Opamp for WA TB12

[Marc BeckerParticipant]

Hello Michael.
It's so awesome to give us the opportunity to ask questions on gear here in the academy. Thank you so much for doing it.

I already have a question for you ?
I have an Warm Audio Tone Beast TB12 and I like it a lot. It's a homage to the API 312 with a broader feature set.
One feature is the interchangeable set of opamps.
In tha manual says:" DISCRETE OPAMP SELECTION ALLOWS FOR CHOOSING BETWEEN A 1731(VINTAGE) AND 918(CLEANER) STYLE OPAMP. THESE ARE SOCKETED/SWAPPABLE WITH YOUR CHOICE OF 2520 6 PIN FOOTPRINT OPAMPS".
I would love to add a tad more low end to the sound of the TB12 and wonder if it could be done by changing the opamp. If so, what opamp would you recommend?
Thank you ever so much!

[Michael StuckerParticipant]

Marc,
Great to hear from you. My experience swapping Discrete OpAmps is that you can vary the overall "sound" but typically not the frequency response. The changes tend (in my experience) to have more to do with distortion and headroom. Typically the transformers are the limiting factor for low end on those preamps.

Here is a Gearslutz post discussing some discrete OpAmps with audio files comparing them.
https://www.gearslutz.com/board/gear-shoot-outs-sound-file-comparisons-audio-tests/739406-discrete-op-amp-shootout.html

If you end up trying a different one, I highly recommend creating a repeatable set of recordings that you could do with the OpAmp choices you have. Posting back here would help the rest of PLAP community.

I hope this helps, post again if there are more details I can help with.

• This reply was modified 3 years ago by Michael Stucker.

[Marc BeckerParticipant]

Hello Michael
Thank you for your fast reply.
I've ordered a John Hardy 990C+ to start experimenting on the clean side of the TB12 and expect it to be delivered next week.
The idea to have a repräsentable set of recordings is great.
I'll do so and share my experiences here.

Thank you ever so much,
Marc

[Scott PeetsParticipant]

Hi Marc, I'm definitely not a tech but I spent 20 plus years behind an API filled with 2520's, 44 channels X 4 2520's in each module. At times, API was short on them and because it was a mobile truck we would burn them out from time to time and have to order new ones. I decided to try the 990's just as a backup. What I found was they ran hotter than the 2520's because they were meant for a 24 volt rail as the 2520 ran on a 16 volt rail. They were very clean. In fact, I believe Kooster McCallister had replaced all of his 2520's with 990's in the Record Plant truck in NY. We kept the 2520's because it was the sound of the API and the custom modules we had built sounded great.I did replace the stereo bus and monitor bus with millennia op amps. They were very clean and sturdy. Not sure if this helps but thought I'd thought I'd offer some insight.

Design FX Remote API Console

Scott

[Marc BeckerParticipant]

Thank you ever so much for you insight, Scott.
I guess the 990 is the right choice for me then.
I also thought about replacing the 1731 for a Scott Liebers SL-2520 as vintage option.
It's so much fun experimenting with the different sounds and I can't wait to hear the results.

[Michael StuckerParticipant]

Marc,
Another option for OpAmps is a company called CAPI. they have kits (and pre-built) discreet OpAmps. The kits are lots of parts in a tiny space, but I've had a number of students build them with success. They end up being a really economical way to get Discrete OpAmps and they have some different "flavors".
https://capi-gear.com/catalog/index.php?cPath=71_72

[Ron ChessieParticipant]

Hi Marc, Hairball Audio also has a couple discrete opamps on their site as well. One is based on the 990.

https://www.hairballaudio.com/catalog/parts-store/discrete-op-amps

[Marc BeckerParticipant]

Thanks Michael and Ron for your tips.
At the moment my Op Amp is stuck at the German customs at Frankfurt Airport ... since February 27th. I hope it will be delivered soon.

[Marc BeckerParticipant]

The Op Amp has just arrived 🙂
I'll try it out tomorrow.

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