NE5532 Tone control preamp Kit.

[@graxav]

I used this design and incorporated it into an amp using TDA7294 .. home wound 2x15v windings on top of a 2x18v (to supply the TDA's) toroidal to supply the pre-amp - I use it as my PC amp every day into 2 x 150 Watt ELTAX speakers (amp puts out 32watts RMS before clipping at 16VDC PTP) I love it - sound awesome - I used genuine NE5532's. I included a 1uF cap on each input.

[@anthonyjackson7097]

I have built several of these and they perform exactly as the gentlemen stated! Rod Elliot over at ESP Sound designed a similar board with Tone Control that performs superbly, plus he has provisions on his board to add switches to defeat the tone controls if desirable. A surprisingly transparent circuit.

[@MichaelBeeny]

NOTE THIS BOARD IS SUPPLIED WITH FAKE 5532s

[@jj74qformerlyjailbreak3]

What makes them different than genuine 5532s? Serious question because I ordered this kit and swapped the supplied ics anyway. I have silver top old stock 5532s.

[@MichaelBeeny]

@@jj74qformerlyjailbreak3 Many ICs in the audio domain perform in a very similar manor, many with the same footprint and similar spec. In this case I have no idea what the fake chip is, all I can say it's NOT a 5532. For many applications it's OK. So, if it sounds OK for you, use it.

[@jj74qformerlyjailbreak3]

@@MichaelBeeny no no I wasn’t going to use it. I was going to replace the shipped ones with these old silver top Ti ones I have laying around. they came from a Fender Bandit 65. I was wanting to know if circuit was good at least on the pcb side. That’s all.

[@graxav]

I ran the 'fake' IC's on my op-amp tester - they checked out - but using the pin 6 and 5 or 2 and 3 meter cross check - they do not have the protective diode.

[@ford1546]

very good video. I think a lot of people are not aware of this

[@giuseppebeppe_tv8257]

Good video Michael , thanks! I own this kit for less than a year, the Volume pot has become very noisy and scratchy ! bad quality potentiometers and it is sealed !....Bye from Italy...

[@ARGON023]

DZIĘKUJĘ, dziękuję Panu za to bardzo pomocne nagranie !!! THANK YOU, thank you for this very helpful recording !!!

[@HillsWorkbench]

A friend (Kurt) built one of these several years ago. He uses it for testing, maybe more. It has worked well for him. Can't speak for the quality of the tone controls, didn't examine the circuit, but they are probable active (better, less phase shift). I base that on it having two separate dual chips, so likely one is tied up as a tone amp, adjustable band stuff in the feedback loop. But it could be passive, would love to see the circuit. If it is active, a bypass switch could be rigged across the tone amp.

[@MichaelBeeny]

Yes, getting a circuit will save time in trying to follow the circuit. I think it must be active to have so much gain on the plus side of the pot.

[@ivanlukic2360]

Greetings from Serbia. Since the vol pot is lin, and the overall gain is too high at low pot settings, I suggest to lower the gain of input stage (opamp near input). There is unnecessary high gain in the input stage - 10 times. Input stage opamp works in inverting mode. There are two 100k resistors (R5 and R6) which together with input resistors (R2 and R3) define the gain of input stage. R2 and R3 are 10k. By using lower value of R5 and R6 (for instance 47k) you could lower the gain of input stage to 4.7 times, or even less. That would reduce the volume at low pot settings and allow better volume control at normal home levels.

[@MichaelBeeny]

Hi Ivan, I understand what you are saying but the gain may be high for your inputs but not so high for others. The issue will always be the same with a linear pot, that's why we use log pots as volume controls. If the overall gain is too high then changing resistors (as you suggest) will be the answer.

[@VIPINSAINI_20]

That 4.7uf 50v capacitor is NP Non-polar , Don't use that capacitor Use anything available in your stocks which may be 1uf to 4.7uf polypropylene capacitor or polyester one

[@1101nz]

Tone controls do affect the sound, yes. In theory . But put it into perspective. How many tone controls does the audio go through at the recording studio : many (graphics eq's , tone controls on the mixer etc etc) So why worry about the effects of this tone control board , effects are negligible compared to when the audio was recorded

[@MichaelBeeny]

I understand what you are saying Rob, I can only report what I find. The main reason it adds colour is because even with the pots in the center position it does not give a flat response. In fact from 20hz to 20khz it is plus AND minus 2dB. Far from flat. Without the controls the same IC is flat from DC to over 60khz, not plus or minus ANYTHING, completely flat.

[@artyk242]

Many thanks

[@Imbecillen]

I use this as a DJ EQ instead of tone controller. Is it designed for that purpose and named wrong maybe?

[@hoofbags]

Was wondering about this kit, after your helpful build/review, definitely a no no. I note the amount of boost and cut is much lower than would be useful. The main reason for controlling tone is music production at mastering, since some amateur music was on cassette and we might need to address degradation and I'd need a better one than this. Also, the designers don't know there are TO92 versions of the 7815 available: these handle100mA. You can't beat the one designed by Peter Baxandale 1921-1995. He published his design in electronics mag and got no royalties. It's ubiquitous, used in loads of audio equipment. Thanks for upload, sir. 🙂

[@MichaelBeeny]

All of these cheap kits tend to use the lowest price components available, but you get what you pay for. Yes, the Baxandale circuit is still used widely today, never really been improved on. Don't forget the 2-update videos on this board.

[@hoofbags]

@@MichaelBeeny about the knock off chips/ICs, the fake ones you mention in reply is a really big problem. I bought a few TDA2822s for a small amp project and they sounded really bad: distortion even at very low volume. To finish the project I had to salvage one from an old PC multimedia speaker set and it made a huge difference. Also, maybe its KZbins algorithm or TV speakers, it was difficult to hear the boost/cut effect of your project. The only time I've needed am EQ on a system is when I bought a copy of Rimski Korsakov's Scheherazade. It was a poor vinyl print, different from one I previously owned as a kid. I certainly agree: the music should be heard as the sound engineer meant it to be and altering the tonal content is bound to ruin the music experience. Thank you for reply and interesting upload.

[@AntonioRuiz-ji9yj]

Hola , que es mejor resistencias de película metalica o película de carbon ? Gracias

[@MichaelBeeny]

Realmente no hará ninguna diferencia medible o audible.

[@avrillavingedagotino7411]

Puedo conectar le dos cargadore de 12v y el GND en serie?

[@ronchinoy]

Please make a video showing how you were able to reduce the output swing. To 6 DB.

[@MichaelBeeny]

I've not done it yet but it is on my list of things to do, as I hope to use this board on an integrated amplifier project using Quad 405 boards.

[@Whyoldpeoplewhy]

I use this preamp for testing

[@scorpion7407]

There is no Much Bass effect in this circuit ,you will be getting a good effect of treble and in mid there is distortion on maximum gain.

[@envision546]

These opamps run warm. With even full cut, SQ is good with P3A

[@MichaelBeeny]

They do run slightly warm as they are effectively in class A. Independent of the gain level.

[@remarpc]

Used this kit on two builds and works acceptably well after replacing the NE5532 with originals. You can play around with the input and feedback resistors (I changed mine to 5K/50K from the shipped 10K/100K to keep the 10x gain), as well as the output capacitor (changed to 2uf polyester from the original 4.7uf electrolytic). This kit works with dual 15v transformers as low as 70mA

[@MichaelBeeny]

Hi Marvin, I'm sure they are fakes, price tell you that. However, I have swapped the 5532s with "proper" ones. It does measure the same and on a brief listening test, it sounds the same.

[@Unker_Spunkanathan]

@@MichaelBeeny LOL... actually, a lot if the fakes are nothing but a repackaging of a even cheaper opamps, usually the older and slower designs. But I guess it doesn't matter that much since there are so many added components in the signal path

[@Robjud-u2x]

So does changing those input and feedback resistors give the board more gain?

[@JoseSalazar-rt3mm]

Excelente video. Saludos desde Venezuela. :)

[@MichaelBeeny]

Thank you Jose, much appreciated.

[@alanrutlidge4767]

The 4.7uF / 50V electrolytic capacitors are non polarised (by the NP designation on the sleeve), hence no polarity markings. Can I suggest you remove the 4.7nF and 1nF monolithic ceramic capacitors associated with the treble controls and substitute them with film capacitors. In my opinion and experience ceramic capacitors have no place in the signal path of audio amplifiers exception would be if used as power supply bypass caps and even then a film capacitor is superior. With the exception of NPO (C0G) types their capacitance changes with applied voltage and temperature, a point which is often overlooked by less experienced designers or the bean counters that are only interested in cost cutting. I like the idea that the PCB designer accommodated for the substitution of the 4.7uF NP electrolytic with a film capacitor. The linear taper volume potentiometer can be turned into a pseudo log pot by adding a resistor between the wiper and common (ground) connections. Any value between 5k to 10k should suffice.

[@MichaelBeeny]

Hi Alan, many thanks for your contribution, much appreciated. For some reason I had never thought to see a NP cap in that circuit. Makes sense now. All the mods and changes you suggest I agree with and would probably contribute to the fidelity of the unit. I did not go that far because I just wanted to show what you got with the very low-cost product. As it stands all the semiconductors are probably fakes, they have to be really due to the low cost. Saying that, for what it is, it does work well and it's probably unfair to judge it as a piece quality HiFi. It is what it is.

[@gihangihan7608]

How many distortions are there in this op amp? 1./ 0.1/0.01/ 0.001.

[@mrmax1467]

Tone controls would not be necessary if we all had perfect listening rooms, all recordings were done up properly, if everyone had perfect hearing, etc. But, as it stands none of these things are true, thus.... tone controls. When done properly, they are excellent.

[@lookoutleo]

Thankyou for sharing , I've been looking to get a preamp to go between my record players ceramic cartridge and line input of my amplifier . Is this or any similar board with bass and treble a good choice ? As if the sound is very tinny with no preamp

[@MichaelBeeny]

A ceramic cartridge likes to see a high input impedance of about 1 meg ohm. Most transistor amplifiers have a much lower impedance, hence little bass and all top. A ceramic cartridge does not need RIAA correction if fed into that high impedance. Before you spend any money on a preamp try feeding the input via 1 meg ohm resistor. It will lower the gain but should sound much better. Even a preamp will still need that resistor.

[@lookoutleo]

@@MichaelBeeny ah ok , try 1m resistor on each channel and plug in to line in and you think that will make it work ok?

[@MichaelBeeny]

@@lookoutleo Well it will only cost a few pennies to try it.

[@lookoutleo]

@@MichaelBeeny thankyou for your help :) I'll post a reply once I try

[@lookoutleo]

@@MichaelBeeny you were right , it's made the sound much less tinny, it sounds quite well ballanced , it prob needs a basic stereo preamp now as levels are very low. So would a basic preamp based on this op amp work you think

[@akuncrazy]

Why my tc ne5532 noise? Jack to tc noise and volume tc 70% not output tweeter and mid, and volume tc 100% output norml, why? Potensio bad?

[@MichaelBeeny]

Sorry but it's almost impossible to fault diagnose from 10,000 miles away. Probably faulty components or more likely build error.

[@akuncrazy]

@@MichaelBeeny how to reduct noise? Music stop noise high and play music noise low.

[@Thoughtflux]

Which cheap preamp would you suggest which doesn't muddy the sound? Just discovered your channel and I'm subscribed! Also a cheap preamp with a tube buffer like the Fx-audio tube-03, gives the opportunity to roll tubes and opamps.. Can you take a look at it please. Does it destroy the sound too much? Can it add details coming out of a decent multibit DAC?

[@MichaelBeeny]

I would never recommend any valve pre amps, high noise, high distortion and lack of detail. If you want nothing but gain, forget tone controls. Use the basic NE5532 as shown on my channel. Silly simple but works a treat. Welcome to my channel. hope you find things interesting. A preamp cannot add anything, or should not. If it does it's no good. It cannot give more detail that wasn't there to start with.

[@Thoughtflux]

@@MichaelBeeny thank you for your response! :) I just got myself that cheap Chinese tube buffer preamp (Fx-audio tube-03) which people have been raving about. I have a multibit dac feeding into this preamp outputting to a pure class A amplifier. This is the first time i have listened to a tube in my life.. Just 2 hours listening in on my HD650 and Pink Floyd sounds so good and lively! There is definitely no loss in details (i would have noticed). I know there is a color to the sound like slight reverb but what an excellent Soundstage!

[@Thoughtflux]

@@MichaelBeeny Question: if using a preamp with tone control, how much should the bass, treble & gain be? Where should the knobs be pointing without distorting the sound (unpleasantly)?

[@MichaelBeeny]

@@Thoughtflux Because this has so much gain on full boost you could easily overload the input to the amplifier. The more gain the less feedback so higher the distortion. I cannot say don't turn the pot beyond X degrees. So many things will make an impact. Supply voltage, input level, even type of music. Just use the minimum you feel you need. Will always sound better without tone controls.

[@Thoughtflux]

@@MichaelBeeny Awesome! Thank you :)

[@bilaljaved8882]

i am facing my problem with my "xh-a901 ne5532 tone board". when i increase volume or bass more than half the voice get Disappear. please guide me what i have to do.

[@MichaelBeeny]

It sounds like you may have one channel out of phase with the other. Do this simple test. Connect a MONO signal to both inputs, if one is out of phase you will get almost no output. I assume that you have not made any errors or solder bridges in construction.

[@ronchinoy]

@@MichaelBeeny i an getting one channel inverted. How do I fix this. Also what load should I keep across the output pins while testing ?.

[@MichaelBeeny]

@@ronchinoy I have no idea how one channel can be out of phase. As for loading, for testing any load about about 5K should be fine.

[@RICARDO-hr8wu]

Buenas noches compañero. Cómo puedo oírlo en español

[@MichaelBeeny]

No creo que puedas.No creo que puedas. No puedo hablar español, lo siento.

[@mariogaboury1502]

ok je veut bien comprendre que dans votre pays vous avec que des transformateur a 3 fils mais ici au canada on a que des transformateur a 2 fils comment ajouter un 3 em fils bref faire de 0-12 un 12-0-12

[@MichaelBeeny]

De tels transformateurs sont disponibles dans le monde entier, recherchez simplement un secondaire de 12/0/12 Vous pouvez toujours commander en Chine. Ali Express ou E Bay.

[@MichaelBeeny]

See the follow up video here. How to make it better. kzbin.info/www/bejne/iYeudqFsrtWfnsU

[@YX4zf3]

Hello, Michael, thanks for posting this video. I'm quite a beginner in electronics, and in fact building this kit now. I was wondering about simply buying a logarithmic potentiometer to use as a volume control, but most of the logarithmic potentiometers I see for sale have only 3 pins, opposed to the 6 on the pots that came with the kit. Is there any way to adapt a 3-pin pot to use with this board? Thanks!

[@MichaelBeeny]

Hi Bruce, a 3-pin pot is simply a single channel pot ie mono. Sadly, you cannot modify this kind of pot. It's either mono or stereo. Dual gang pots are readily available, you should not have that much of a problem in getting one. You can always fit the lin one supplied and see if you find it OK or not. If you think you might change it, just tack it in to try it, they can be quite a pig to remove, if all you have is a basic soldering iron.

[@YX4zf3]

@@MichaelBeeny Thanks so much Michael. Since I'm just starting to learn about electronics, I'm finding your videos and answers most valuable.

[@MichaelBeeny]

@@YX4zf3 Well Bruce, I'm still learning after 65 years, so good luck with the hobby. I wish I had the internet in my youth. We only had books largely, now it's so easy to get the info we search for. Thanks for watching, most appreciated.

[@VIPINSAINI_20]

Those L7815/L7915 and NE5532E are Fake parts, change them with original ICs

[@MichaelBeeny]

They probably are but they are working fine in this circuit with its very low current demand.

[@VIPINSAINI_20]

@@MichaelBeeny yes, they works fine, but if you can change the op amp ICs it will make big difference, I used this same circuit, but when I found out that ICs were fake I changed them with original JRC5532 and TL072 ,which makes this circuit more useful than ever

[@alanrutlidge4767]

@@VIPINSAINI_20 I found that TL072 not to my liking for audio. The genuine NE5532 to be much smoother but of course with all things audio it's pretty much left to personal taste. :)

[@WimukthiBandara]

It's ridiculous to just say "these are fake". I actually have measured some the opamps coming with these kits against original Texas Instruments parts and they measure exactly the same. 5532 is really cheap anyway, an original is something like USD 60 cents.

[@VIPINSAINI_20]

@@WimukthiBandara Believe it or not, it's true ,they are fake, I have many of these, And Original ICs NE5532 TI, JRC5532, costs around 20 to 30 Cents per ICs in retail here in Delhi India , wholesale prices are very low

[@mastercell14]

friend can you share pdf files

[@MichaelBeeny]

PDF files of what?

[@Baby_world_0]

@@MichaelBeenycan u share schemetics diagram..?

[@MichaelBeeny]

@@Baby_world_0 Sorry, I don't have circuit diagrams, the retailers never supply them. However the basic circuit diagrams are available on line, they wont be exactly the same but it's a good start.

[@haraldlonn898]

Mess up the sound. Is not that what tone control are made to.

[@MichaelBeeny]

Very true, and this board really makes a good job of it. Many people like that is does just that.

[@automoto95]

weak bass...

[@MichaelBeeny]

How you can say that, simply amazes me. One of my comments is the silly amounts of bass lift! You must have something wrong with your connected items, impedance miss matching. I assume you are not connecting this as a phono preamp, that will sound lacking and completly wrong!

[@automoto95]

@@MichaelBeeny maybe i need to try buy a better amp i have only basic amp from mini speakers

[@automoto95]

@@MichaelBeenythis board sill WEAK bass without any kick now i have a good amp tda based and not much difference don't sell that you need to lern something about good audio buy good car radio like pioneer clarion jvc sony and you see how sound a good audio

[@stevenbliss989]

So did you replace the volume pot with a log one?

[@MichaelBeeny]

No, I did not Steven, mainly because I don't have any use for such a preamp. It's sitting in my draw with lots of other things I don't need or use.