Favorite Op-amp

[Jester]

This is a bit like asking what’s your favourite car?  Digi-Key offers 39,624 varieties and obviously the details of the application may eliminate some or many. That being said there are now many low cost options with rail to rail inputs and outputs, low offset, high drive capability etc. Further for many applications state of the art specifications are simply overkill.

I prefer working with the SOT versions, small enough for most applications and easy to hand solder.  When I include active, in-stock and wide supply rail, 39,624 becomes 10 and then <$1.00 becomes one, the NCS2007

So what’s your favourite go to op-amp(s)?

[Benta]

I've standardized on three parts:
LM6171/72 and LMC6482.
These cover 90% of my needs, but are not low cost. But I'm not really concerned with cost optimizing, as I only build 1...5 assemblies.

[Nauris]

LM324, it is good general purpose op-amp

[dmills]

For audio work at traditional sort of supply rails and lowish source impedances you cannot go far wrong with the 5532/'34.
For audio of the 9V battery sort, '072/'074s are pretty much jellybean, but fet input so higher voltage noise.

LM324 when you want to get down to the negative rail, otherwise unimpressive, but that it does and is cheap as anything.

Regards, Dan.

[schmitt trigger]

Ditto what Dan said.
For R-R operation, TLC2272 /4. That covers the vast majority of my requirements.

Having said this, there are times where it is unavoidable to employ specialized opamps.

[schmitt trigger]

Back in the late 70s, the CA3140 became a favorite. It was a 741 with ultra high input impedance.

Greatly superseded nowadays, it still holds a piece of my (engineering) heart.

[David Hess]

My favorite is the LM301A because its compensation terminal can be used either for clamping or as a transconductance output.

[tggzzz]

My favourite depends on what I am doing.

TAoE III contains lists of good opamps, together with their principal features and benefits.

[AlanS]

For audio work at traditional sort of supply rails and lowish source impedances you cannot go far wrong with the 5532/'34.
For audio of the 9V battery sort, '072/'074s are pretty much jellybean, but fet input so higher voltage noise.

LM324 when you want to get down to the negative rail, otherwise unimpressive, but that it does and is cheap as anything.

Regards, Dan.

For further info:
  http://www.ti.com/product/NE5532
  http://www.ti.com/product/TL072
  http://www.ti.com/product/LM324

[bd139]

I rather like the LMC6482 myself.

[RoGeorge]

My favorite is the LM301A because its compensation terminal can be used either for clamping or as a transconductance output.

Interesting.  Can not find any application note for LM301A as a transconductance amplifier, do you have a link, please?

[Mortymore]

For audio, my favorite has been OPA1602. Many times a replacement even for the well known 5532. Used them on CD/DVD players and pré-amplifier audio stages of amplifiers.

When testing op-amps, after remove the original one I solder a socket to enable audio listening of different op-amps, and in the majority of the cases the OPA1602 is the one I prefer. Later soldered directly to the PCB.
Never tested though, the expensive ones that some audiophiles seem to prefer, since the amplifiers that I moded until today, (and use opamps in the pre stage) don't justify the high cost.

[nctnico]

My favourite depends on what I am doing.

Same here. Almost every design I make seems to need an op-amp I have not used before. Other than that I see quite a few good suggestion for audio / voice communication use mentioned in this thread.

[bd139]

Opa365. Under 5.5v, tell me what it can't do .

It doesn't hurt if you stand on it

Edit: actually it's a really nice part :++

[Zero999]

For audio work at traditional sort of supply rails and lowish source impedances you cannot go far wrong with the 5532/'34.
For audio of the 9V battery sort, '072/'074s are pretty much jellybean, but fet input so higher voltage noise.

LM324 when you want to get down to the negative rail, otherwise unimpressive, but that it does and is cheap as anything.

Regards, Dan.

Although it will work off 9V and lower, the TL07x isn't really specified for running below 10V, so isn't ideal for running off a 9V battery. Interestingly, the TI datasheet only specifies it down to 10V (+/5V) but the ST datasheet says 6V.
https://www.st.com/resource/en/datasheet/tl072.pdf
http://www.ti.com/lit/ds/symlink/tl074b.pdf

The TL07x has much lower bias currents than the 5532/34, so lower current noise, which makes it less noisy, when the input impedance is high: above 15k, from memory.

[Alex Nikitin]

Opa365. Under 5.5v, tell me what it can't do .

It doesn't hurt if you stand on it

Edit: actually it's a really nice part :++

It is just miraculous  .

Cheers

Alex

[Kleinstein]

Opa365. Under 5.5v, tell me what it can't do .

It's a nice fast and low noise OP, but like most other CMOS not good for low frequency or DC.

[David Hess]

My favorite is the LM301A because its compensation terminal can be used either for clamping or as a transconductance output.

Interesting.  Can not find any application note for LM301A as a transconductance amplifier, do you have a link, please?

The compensation pin can be used as a transconductance output but that does not make it a transconductance amplifier because it is always operating closed loop.  Where it might be useful is as an alternative to clamping to reduce recovery time from integrator windup.  Basically the compensation is moved to a point later in the signal chain so multiple operational amplifier outputs can be combined and then compensated.  Without individual compensation, they have no integrator windup during overload and no recovery time.

Current and voltage error amplifiers in integrated regulators work like this but access to the transconductance output of an LM301A lets it be used this way also.  It might also be possible to use the LT1008 this way.

Section X - Unusual Op Amp Applications - Perverting the Monolithic Op Amp, of Analog Devices 1992 Amplifier Applications Guide touches on this subject.

[Circlotron]

For R-R operation, TLC2272 /4.

Yeah, they're nice. 

[David Hess]

Opa365. Under 5.5v, tell me what it can't do .

It's a nice fast and low noise OP, but like most other CMOS not good for low frequency or DC.

I use it extensively on low noise linear regulators, and so far it's been great. I did have to dumb it down a little bit for stability.

It is relatively low noise for audio applications which is why they include a distortion specification but pretty horrible for low frequencies at 5uV peak-to-peak from 0.1 to 10 Hz which is the standard comprision.  I am surprised they bothered to include that specification at all.  As usual for a CMOS part, it has high flicker noise as indicated by its high noise corner frequency and flicker noise is really difficult to filter out; it is better not to add it at all if possible and in low noise systems, it commonly limits performance.

It's flicker noise is high enough to also compromise low noise audio applications.

[trophosphere]

I use the OPA2335 for biomedical/signal acquisition applications.

[splin]

Ditto what Dan said.
For R-R operation, TLC2272 /4. That covers the vast majority of my requirements.

Having said this, there are times where it is unavoidable to employ specialized opamps.

If you can live with 200KHz GBW, compared to 2.18MHz for the 2272, the TLC2252 has a lot going for it for low frequency tasks drawing only 75uA/amplifier compared to 1.5mA for the 2272. It is noiser at higher frequencies - spec is 19nV/rt(Hz) @ 1KHz compared to 9nV for the 2272, but it actually has lower .1 to 10Hz noise - 1.1uV p-p ct. 1.4uV.

It also has better DC drift at .5uV/K ct. 2uV and AVOL - 111dB typ ct. 91dB.

[EDIT] Another factor in favour of the TLC227x/225x is that LCSC sell them for a third or less the price from usual distributors, which might not be the case for equialents from other manufacturers.

[RoGeorge]

Section X - Unusual Op Amp Applications - Perverting the Monolithic Op Amp, of Analog Devices 1992 Amplifier Applications Guide touches on this subject.

Nice bag of tricks! 
Thank you

[Psi]

The OPA549  always makes me happy.

It's like the tank of opamps.

8 amps continuous output at up to 60V single supply or 30v dual supply.

Recommend application:  source & sink lab powersupply
hehehe 

I inherited a tube of 30 and like to use them for stupid stuff just because its funny.
They cost to much to actually be worth buying for anything hobby related.

[nctnico]

The TL07x has much lower bias currents than the 5532/34, so lower current noise, which makes it less noisy, when the input impedance is high: above 15k, from memory.

According to a designer of audio circuits I spoke to it doesn't really matter which one you use. The resulting noise is about equal between the two for typical audio applications.