DIY Super Simple Preamp

[sachu888]

Hi Everyone,

I started and finished building this kit today. I am an absolute newbee to DIY, and had never held a soldering iron before. So I guess getting this done in a day is pretty good (by my standards )

I would'nt have been able to complete this without tons of help from Sachin and Om. A big thank you to both of you :clapping:

So for all the folks who have been procastinating making this kit, go ahead and start it. Before soon, you will be so much into it that you would not want to stop!!

Giving the SSP some time to burn in. First impressions are ok.....a bit lean and harsh on the highs. Should smoothen out with more burn in. But then I am biased....I already have a decent pre-amplifier in my system and I am comparing to that. For the money spent, definitely good sound.

Will post more impressions after a few days of burn in (or till my ears get accoustomed to the new sound !!)

Regards,
APK

Congratulations,give it min 30hrs time for break in,you will not feel any harshness in highs.It should be very smooth in highs.

Regards,
Sachin

 

[iaudio]

Hi Everyone,

I started and finished building this kit today. I am an absolute newbee to DIY, and had never held a soldering iron before. So I guess getting this done in a day is pretty good (by my standards )

I would'nt have been able to complete this without tons of help from Sachin and Om. A big thank you to both of you :clapping:

Congrats!

So for all the folks who have been procastinating making this kit, go ahead and start it. Before soon, you will be so much into it that you would not want to stop!!

Giving the SSP some time to burn in. First impressions are ok.....a bit lean and harsh on the highs. Should smoothen out with more burn in. But then I am biased....I already have a decent pre-amplifier in my system and I am comparing to that. For the money spent, definitely good sound.

Will post more impressions after a few days of burn in (or till my ears get accoustomed to the new sound !!)

Regards,
APK

That's me! I was pretty much gonna build it today, but, ahem, due to lack of good solid core wire, I have put it off till monday!

 

[santnai]

Here is my preamp build. I would appreaciate if you can correct me if anything went wrong?

 

[sachu888]

Here is my preamp build. I would appreaciate if you can correct me if anything went wrong?

Looks good to me.

Regards,
Sachin

 

[doors666]

Very good gesture !
All components at one place for a small fee ...

one big problem is enclosure and connector options

if you can give predrilled box kit people will be a great DIY for all .


EXP diy ppl can do a fresh build easily in a generic opamp board

i get boards like these for 50Rs in SP road bangalore , get wima, opamp all

which shop. i could use one.

 

[doors666]

anyone tried different opamps in this. i am particularly interested in the el cheapo NE5532 which is available at sp road for 15-20 bucks and is supposedly a giant killer.

 

[sachu888]

anyone tried different opamps in this. i am particularly interested in the el cheapo NE5532 which is available at sp road for 15-20 bucks and is supposedly a giant killer.

Hi,
You can try this Opamp,but I am very doubtful,how will it perform against OPA2134 and AD823.NE5532 has a slew rate of only 9 which is not good for audio,specially preamps.Burr Brown 2134 and Analog Device 823 having slew rate of above 25 and perfect for this application.They did not suffer from headroom problem when run on batteries.We have tried different Opamps like OPA2134,Ad823,LME4990 etc in SSP and CNC.My preferences are.
AD823-Good details but sometimes little harsh on vocals and shrill high frequencies.
Opa2134- It has everything,very good bass but little laid back in some systems
LME4990 - very good details without being harsh,good bass better imaging and 3d.It has every good quality of above Opamps with better speed and very wide sound stage.Its a SOIC type so you will need two of them(one will cost you Rs500)and an adapter like this 2* Dual SOIC to DIP-8 Convert PCB Adapter SMD OPA627 | eBay SMD soldering is another issue.
My preferences are:
1.LME 49990
2.Opa 2134
3.Ad 823

Regards,
Sachin

 

[doors666]

Hi,
You can try this Opamp,but I am very doubtful,how will it perform against OPA2134 and AD823.NE5532 has a slew rate of only 9 which is not good for audio,specially preamps.Burr Brown 2134 and Analog Device 823 having slew rate of above 25 and perfect for this application.They did not suffer from headroom problem when run on batteries.We have tried different Opamps like OPA2134,Ad823,LME4990 etc in SSP and CNC.My preferences are.
AD823-Good details but sometimes little harsh on vocals and shrill high frequencies.
Opa2134- It has everything,very good bass but little laid back in some systems
LME4990 - very good details without being harsh,good bass better imaging and 3d.It has every good quality of above Opamps with better speed and very wide sound stage.Its a SOIC type so you will need two of them(one will cost you Rs500)and an adapter like this 2* Dual SOIC to DIP-8 Convert PCB Adapter SMD OPA627 | eBay SMD soldering is another issue.
My preferences are:
1.LME 49990
2.Opa 2134
3.Ad 823

Regards,
Sachin

slew rate of 9 is way more than what is needed for a preamp without any gain. lm3886 with tons of gain has an avg slew rate of only 11.

i am using 5532 in a cmoy (on a breadboard right now) and its sounding pretty good. ssp is a very similar config with lesser gain. i will give it a try but i havent built the ssp yet.

 

[sachu888]

slew rate of 9 is way more than what is needed for a preamp without any gain. lm3886 with tons of gain has an avg slew rate of only 11.

i am using 5532 in a cmoy (on a breadboard right now) and its sounding pretty good. ssp is a very similar config with lesser gain. i will give it a try but i havent built the ssp yet.

Op amps rolling is always a fun,you can always try 5532 since its cheap.Since this circuit is based on ROD Elliot design and he uses NE5532 or LM833 in various applications including high gain Phono Preamp P06.So it could perform reasonably good in SSP too.Do post your findings when you build this.

Regards,
Sachin

 

[iaudio]

Guys who have built this, I am wondering whether to solder the rca inputs and outputs as well as the switch as of now, since I dont have a case ready for the SSP. I mean I will have to remove the connections when I install it in the case right?

 

[apk]

Guys who have built this, I am wondering whether to solder the rca inputs and outputs as well as the switch as of now, since I dont have a case ready for the SSP. I mean I will have to remove the connections when I install it in the case right?

Yes iAudio. You will have to de-solder the RCA side of the connection later on if you are going to fit it into a case. I think you only have to de-solder the (+) ve terminal. The (-)ve terminal need not be de-soldered to fit into a case.

I faced the same dilemma; did not have a case ready when I built the kit. Ultimately, I did not want to wait till I got a new case....so I went ahead and soldered the RCA connections. Right now the SSP looks like an 'octopus' with all the wires hanging out like 'tentacles' .

Regards,
APK

 

[sachu888]

Yes you will need to de solder only + from RCA end,just keep the input output wire length as short as possible.

Regards,
Sachin

 

[iaudio]

apk, thanks buddy! Yeah, I was wondering whether to solder the connections to the volume pot, switch, battery, i/p and o/p rcas, as I dont have a case yet.

 

[iaudio]

Not working..yet!

Guys, I completed it and powered it up. (Had been delaying coz I had misplaced the opamp.)

Bad news, sound only thru right channel and that too distorted/noisy. Vol gain is a bit uneven.

 

[sachu888]

Guys, I completed it and powered it up. (Had been delaying coz I had misplaced the opamp.)

Bad news, sound only thru right channel and that too distorted/noisy. Vol gain is a bit uneven.

Check your battery connections.You might have reversed them.Close up pics would help.

Regards,
Sachin

 

[sachu888]

Hi,
Can you upload bigger pictures with Imageshack of battery connections.I can see you did not connect Battery ground so you will be getting only single voltage.SSP needs dual voltage (+/-).Follow my pic which I had posted for battery connections.
Edit: you are feeding incorrect voltage to Opamp.This could kill your Op amp.

Regards,
Sachin

 

[iaudio]

I think I wired the switch wrong! It's a six leg switch, and I did it last( I mean, the connections from the battery terminals to the switch. Now it plays at both positions of the switch. I gave the connections from board at the extreme two points and the ones from battery at the two points at other end, leaving the two points in between empty.

 

[sachu888]

Follow this pic for connection http://www.hifivision.com/diy/27074-diy-super-simple-preamp-13.html
You should connect it same way as shown,remove Opamp and battery while soldering.Your Opamp has a notch which should match with Op amp socket.

Regards,
Sachin

 

[iaudio]

Woooooooohooooooooooo! Its working fine! Thank you guys!

As I had suspected, I wired the switch wrong( I had done it just minutes before I turned it on!

 

[sachu888]

Great you got it working.How does it sound?

Regards,
Sachin