Frustrated with ASR's view on op-amps

[Toni Mas]

Expectation/confirmation bias most likely.


JSmith

This is what Hi-end stuff is basically about... Enjoy!

 

[tengiz]

Not only the processor, but the compiler will affect the music! Real designers are all about bare metal code. Libraries are for the lazy.

You know what no one talks about?

Code carries the acoustical signature of the room it was written in.
Especially libraries. You think it doesn’t matter? Oh, it matters.

Picture this:

• One function written in a perfectly treated studio — smooth frequency response, low RT60, grounded developer.
• Another banged out in a concrete cube of hard reflective surfaces, on a machine without a power conditioner, with fans whirring like a wind tunnel.
• And the third? Slapped together in a Starbucks, with ambient muzak playing, espresso machines hissing, and someone two tables over loudly Zooming.

Now link them into the same binary.
Now run your DSP chain through that.

It’s like listening to a jazz trio where:

• The bass was tracked in an anechoic chamber (dead and joyless),
• The guitar sounds like a barista blowing the steam wand,
• And the piano bounces early reflections off every flat surface into your soul.

Unlistenable.

I can't even

 

[Ropeburn]

Instead of rolling opamps, you may prefer to waste time on cables instead;

View attachment 464871


JSmith

I like the jazz ones best, because they're orange. Everyone knows orange is the perfect middle ground between red (too warm) and yellow (too bright) and sounds best. Why do you think everyone uses copper too? It's orange. Even made me these:

These sound better than yours because they're both orange and handmade in Germany. Checkmate!

 

[HalSF]

The best way to defeat frustration with ASR’s view on op amps would be to mount a rigorous series of tests that measure the output of a range of op amp configurations and demonstrate with objective results a clear audible impact on sound quality, and also conduct a series of blind listening tests where you and other listeners try to judge and identify and distinguish between various op amp configurations without knowing which setup you are listening to, and consistently succeed in doing so.

If the results confirmed the OP’s priors, it would be revolutionary and a humiliating rebuke of this forum and its proprietor.

 

[Philbo King]

poorly-laid-out, poorly-decoupled breadboarded amp design with dodgy supply rail stability
everybody remember asking their freshman op-amp circuit design lab grad student instructor why the speaker output sounded like a putt-putt motorboat?

An adage from my analog design days:
If you want a high gain amplifier you frequently end up with an oscillator.

 

[Toni Mas]

The best way to defeat frustration with ASR’s view on op amps would be to mount a rigorous series of tests that measure the output of a range of op amp configurations and demonstrate a clear audible impact on sound quality, and also conduct a series of blind listening tests where you and other listeners try to judge and identify and distinguish between various op amp configurations without knowing which setup you are listening to.

If the results confirmed your priors, it would be revolutionary and a humiliating rebuke of this forum and its proprietor.

Naaa... No need to be so inquisitive... There is nothing wrong with subjectivity...

 

[tengiz]

An adage from my analog design days:
If you want a high gain amplifier you frequently end up with an oscillator.

And sometimes even with an FM transmitter.

 

[Ropeburn]

An adage from my analog design days:
If you want a high gain amplifier you frequently end up with an oscillator.

When I was little, dad cloned Marshall guitar amps for sale on the black market (East Germany; equipment shortage was rampant). He woke me up quite often with loud feedback sounds. Whoops, happens.

 

[olds1959special]

Where is the OPA? Maybe my presbyopia is tricking me ...

There is no op amp in the picture but you can see the socket in the middle.

 

[olds1959special]

Horrible build quality on a breadboard. Perfect way to get oscillations and induced interference.

This was the first thing I've built besides cables, so I was quite proud of myself that I got it to work! It was for the learning experience more than anything.

 

[DVinylfan]

A while ago I built a headphone amp and tested op-amps in it. I used these instructions:

How to Build the CMoy Pocket Amplifier

tangentsoft.com

I made a 'power amp' without a volume control, and powered it with a 24V 5A power supply.

I used solid silver wiring and silver bearing solder.

you're alright @olds1959special, you've found something to push against here at ASR, and you're pushing hard.
What you're pushing for is the answer to a question that's within you, but that you are yet to realize in self-awareness.
The members here are being extremely patient and accommodating to you. But patience is not an infinite resource.
You could continue to enjoy your op-amp rolling experiments without trying to use them as a weapon of impotent iconoclasm against ASR members.
Could you try it?

 

[olds1959special]

you're alright @olds1959special, you've found something to push against here at ASR, and you're pushing hard.
What you're pushing for is the answer to a question that's within you, but that you are yet to realize in self-awareness.
The members here are being extremely patient and accommodating to you. But patience is not an infinite resource.
You could continue to enjoy your op-amp rolling experiments without trying to use them as a weapon of impotent iconoclasm against ASR members.
Could you try it?

I feel bad I started this thread at all, but I'm glad I've finally stopped rolling op-amps after arriving upon my favorite. I was searching for closure, and I've found it.

 

[raindance]

Now that you've found it you'll have to go down the cryo rabbit hole and make it even better .... Ha

 

[Ropeburn]

Now that you've found it you'll have to go down the cryo rabbit hole and make it even better .... Ha

Hmmmm.... liquid nitrogen to overclock opamps and improve performance. Pentium 4 5Ghz Project music starts playing

 

[Selkirks]

I like the jazz ones best, because they're orange. Everyone knows orange is the perfect middle ground between red (too warm) and yellow (too bright) and sounds best. Why do you think everyone uses copper too? It's orange. Even made me these:
These sound better than yours because they're both orange and handmade in Germany. Checkmate!

I'll let you in on a little secret. The synergy of orange cables and Synergistic Research pink fuses will wipe away layers of veils on your system.

Orange +Pink = Peach (perfect for jazz trio albums)

 

[Somafunk]

I'll let you in on a little secret. The synergy of orange cables and Synergistic Research pink fuses will wipe away layers of veils on your system.

Orange +Pink = Peach (perfect for jazz trio albums)

And if it’s a solo jazz artist then a dose of brown cables will help you relax into the sound, you’ll sink deeper……and deeper……and deeper…..and deeeeeeeeeeepppppppppppzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz ‍

 

[Vacceo]

What would you recommend for Tuvan Throat Singing?

Subwoofers.

 

[raif71]

We are all confused. It's called bias. It comes from many sources, sighted being one of those.
For instance:

You are likely also looking for some confirmation. Just knowing you swapped a fancy Sparkos Opamp into your gear causes you to never have a chance at a valid evaluation, you expect a difference, your mind will give you one even if none exist.

Add to that, our ears are just not made for measuring things. Add to that our ears have very odd response characteristics. I've posted this to you before, people imagining differences when none exist:

Audio Listening Test That Fooled the Hollywood Sapphire Group

Some of the most highly trained audiophiles in the industry were asked to do a blind “A-B” listening comparison test of two audio circuits. Were they able to hear a difference, or were they fooled?

www.audioholics.com

Wish audio gears have mouths so that we can be more easily fooled

 

[Axo1989]

What would you recommend for Tuvan Throat Singing?

It’s basically death metal a capella, right?

 

[jeroboam]

Begging your forbearance I thought to add a final verse to my previous effort

I went to roll some op-amps
My music to restore
Cause my big bands sounded small
And my jazz just wasn't jazzy anymore
And then I found the Sparkos
What a difference it made!
Big bands were bouncing off the scale
Jazz instruments did moan and wail
So exited I went on some forums
This miracle to explain
But was met with blind indifference
And lots of pure disdain
So dam all you objectivists
May your ears decay and rot
For you don't deserve to hear
The difference Sparkos brought
So let this be a warning
To all that found the one that's right
That lifted several veils
The difference was day and night!
Don't be tempted to announce it
In print or video
Cos no one here gives a monkeys
In what measurements cannot show