Discrete Opamps from Orange

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iamjackslackof

Well-known member
I just came across these drop-in replacement discrete opamps from Orange. I wonder if they really would make a difference? The video gives some reasoning that sounds legit, but I'm guessing it's so subtle as to not really be noticeable without "golden ears" or a vested interest in hearing a difference...

Also I saw Chuck posted something similar the other day, except they were not DIP8 sized.

Anyone ever played with these?

I will say, I could listen to that dude talk about opamps all day though lol. Like Nigel Tufnel talking electronics.
 
Friend of mine made Boss-style JFET discrete dual op amps on stacked horizontal PCBs. It's possible but requires a bit of fiddling with the pcb design. Those would actually fit in a 125B on a PCB with board mounted pots.

And they absolutely make a difference even in soft clipping circuits. It's just about what you're using discrete op amps for. Low to medium gain overdrives work great and really sludgy high gain too, but if you want a more flat and compressed gain sound, ICs do that better.
 
MichaelW said:
What makes an Op Amp "discrete"? It doesn't talk about it's nosy neighbors?
Click to expand...

'Discrete' means that it's put together out of individual components rather than a 'monolithic' op-amp, which is one of the little black boxes. ie, a monolithic TL071 has a couple dozen resistors, transistors, diodes, caps, FETs packed inside of it; ostensibly a discrete opamp gives you control over component values/etc within that chunk of the circuit while a monolithic opamp is plug and play.

The person who runs the vero-p2p site build a few classic pedals using discrete opamps, seemed like a fun project:

Guitar Effects - Vero - Point to Point - Tag Board Layouts

Vero layouts, Point to point layouts and tagboard layouts for guitar effects. Vintage fuzz circuits, germanium, classic distortion and guitar FX
vero-p2p.blogspot.com vero-p2p.blogspot.com
 
Big Monk said:
I can’t fathom why someone would ever use discrete opamps.

Seems like a step in the wrong direction.
Click to expand...
I get it if you want to control certain parameters that aren’t available in commercially available op amps, but I can’t imagine a reason for that within the world of effects.
 
Big Monk said:
I can’t fathom why someone would ever use discrete opamps.

Seems like a step in the wrong direction.
Click to expand...

Maybe try it and see what you think. I just did some as an experiment, and it does sound different (I'm the guy from vero-p2p). In some cases smoother, with less harsh clipping.

For the record, I'm not one of those people who thinks discrete is best. I'll quite happily use ICs cause they're great ;)
 
Big Monk said:
I can’t fathom why someone would ever use discrete opamps.

Seems like a step in the wrong direction.
Click to expand...
There was a time when they made sense, since IC op amps were just not good enough for some applications. Nowadays, with so many great or even outstanding op amps available, I can't see any reason to go discrete - other than to service some legacy equipment.
 
JTEX said:
, , There was a time when they made sense, since IC op amps were just not good enough for some applications. Nowadays, with so many great or even outstanding op amps available, I can't see any reason to go discrete - other than to service some legacy equipment.
Click to expand...
The discrete op amps I’m most familiar with (as ready made products) are almost always made on a dip8 compatible base, generally as a drop in replacement. But I fully agree with you. The front end of all the line stages in my stereo are instrumentation op amps that spec out at essentially flat from zero to 300K, with noise (assuming correct implementation) around -127 db, and distortion figures that match. This is not easily achieved with discrete parts.
 
andy-h-h said:
Maybe try it and see what you think. I just did some as an experiment, and it does sound different (I'm the guy from vero-p2p). In some cases smoother, with less harsh clipping.

For the record, I'm not one of those people who thinks discrete is best. I'll quite happily use ICs cause they're great ;)
Click to expand...

I like the idea of discrete op-amps, even if the Orange one makes me roll my eyes.

I've breadboarded a few and at the very least it's a fun way to understand how they work. Plus, as you describe on vero-p2p there's a good handful of pedals made by great companies that actually make use of discrete op-amps (eg boss's bd-2, pw-2)
 
mdc said:
'Discrete' means that it's put together out of individual components rather than a 'monolithic' op-amp, which is one of the little black boxes. ie, a monolithic TL071 has a couple dozen resistors, transistors, diodes, caps, FETs packed inside of it; ostensibly a discrete opamp gives you control over component values/etc within that chunk of the circuit while a monolithic opamp is plug and play.

The person who runs the vero-p2p site build a few classic pedals using discrete opamps, seemed like a fun project:

Guitar Effects - Vero - Point to Point - Tag Board Layouts

Vero layouts, Point to point layouts and tagboard layouts for guitar effects. Vintage fuzz circuits, germanium, classic distortion and guitar FX
vero-p2p.blogspot.com vero-p2p.blogspot.com
Click to expand...
Do you have a webpage? I'm interested in doing a few myself
 
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