Op Amps

[davidsrsb]

The premium opamp makers are using much better semiconductor processes than the discrete part brands use. The last companies to make high grade audio discretes were Zetex, Rohm and Toshiba. The Japanese makes are all gone and Diodes Inc doesn't do much now.

The opamp makers are not developing these parts for the HiFi indstry but for VDSL and video. They just happen to be useful.

 

[audiopile]

That is a real issue for the audio industry - we are such a small pond that the device industry very rarely has developed anything specifically for audio use. This has also meant that the change in applied tech/production in some industry we aren't aware we are siphoning parts from - can cause a Toishiba or Motorola to drop a part for lack of demand.