RE: Short signal paths, but not sound-optimized?

Posted by rick_m (A) on August 26, 2014 at 10:51:21

In Reply to: Short signal paths, but not sound-optimized? posted by CometCKO on August 26, 2014 at 10:06:28:

"I do not think the form-factor of an op-amp is any limitation to sound quality."

Actually there are issues. Big deal, there are issues with everything especially tubes.

But back to op-amps three pop to mind...

-Flexure sensitivity: The die could be used as a phono cartridge, stress alters offset voltages and generates internal voltage shifts.

-Thermal feedback: Clever die layout balances the thermal offset but not the loop gain variations due to carrier mobility changes.

-Noise/GBW tradeoff: Bigger geometries have less noise as it tends to average out, smaller geometries have wider bandwidth because they have fewer "strays" but individual carriers become a bigger part of the energy.

Perfection is a limit, not a possibility so you do the best you can with what you got. Good Engineers get good results. But that doesn't mean that tomorrow they won't do better or that things are bound to improve. That's just life...

One area where I do expect to see improvements is psychometrics. If we could really sort out how we hear and process music and our sensitivities to noise and distortion then the divergence between metrics and experience should substantially reduce making specifications a lot more useful. Actually without any additional knowledge components could easily be more fully specified which would really help audiophiles, but the former would do more for everyone.

Regards, Rick

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Follow Ups Full Thread

Topic - opamps in phono stages - louie3 11:53:39 08/25/14 (32)

RE: opamps in phono stages - Ugly 19:13:16 08/25/14 (2)

Implementation - reuben 05:05:35 08/26/14 (1)

RE: Implementation - Ugly 06:20:53 08/26/14 (0)

RE: opamps in phono stages - flood2 16:44:25 08/25/14 (0)

Semantics - 13th Duke of Wymbourne 16:21:25 08/25/14 (11)

You cannot build an amplifier with no feedback - Penguin 19:49:11 08/26/14 (10)

RE: You cannot build an amplifier with no feedback - bjh 17:36:41 08/27/14 (0)

Correct - I should have said Global Feedback - 13th Duke of Wymbourne 16:53:28 08/27/14 (4)

:)~ - Penguin 17:45:04 08/27/14 (3)

RE: :)~ - fscerri 02:03:21 08/28/14 (2)

RE: :)~ - bjh 17:58:28 08/28/14 (1)

I love your signature line... - Penguin 18:46:09 08/28/14 (0)

Interesting - Mark Kelly 20:36:48 08/26/14 (3)

Do you have a resistor between a the source and ground? - Penguin 20:56:14 08/26/14 (2)

So it is possible to build an amplifier with no feedback after all? - Mark Kelly 22:57:52 08/26/14 (1)

Now we are splitting splitting hairs :) - Penguin 06:12:56 08/27/14 (0)

Not the concensus, but - neobop 14:54:05 08/25/14 (0)

RE: opamps in phono stages - hifipaul 14:06:04 08/25/14 (0)

RE: opamps in phono stages - AudioSoul 13:44:31 08/25/14 (7)

Today's OP amps are not yesterday's OP amps. - Opus 33 1/3 15:09:59 08/25/14 (6)

Short signal paths, but not sound-optimized? - CometCKO 10:06:28 08/26/14 (4)

RE: Short signal paths, but not sound-optimized? - rick_m 10:51:21 08/26/14 (3)

You make a good point! - CometCKO 11:03:19 08/26/14 (2)

RE: You make a good point! - flood2 17:44:31 08/26/14 (0)

RE: You make a good point! - rick_m 12:59:14 08/26/14 (0)

+1 - Des 15:25:32 08/25/14 (0)

RE: opamps in phono stages - Awe-d-o-file 12:46:39 08/25/14 (0)

A single conclusion? - E-Stat 12:15:20 08/25/14 (4)

Agree - Des 15:23:57 08/25/14 (0)

RE: A single conclusion? - louie3 13:33:19 08/25/14 (2)

RE: A single conclusion? - louie3 15:53:29 08/25/14 (1)

Critical Thinking, be gone! - jusbe 19:29:06 08/25/14 (0)

Follow Ups

RE: Short signal paths, but not sound-optimized? - rick_m 10:51:21 08/26/14 (3)

You make a good point! - CometCKO 11:03:19 08/26/14 (2)

RE: You make a good point! - flood2 17:44:31 08/26/14 (0)

RE: You make a good point! - rick_m 12:59:14 08/26/14 (0)

RE: Short signal paths, but not sound-optimized?

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