Soundfiles with different OPs in a Supergreen Preamp

Here you can download four soundsamples. Each soundsample is is recorded through the same Supergreen Preamp with different OPs in the first stage. Output OPs were the same Signetics NE5534A. Which file contains which OP is declared in the file (voice only) - if you can understand my humble english :razz:

Have fun and let us know what you think about the different options.

cheers
Jens



btw if someone has some Signetics NE5534 left, I´d be in for a bunch

personnally i really like the Phillips IC seems little less brittle than the other 3.

Interesting
Every week a thread pops up with something like "how can I mod my board XYZ" or "does OP swapping improve the EQ in my Shittinger console". But obviously nobody cares to listen to these soundfiles here. Maybe everyone but me did it already at home and knows the results.

but anyway, I had a bad day and I´m going to get a flu :?

Hi Jens,
I saw this at work the other day, but forgot to download them when I got home. Anyway, I just downloaded it, but don't know what to do with a .tar.bz2 file. Can you help me out? Much appreciated!

Anyway, I just downloaded it, but don't know what to do with a .tar.bz2 file. Can you help me out? Much appreciated!

Click to expand...

Yeah call me stupid but I have no idea what to do with that file either!

Sometime more universal like a .Wav or .Aiff is FAR more usefull to someone like me.

Cheers

Matt

on my computer it shows up as a .rar archive, needs to be de-compressed.

Yes, turns out it is a zipped file - you have to manually point it to your unzipping program.

Just off-hand, the OP275 sounds slightly fatter and a little more in-your-face. I think I like the TI5532 best. (However, my opinion could change overnight :wink: ) Very subtle differences, though.

Jens, thanks for making these.

Thanks for putting this up Jens :thumb:, the differences are very very subtle, if I had to make a ranking it would look something like this:

1. track2 Phillips NE5532AN (solid)
2. track4 OPA275 (fat)
3. track3 TI MC33078(cloudy)
4. track1 TI NE5532AN (blurry)

It is always hard to compare when recording different takes with each device and I might totally wrong here, but I had the impression that I liked the opamps in tracks 2 and 4 best. Just my $0.02

cheers, Marten

Sounds like it's all solved w.r.t. the compressed file, but at least for a PC it's not uncommon to have both Winzip & Winrar installed imho.

The mystery-file above gets the Winrar-icon here and right-clicking will also hint to what it is and which program will uncompress it for you.

Regards,

Peter

I only have some crapy PC speakers here, but I like File No.4 the best.
Between the other three I could not decide.
I allways find samples like this VERY interesting. Mostly it shows that the difference is only little. But there IS a difference and it is nice if someone cares! (Even if it IMO mostly does not count if you simply want to make a good recording)

Thanks Jens!!! :sam:

For me the result of the listeningtest was to use OP275s in my Supergreens because they sounded more airy than the others.
The MC33078 sounded too agressive for what I wanted to have with these Pres. The characteristic reminded my to be similar to my Joemeek VC1QCS which uses the same chip at the input. I already have this kind of flavor and so I don´t need it a second time.
The NE5532s sounded a little stronger in the midrange to my ears, compared to the OP275 but my goal was more heading towards HiFi-clean-type-o-sound, thus OP275
Both NEs were very similar but I thought that one of them (forgot which one) made the s sound a little more like a f. It reminded me a little bit of an deesser. But that was only a nuance of a difference.

thanks for you comments :thumb:

I love this place :green:

Hi Jens,

thanks for sharing your sound-files.
just have finished mine with NE5532/34's.
What is your supply voltage and which NPN's did you use?
At the moment mine are running at +/-17V as in 9098 schemo just for safety (Olaf's schem running at +/-20V) and I use BC550C's for T1 and T2 (funny head over heals assembly for different pin-layout, but they've been available on my bench). Could not source the 2SC3329 or 2SD786 so far and wonder whether it's worth to change them. Have not tested with ribbons jet.

Hi Harpo
Are you the real Harpo? I mean the "Moviestar" Harpo?
:grin:

I did the test with my workbenchsupply with +/-18V. But both the NE5534 and OP275 have +/-22V as absolute max rating. Olafs +/-20V suggestion should be fine.
For the transistors I´ve chosen 2SC2240. They are a pretty close to the noiserating of the original type. I found some info in the web through google where they have been successfully used as replacement for the discontinued 2SD786. The BC550s are more noisy.
:guinness:

Don't think so - no curls, no umbrella with attached bicyclebell, lousy gema-account - don't know why this is my nickname.

I tried +/-20V an burnt R15 (my fault, only 1/8W) and after changing and turning back to +/-17V I noticed the schemo of Olaf had R15 connected to +17V. Could not find a network which set this votage, so +/-20V might have been a typo although I know the opamps can stand this.

I found the Ti NE5532AN more clear on my laptop speakers, followed by the Philips Ne5532, and then the OP275.

What more opamps could be interested to try on this preamp?