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Best op-amp for audio use?

TCSC47

Mar 7, 2016
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Hi
What do people consider to be a good op-amp for use in a HiFi preamp design?
Cheers
 

crutschow

May 7, 2021
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TL071 single, TL072 dual and TL074 quad are good choices.
Another popular choice is the NE5532.
 

Audioguru

Sep 24, 2016
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The TL071, TL072 and TL074 are very old (I used thousands of them many years ago) and newer ones have much less noise.
The newer OPA134, OPA2134 and OPA4134 are excellent and work from a supply range of 5V to 36V.
 

WHONOES

May 20, 2017
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I have auditioned many op amps over the years for use in audio. Among the best are the OPA604 and the OP37. More recently I have use NE5534's in my guitar amps. Be careful if using these as they are stable only for gains of greater than 3. Another low distortion, low noise op amp is the LT1028. I have never tried them as they are horrendously expensive. I have the largely given up on the TL071's as they are just a bit to noisy.
Another that has recently come to my attention is the LM4562 which has vanishingly small distortion figures and very low noise and was designed specifically for audio. I haven't tried them yet but intend to do so in some active speakers that I am building.
Alternatively you can build your own using discrete components which is what I did for an RIAA compensated pre-amp for my record deck.
 

TCSC47

Mar 7, 2016
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Cheers everybody. Just what I wanted to know. I finished working with electronic design way back in 1978, when I went on to do other things. Now well into my dotage and being funded by my (albeit small! Weep for me. Lol!) retirement pension, I have several projects to follow up. I feel a bit out of the loop as far as present day standards are concerned.
Industry standards in my day were TL 07/8Xs, BC108, BFY51, 2N3055 and close companions. Amazing that not too much seems to have changed. And how long had they been around then!?
Particularly like bertus' reference.
 

Audioguru

Sep 24, 2016
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I cannot hear the second harmonic of 12kHz or the third harmonic of 8kHz then I probably would not try making an audio circuit with the 55MHz (!) LM4562 because it would probably oscillate. It costs almost $3.00 US.

The LM4562 has a rated distortion of only 0.00003% when its gain is 1 like a piece of wire. I can barely hear distortion that is 300 times more which might happen if it is a mic preamp with a gain of 300.

The distortion from a power amplifier will probably be much higher than the tiny amount from an audio opamp.
 

TCSC47

Mar 7, 2016
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A very detailed book. Cheers B
Not only that but with several very interesting looking web references at the end.
 

HANKMARS

Jul 28, 2019
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I have auditioned many op amps over the years for use in audio. Among the best are the OPA604 and the OP37. More recently I have use NE5534's in my guitar amps. Be careful if using these as they are stable only for gains of greater than 3. Another low distortion, low noise op amp is the LT1028. I have never tried them as they are horrendously expensive. I have the largely given up on the TL071's as they are just a bit to noisy.
Another that has recently come to my attention is the LM4562 which has vanishingly small distortion figures and very low noise and was designed specifically for audio. I haven't tried them yet but intend to do so in some active speakers that I am building.
Alternatively you can build your own using discrete components which is what I did for an RIAA compensated pre-amp for my record deck.
I have a 12 string acoustic guitar. There are times I desire to amplify its sound. I have tried 3 styles of 'snap on' pick-ups but all were unsatisfactory. I have resigned myself to the idea that a microphone and mic amplifier may be my only salvation. I tried a mic from a 70s brick-type walkie talkie but it didn't seem to pick up sound from and distance beyond a couple inches. Makes sense, I guess. Undoubtedly I could go to the local music store and get a decent (sic?) mic and amp for $1k. I'm looking more in the $20 range. I had a karaoke mic but must have thrown it out. Any suggestions as to coming in on budget? I have a 60W Pyle guitar amp which works fine for my $30 thrift store electric but does not have a mic input. I believe a little pre-amp I designed will solve that problem, but it would be nice to have a stand-alone unit. Cannibalizing and salvaging are my current landscape.
 
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