00:00If you've ever cracked open a guitar pedal or a cheap headphone amp and thought,
00:03I bet I could make this sound better, then you already know the secret weapon,
00:07swapping the op-amp. And after digging through way too many listings, I found 5 op-amp deals
00:12that are absolutely perfect for audio DIY, some of them cost less than a cup of coffee.
00:17Let's get into it. First up, the JRC 4558D, but in the SOP8 surface mount package,
00:2420 pieces for about $1.63. If you know anything about vintage overdrive pedals,
00:31you know this chip is basically legend. It's the heart of that classic warm,
00:35slightly gritty tube screamer tone people chase for decades. At this price you're paying roughly
00:408 cents a chip, so you can socket a few boards, try different ones, and figure out what your
00:45ears actually like. Nearly 5,000 sold with a perfect 5-star rating tells you people are
00:51getting exactly what they ordered. Now if you want to go the complete opposite direction clean,
00:56transparent, audiophile territory, the OPA1611 is the one. This is Burr Brown level silicon,
01:03ultra low noise, and it's mounted on a DIP-8 adapter so you can drop it straight into a standard
01:07socket in a preamp or DAC output stage. At 845 it's the priciest chip here, no question,
01:14but this is the upgrade you make when everything else in your build is already good and you want
01:18that last bit of detail in black background. 4.7 stars over 4,500 sales.
01:24Then there's the TL072 10 pieces for $1.22. Honestly, this might be the most useful thing on
01:32the list. It's a dual JFET input op amp, low noise, and it shows up in mixers, synths, active crossovers,
01:39and about a thousand DIY projects online. If you're following a schematic from a forum,
01:44odds are it calls for a TL072. Having 10 of these in your parts drawer means you're never stuck
01:51mid-build waiting on shipping. For 12 cents a chip, just buy them. The OPA4134 is the quiet
01:59overachiever here. It's a quad-op amp in a DIP-14 package, so you get four high-performance audio
02:05channels in one chip perfect for active crossovers, multi-band EQs, or a compact headphone amp where
02:10board space is tight. This is genuine Burr-Brown FET input stuff with very low distortion, and at
02:16282 for the small pack it's shockingly reasonable for that pedigree. 4.9 stars, which is about as
02:23close to perfect as you'll see. And finally, the mixed classic pack LM324, LM358, LM393, and the LM386,
02:3210 pieces for $1.49. Now, these aren't audiophile chips and nobody's pretending otherwise.
02:39But the LM386 alone will build you a little battery-powered practice amp or a mini-speaker
02:45project in an afternoon, and the others are perfect for comparators, buffers, and general breadboard
02:50tinkering. It's the kind of grab bag that just makes experimenting cheap and fun. Perfect 5 stars.
02:58All 5 links are sitting down in the description, so go grab whichever one fits your next build.
03:03If this helped you out, hit that like button and subscribe I've got more DIY audio parts
03:08breakdowns coming. Thanks for watching, and happy soldering!
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