dont you?? I know you have a penchant for the extravagant; just as I do, but 'horses for courses'

 

[qusp]

Quote:

Originally Posted by SpudHarris /img/forum/go_quote.gif Ahhhhh, you say the nicest things, thank you sir! Problem with the better opamps like the 627 or 637, and a lot of the Analogue Devices chips is they can be unstable in a Cmoy circuit unless decoupling caps are used of course and not many Cmoy builders (with the exception of John Seaber) at JDS Labs bother with this level of detail. This is one I have up on e-bay at present its not decoupled though so amp rolling is limited, but stangely enough it also has a 2227 in it. [IG]http://i592.photobucket.com/albums/tt7/SpudHarris_photos/P1000760.jpg[/IMG] [MG]http://i592.photobucket.com/albums/tt7/SpudHarris_photos/P1000762.jpg[/IMG]

no problem; I meant every word, well.. almost every word

I really should qualify my statement so I dont look like i'm saying the CMOY is the be all and end all; the best small DIY amps I have ever seen. def the best looking CMOY that vishay version

 

[SpudHarris]

Hehe, no worries I know where you are coming from.....

All DIY'ers will have at some point made a Cmoy or varient, it's where most of us start. For me it was the starting point of a very slippery and expensive slope.

The ''Best'' Cmoy by far is from a guy advertising Cmoys on e-bay at present (Neco Sound Labs) The sound quality is not that of a Cmoy, it has depth, resolution and a fullness associted with far more expensive amps. They are absolutely stunning. I bought one recently and I was so impressed by the sound it's turned out to be my every day portable. I changed the Opamp as it came with an OPA2134 which aren't the nicest Opamp, they cost about £.50p and sound like every penny LOL!

The resolution of this amp is astonishing and wipes the floor with my Mini3 and my C&C XO. This guy has a little gem of a design which is a varient on the Cmoy. I have tried loads of Opamps including a Brown Dog with two 627AU's and it's stable with all. The 627's were out of my XO so I've had to order another two to replace them.

Here's a link to his latest offering which is another varient. Mine is a 9v rechargable. I do intend to take some nice shots for the Portable Rig thread and I'll put a bit of blurb in with it.

Desktop headphone amplifier - cmoy configuration on eBay, also Other Amplifiers, Amplifiers, Home Audio Hi Fi, Consumer Electronics (end time 11-Mar-09 20:55:26 GMT)

 

[qusp]

wow they do look nice, i'd be interested to find where he got those cases; they dont look like any hammond i've seen. always on the lookout for cool small enclosures for docks etc. too small for my gamma1 i'm just about done with. it wont be looking too much like a gamma1

all connections are panel mounted and airwired, so I can use nice RCA jacks, etc. and still tossing up whether to use some VCAP's I have spare, or some mundorf supreme silver. I want to see if I can give the D10 a run for its money (dac section) we'll see, might end up selling my VCAP DIYMOD rig, too much money to have tied up in a rig if I end up using the iriver->gamma1->lisa most of the time. but i'm fond of it, so hmmm.

too right about the slippery slope man;; insane!! somebody greased it for me i'm sure