[sdiy] TI SN74LS624N, worth buying?

[Magnus Danielson]

On 11/13/2011 03:19 PM, John Alex Hvidlykke wrote:
> Op-amps are the workhorses of audio electronics, but they come in a
> confusing lot of versions. That the 072 and 074 are almost omnipresent I am
> aware of. But how good are they, compared to other "standard" op-amps? In my
> box of amps I have several 741's and 1741's, which, as far as I am concerned
> must be the lowest in the range. Do the 07x compare to them, or are they
> much better/faster?

741s is about the first op-amp being good enough to be useful, hence 
it's popularity. It wasn't the first thought. However, there are plenty 
of op-amps superseeding it in many ways, such as gain-bandwidth product, 
slew-rate, input impedance, noise, etc. etc. etc. don't forget power 
consumption, as your balance for performance/mW may require different 
selections in studio and portable equipment.

I would like you to read the op-amp part of "The Art of Electronics" by 
Horowitz and Hill.

Another thing would be to download the datasheet of a number of op-amps 
(709, 741, TL-071/072/074, TL-081/082/084, NE5534, OP-27, OP-275, 
LT-1018 etc) and start comparing them.

Another thing is to compare them on price. That will help you to get a 
hint of price/preformance.

I'd say that for general audio, the TL-072's should do most of what you 
would need for a fair price and performance. You can do better, but it 
is a good starting-point for fooling around. There are some applications 
which calls for other op-amps, such as reset-comparators in oscillators, 
so stick in the LM311 which should be there, the output is also a bit 
special.

Cheers,
Magnus