NE5534 substitute

GroupDIY Audio Forum

Help Support GroupDIY Audio Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
[quote author="Flatpicker"][quote author="tubejay"]Does that mean EVERYTHING Fairchild is a little cruddy? So, you're saying the Fairchild transistors I just ordered are crap?...[/quote]

No. I should not have overgeneralized like that. Bad, bad, bad self...
I have had a hell of a time with their power transistors. Often they don't have the metal backside other makes do and dissipate heat less readily. Now I buy OnSemi, CentralSemi or Vishay/Siliconix whenever I have a choice.

Fairchild pricing is hard to beat though so if a part works and you need it in high volume it can be very economical compared to other brands.
 
Stephen,

I mean there is clarity there that there isn;t with the 5534. Like high end, without sounding harsh or hyped. Normally if someone describes clearer highs it can also mean that they are being fooled by extra distortion, and aometimes a "fake" sound comes with it. The 5534s are darker by comparison (not so much muddy) and almost low mid hyped sounding. The overall impression of the AD chip is better focus...almost like comparing a fuzzy photograph to one that is aboslutely sharp.

Sorry for the vagueness... It's hard to describe sound with words.

Shane
 
While you can swap out and compare 5532's to other opamps like in the Sytek preamps, you can't do that with 5534's. They use custom compensation between pins 5&8. AD797's use compensation between pin 8 and the output. AD797's can also be unstable if just plopped into a circuit like that.
 
True...I had to cut a trace on the main board to remove a capacitor from gthe output. This was done at the suggestion of the engineers at presonus. Despite the difference, the AD797 makes the preamp sound much better to me so despite the inherent benefits of the NE5534 (cheap, readily avaiable, plenty of great cicuits to draw from, etc.) there are still better options out there, albeit at a higher price.

I will say this though, the Amek 9098 uses 5532 and 5534 chips and is an excellent preamp (for transparency) and the Focusrite ISA110 is one of my all time favorites ever, and I think that uses 5534s too so at the end of the day it's all in the circuit.

Shane
 

Latest posts

Back
Top