5532 IC - BRAND's, Suffix/Prefix, Differences

Even though it's not a popular opinion these days, I still like the
5532 a lot and find that in the right circuit, it can sound really
really nice. Noise wise, it's also unbeatable for certain medium
impedance circuits like summing stages and fader buffers.

A common 'problem circuit' is the stereo summing amp of a large
console... this circuit runs the op amp at pretty high gain when you
have a lot of channels assigned. Many consoles use a 5532 or 5534
there mostly because of its fine noise specs. I don't have a lot of
experience with good replacements in that circuit, but an LT1028 could
be nice, if a bit noisier. An AD797 is also worth a try. You will
get greater noise and perhaps some DC offset problems, but try it and
see if this is a real problem or something that won't matter.

The biggest problem with 5532 and 5534 is that every chip maker has a
version of it and not all of them are that good. Supposedly the TI
versions are not so great, the Signetics / Philips and the Raytheon
versions are supposedly OK and the SSM2134 and 2135 are good upgraded
replacements, but I'm not sure they're still available. The extremely
difficult to find JRC2114 is supposed to be a better chip than the
5532 as well, although there's no 5534 replacement from JRC.

If you have access to a high resolution distortion analyzer, the
simplest thing to do is to try out a few different makes of 5532 in
those high gain circuits and see which work out the best. Look for
the absense of high order harmonics and low levels of 2nd and 3rd
harmonic. A marginally stable op amp can put out lots of high order
hash even when it appears not to be oscillating. Also do the finger
test to make sure the amp's not buzzing away at several MHz.

Checking for outright oscillation with a scope is somewhat useful, but
it's error prone. For one, the capacitance of a scope probe can slug
an oscillating amp into stability, giving you a false negative result.
That capacitance can also tickle a normally stable circuit into
oscillation, depending on where you proble it. Finally, it's hard to
find an RF quality ground in many audio consoles, so the random radio
trash that's everywhere can masquerade as oscillation when it's really
just an improperly grounded scope probe picking up trash at RF
frequencies. I prefer to simply look at a distortion residual
spectrum, since it's a "minimal contact" way of evaluating the circuit
and it takes an awful lot into account.

The summary: if the 5532 really is dead, replace it with another 5532
of reputable manufacture, probably a Philips or Raytheon variety. If
you want to improve the console, replace TL071 with OPA132, TL072 with
OPA2132 and TL074 with OPA4132.

Good luck with the console!!

Monte McGuire
[email protected]

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As of this writing, the best possible replacement chip is the new
LT1469CN8 from Linear Technology. It is a dual, low noise bipolar
input op amp that is remarkable in that it has extremely low
distortion, excellent output drive and a very high gain-bandwidth
product. It is unity gain stable and it can operate from high supply
voltages, so it is a simple drop in replacement. The only drawbacks
are cost and availability.

Some varieties of NE5532 will also perform very well, but not quite as
well as the LT1469. In my tests, the JRC 5532D from New Japan Radio
seems to perform consistently better than most 5532 flavors, and the
Fairchild units were fairly close. The Philips 5532 varieties did not
do so well distortion wise. The main advantage to the 5532 is price,
so I would recommend that chip only if funds are tight and it's hard
to find the LT1469. However, it will not produce the best possible
peformance.

The LT1364CN8 is also a reasonable amplifier, and if ultrasonic
distortion is of prime importance, this might be the best choice.
However, due to its high idling dissipation, it should be heatsinked,
especially when driving low impedance loads at high levels. Its
midband performance is not quite as good as the LT1469, so it is not
my first recommendation.

I have recommended some JFET amplifiers from Burr Brown in the past,
such as the OPA2132 and OPA2604. While these amplifiers do sound very
good, they are not quite as clean at very high frequencies as the 1469
or even the 5532, and I cannot recommend them anymore if cleanliness
is your goal. My opinion about these amplifiers changed after finding
ways to clean up the SSM 2015 stage, which I will discuss in the next
section. After that modification, it became clear that the dominant
source of HF distortion was the Burr Brown chip, and the differences
between the 1469 and 5532 became more noticeable too.
Monte McGuire
[email protected]

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5532s aren't bad at all, if you get a good variety. The JRC 5532D
seems to be a nice version. mouser.com has them and they're dirt
cheap. You could try using different chips in there and seeing how
you like the sound of them, but it's going to be difficult to remain
objective.

The SSM 2135 might be better, the JRC 2114 should be better, but both
chips are pretty hard to find. People also seem to like the OP275,
but it's noisier and it generates more distortion at HF than a good
5532. More distortion might please you, but maybe not. The OPA2604
and 2132 are good sounding, but they have more HF distortion than a
good 5532 and double the noise in that circuit.

Audiophiles hate the 5532 because it makes a poor DAC buffer - it
distorts when you slam tons of 200KHz - 1MHz trash at it, and that's
what a DAC chip does. This doesn't happen in a console anywhere, so
these caveats don't apply. The problem is that modifiers tend to make
these blanket assertions that don't hold true all the time, and this
is one of them. There is no need to eliminate 553[24] chips from
quality audio gear as a matter of course, even if you expect good HF
performance.

I dare say you should do nothing unless you're prepared to A/B a pair
of boards (one modified, one stock) or at least apply some high grade
test gear to the problem. 5532 are rarely a problem, unless they are
misapplied.

>If I bought a bigger power supply could I use even higher quality ops?

Fortunately, the two issues are unrelated. A good supply is a good
thing, no matter what, so you might as well upgrade that.

Regards,

Monte McGuire
[email protected]

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We are currently developing the TI version of the 5532. Yang Zhang will
be able to fill in on the release schedule.
Attached is the prelim datasheet for this part.
Regards,
Giampaolo

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although there's no 5534 replacement from JRC.

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although there's no 5534 replacement from JRC.

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EDIT - I just noticed they're 553444444444444444444's

Where can you get those :?: :?: :?:

Click to expand...

I just noticed they're 553444444444444444444's

Where can you get those :?: :?: :?:

Click to expand...