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longi · 07-26-2009, 08:05 PM

I just bought one of these pedasl and it's pretty darned good, however i'm not sure of the difference the 3 different chips that come with it. Does anybody know the difference between them is? They are...JRC4558, NE5532, TL072
Thanks

Sporky_McGuffin · 07-26-2009, 09:04 PM

They're all dual op-amps. The NE5532 has a much lower input impedance and may - may sound less bright.

Thing about op-amps, though, was that they were designed so that circuits using them work the same regardless of the actual op-amp used.

longi · 07-26-2009, 09:50 PM

So would I be right in thinking there should be no tonal difference then? Which is probably why I can't the difference between the 3 chips!

Sporky_McGuffin · 07-26-2009, 09:53 PM

The 5532 sounds different in some applications but I'd not expect any differences between them in a TS type.

It'd be interesting to get three identical pedals, check they sound the same with the same chip, then swap the chip in just one and retest having shuffled them.

Dave_Mc · 07-26-2009, 11:48 PM

i noticed a difference in mine. In very broad terms, the jrc was the most tubescreamery, with the biggest mid hump, the NEwhatever was warmer but without as much of the mid hump, and the tl072 was the most modern, least compressed-sounding, a bit brighter.

As sporky says (we went over this before in a previous thread, if you want to do a search- i think it might have been about the od7- if you can't find it give me a shout and I'm sure i can find it, just i'm in a bit of a rush to get offline at the moment), you'd want to do a much better, fairer test to be absolutely sure, but I definitely noticed a difference in my pedal.

EDIT: just to go by sporky's point- is "work the same" the same as "sound the same", though? I know guitarists are always saying that electronics boffins claim that things will sound the same, but that they can hear a difference. Of course, it could be psychological

Sporky_McGuffin · 07-27-2009, 07:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dave_Mc

EDIT: just to go by sporky's point- is "work the same" the same as "sound the same", though?

Yes.

If they work the same they sound the same, because the sound is a product solely of how the device works. There's no magic involved.

And, of course, you can measure much smaller changes than you can hear.

Dave_Mc · 07-27-2009, 11:05 PM

oh yeah, i'm certainly not suggesting that there's any magic involved, i'm a scientist when it comes to all that kind of stuff. I mean more you know the way if you ask an engineer/electronics buff who doesn't play guitar, they'll claim that two things sound the same when most guitarists would agree that they don't.

I guess, you know the way some people will swear blind that the only thing affecting the tone of a guitar is the pickups? that kind of thing.

Sporky_McGuffin · 07-27-2009, 11:09 PM

I think it's also hard for most people to accurately test such things. If you don't have two identical pedals and someone willing to play along you can't free yourself of preconceptions and rogue psychoacoustic effects.

Dave_Mc · 07-28-2009, 06:01 PM

yeah, of course. As i said in the previous test, I tried to do as fair a test as i could, and remove as much of the psychology as possible, but it's still far from perfect (and why they do double blind trials in medical tests). I thought the difference was sufficiently big that it wasn't psychological- but of course there's no way I can say that for sure, or rule out psychology.

longi · 07-29-2009, 08:26 PM

Yup, I reckon the only way to tell is have have 3 and play them back to back, or maybe my ears just ain't what they were!!

07-26-2009, 08:05 PM	#1
longi Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2008 Posts: 154	Biyang OD8-3 Tube Screamer clone chips I just bought one of these pedasl and it's pretty darned good, however i'm not sure of the difference the 3 different chips that come with it. Does anybody know the difference between them is? They are...JRC4558, NE5532, TL072 Thanks

07-26-2009, 09:04 PM	#2
Sporky_McGuffin Spam Tsar Join Date: Jan 2008 Posts: 17,548	They're all dual op-amps. The NE5532 has a much lower input impedance and may - may sound less bright. Thing about op-amps, though, was that they were designed so that circuits using them work the same regardless of the actual op-amp used. __________________ I'm with stupid ▼

07-26-2009, 09:53 PM	#4
Sporky_McGuffin Spam Tsar Join Date: Jan 2008 Posts: 17,548	The 5532 sounds different in some applications but I'd not expect any differences between them in a TS type. It'd be interesting to get three identical pedals, check they sound the same with the same chip, then swap the chip in just one and retest having shuffled them. __________________ I'm with stupid ▼

07-27-2009, 11:09 PM	#8
Sporky_McGuffin Spam Tsar Join Date: Jan 2008 Posts: 17,548	I think it's also hard for most people to accurately test such things. If you don't have two identical pedals and someone willing to play along you can't free yourself of preconceptions and rogue psychoacoustic effects. __________________ I'm with stupid ▼

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07-26-2009, 09:50 PM	#3
longi Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2008 Posts: 154	So would I be right in thinking there should be no tonal difference then? Which is probably why I can't the difference between the 3 chips!

07-26-2009, 11:48 PM	#5
Dave_Mc Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Northern Ireland Posts: 1,086	i noticed a difference in mine. In very broad terms, the jrc was the most tubescreamery, with the biggest mid hump, the NEwhatever was warmer but without as much of the mid hump, and the tl072 was the most modern, least compressed-sounding, a bit brighter. As sporky says (we went over this before in a previous thread, if you want to do a search- i think it might have been about the od7- if you can't find it give me a shout and I'm sure i can find it, just i'm in a bit of a rush to get offline at the moment), you'd want to do a much better, fairer test to be absolutely sure, but I definitely noticed a difference in my pedal. EDIT: just to go by sporky's point- is "work the same" the same as "sound the same", though? I know guitarists are always saying that electronics boffins claim that things will sound the same, but that they can hear a difference. Of course, it could be psychological

07-27-2009, 11:05 PM	#7
Dave_Mc Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Northern Ireland Posts: 1,086	oh yeah, i'm certainly not suggesting that there's any magic involved, i'm a scientist when it comes to all that kind of stuff. I mean more you know the way if you ask an engineer/electronics buff who doesn't play guitar, they'll claim that two things sound the same when most guitarists would agree that they don't. I guess, you know the way some people will swear blind that the only thing affecting the tone of a guitar is the pickups? that kind of thing.

07-28-2009, 06:01 PM	#9
Dave_Mc Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Northern Ireland Posts: 1,086	yeah, of course. As i said in the previous test, I tried to do as fair a test as i could, and remove as much of the psychology as possible, but it's still far from perfect (and why they do double blind trials in medical tests). I thought the difference was sufficiently big that it wasn't psychological- but of course there's no way I can say that for sure, or rule out psychology.

07-29-2009, 08:26 PM	#10
longi Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2008 Posts: 154	Yup, I reckon the only way to tell is have have 3 and play them back to back, or maybe my ears just ain't what they were!!