The mystical & magical Zendrive op amp revealed at last (PICS)

[FenderLover]

I think it has something to do with how to make sausage, but I'm not really sure.

Here's a picture, though:

View attachment 221050

Exactly - Another sausage thread in the wrong forum.

Is it a big reveal if all we have to do is look at it? I'm confused, unless it's suggested that 'Sean screwed up' and forgot to sand the chip, like MHP?

Spoiler alert: same chip in the Dover. It seems obvious they don't care if we know.

 

[cousinpaul]

I don't imagine this thread would be of much interest to anyone except those with a ZD clone. The correct IC has been an open question for years and I don't see a problem with the reveal. If a thread doesn't interest me, I'll generally just move on to the next one.

 

[stax]

For what it is worth I noticed they sell these chips in my local store (Maplins) for just over £1 so I splashed out and got one for my Zen clone.
Just this minute got back from a gig and even though I haven't got the golden ears a lot of members here seem to have it definitely sounded different to me, for the better.
Thanks for the heads up as you say.

 

[JHVH!]

Exactly - Another sausage thread in the wrong forum.

Is it a big reveal if all we have to do is look at it? I'm confused, unless it's suggested that 'Sean screwed up' and forgot to sand the chip, like MHP?

Wow, Keith must have done something terrible to you to cause you to take unprovoked jabs at him. I commend you for taking the high road.

 

[TheSmokingMan]

Probably going to revisit this pedal with the new info at hand and go ahead with the gain pot increase as well. I liked the pedal and it stacked well.

 

[Paul in Colorado]

For the record, I have a "pre-Lovepedal" ZD. It has a blue LED and has the name and USA below the ZenDrive name.

BTW, That Dover Drive sounds good from the clips I've heard.

 

[dleuen]

For what it is worth I noticed they sell these chips in my local store (Maplins) for just over £1 so I splashed out and got one for my Zen clone.
Just this minute got back from a gig and even though I haven't got the golden ears a lot of members here seem to have it definitely sounded different to me, for the better.
Thanks for the heads up as you say.

+1 That's exactly what I plan to do. Read up on some data sheets and try the new opamp in my Zenith Drive if it is possible. Thanks for the info!

 

[Robkay]

Watch going to Maplin........you might get more than a Zendrive chip....
http://www.thedailymash.co.uk/news/society/maplin-is-where-men-meet-for-sex-2014013183134
Sorry gone off topic.....
Rob

 

[Iago]

Great post. I have a 1n270 laying around here and shall give it a try any day soon. I'll definitely get a NE5532 and try that one out too. So far, my favorite has been the 2604 but I wonder how different the NE will sound.

 

[cousinpaul]

Mine sounds wicked with the LM833 but there's always room for improvement... NE5532's on their way. I'm not convinced increasing the value of the gain pot is worthwhile. I've got a 1M in one of my Z pedals. My impression is it hits the sweet spot lower on the knob's rotation and there's not much action between 12:00 and max. I think the stock 500k is well chosen but YMMV.

 

[TheSmokingMan]

Its purely based on my only complaint being it could use a little more gain. I used the 2604 before and bat41s so changing the opamp and the one diode along with the gain pot will probably fix all my issues with it

 

[cousinpaul]

Its purely based on my only complaint being it could use a little more gain. I used the 2604 before and bat41s so changing the opamp and the one diode along with the gain pot will probably fix all my issues with it

Let me know how it works out. I've been wrong before and don't have a 500k version of this particular pedal to A/B it with.

 

[Armo]

I tried that chip a while ago and found it very smooth but lacking a certain grit. I didn't know about the 1N34A diode however. At last - the missing piece of the puzzle. Sounds real sweet!

 

[czech-one-2]

BTW - some may want a little more verification that this is an actual LP-manufactured ZD.

I managed to find a pic of a disassembled one on TGP from some "official Lovepedal thread":

image removed

...and you will note that they now have a blue LED. And - the outer box now has the "Hermida Audio USA" line printed under the pedal name:

And a pic given to me also shows the same thing WRT the top - blue LED, same construction as the disassembled one @ TGP, etc.:

Am I missing something, or is that the exact assembly method as the EH-Nano pedals and even Caline? Everything board mounted. At this point I see no reason not to go the Chinese clone route.

 

[vegetablejoe]

NE5532's are inexpensive. Excitedly bought a couple, hoping to plug one into my Jetter GSR. As it turned out, the GSR is gooped.

 

[11 Gauge]

Am I missing something, or is that the exact assembly method as the EH-Nano pedals and even Caline? Everything board mounted. At this point I see no reason not to go the Chinese clone route.

It's at least something that pedal purchasers may want to consider (the "why is it assembled locally?" angle).

What is curious (to me) is the odd combination of all the mechanical parts now being pcb mounted, at least some thru-hole components still being used, but the pcb's are mostly designed for automated assembly, and everything is RoHS compliant.

Stuff like the most popular jFET transistors have been obsoleted in thru-hole form, and most popular op amps are all available as SMT packages.

The 3PDT is now routinely implemented with "local assembly" with either a daughterboard and ribbon cable, or a pin-mount version is available, so a custom pcb that requires those elongate and reinforced solder pads for the standard 3PDT's elongated lugs is not even really necessary.

I've been trying to point this out for awhile, or at least show that even if there's some kind of indisputable quality difference between a Joyo and a $200+ pedal with similar construction that the two are not as far apart as one might think. And IMO, it kind of makes it hard for the top dollar pedal builders to explain why they have a mixed assembly method.

I guess that unless it's a Strymon pedal, it gets to be difficult to justify a high price tag when it's all basically automated assembly, or could be switched over to automation. So unless the actual design itself is as clever and intricate as a Strymon, you end up with something at the price point of Joyo to Visual Sound.

...Visual Sound is also worthy of representation in this discussion. They've outsourced 100% of assembly for what they considered to be the health of the company. What is also interesting is that their product line consists of both thru-hole and SMT construction products, and IMO both are excellent. I think something like the Open Road is the perfect example of an equivalent of the ODR-1, just with what many would consider to have better bypass, and other durability improvements. It could also be argued that with a "busy circuit" that SMT just plain makes more sense, and the ODR-1/Open Road is kind of a fitting example of that. Even to have MIC labor soldering in all the thru-hole components in the ODR-1 circuit IMO makes no sense when a robot can do it for you.

So these could easily be chalked up to being just "techie things" that pedal users ultimately don't care about, but IMO it's relevant if someone has a limited gear budget. This really is only fair to say if the component quality is 1:1 between something completely assembled off-shore as opposed to being assembled "locally." I think MXR is actually a fitting example in this case, as they seem to have the better board-mounted in and out jacks than either Joyo or Biyang.

IMO, and apologies if this is getting too far out into the tech end of things for many readers. I just feel that it's relevant from a labor-determined cost of the product.

 

[cousinpaul]

It's interesting the GE diode survived RoHS compliance. I'd heard those were on the way out. It would have been nice if LP had passed on some of the savings to the user. $200 seems pricey to me for a consumer-grade pedal, especially one with such a simple circuit. Must say, I'm loving my through-hole $65 clone more and more.

 

[Iago]

Am I missing something, or is that the exact assembly method as the EH-Nano pedals and even Caline? Everything board mounted. At this point I see no reason not to go the Chinese clone route.

Catalinbread and many others use the same type of building. No problem at all with it, although, as a DIY'er, I like having all thru-hole components because, IMO, it makes the pedal so much easy to mod and to fix if anything goes wrong.

 

[rogb]

Watch going to Maplin........you might get more than a Zendrive chip....
http://www.thedailymash.co.uk/news/society/maplin-is-where-men-meet-for-sex-2014013183134
Sorry gone off topic.....
Rob

"Eleanor Shaw of Bristol, whose husband is a Maplin regular, said: “I knew he couldn’t need that many external hard drives. Deep down, I knew it."
Classic!

Just ordered a couple from Spiratronics on the Bay to try in my Z clone.

 

[11 Gauge]

It's interesting the GE diode survived RoHS compliance.

The NTE 1N34A and Jameco 1N270 are listed as being RoHS.

That is interesting. Maybe it was just an issue of changing how the leads are manufactured. I really don't know, and have never investigated it.