LM358 vs 741 vs TL072: three general-purpose op-amps and where each one fails

The LM358 and TL072 share one pinout, so either fits the other's footprint. The 741 is a single op-amp with a different pinout, and a dual dropped into a 741 socket is wired wrong on five pins.

Put an LM358 or TL072 in a 741 socket and the circuit's output track lands on input B, V+ lands on output B, and pin 8, the dual's V+, gets nothing.

If you want a JFET part in a 741 socket, use the single TL071 instead. TI's 8-pin TL071 has the 741 layout: inputs on 2 and 3, V− on 4, output on 6, V+ on 7.

The offset-null pins are less universal than old circuits assume. TI's February 2026 revision of the µA741 changed pins 1 and 5 of the DIP and SOIC versions to "no internal connection" and dropped the offset-null feature from those packages; only its PS (SO-8) package keeps it. The LM741 sheet still shows offset null on pins 1 and 5. On the TL071, TI says only the TL071C in the PS package has the trim pins. If an old design has a 10 kΩ trimmer between pins 1 and 5, check which part you actually have before you count on it.

• TI's 2026 µA741 revision prints much better typical numbers than the LM741 (0.01 nA bias, 0.13 mA supply current) but the same maximums: 500 nA bias and 2.8 mA supply. The revision before it printed 80 nA and 1.7 mA typical, the same as the LM741. Design to the maximums, because a "741" from another maker, or old stock, will be the classic part.
• The LM358 numbers are at a 5 V supply and the other two at ±15 V, because that is how each sheet specifies them.
• TI says TL072 parts without an H suffix may be built on its legacy die or its newer one. The TL072H has its own, faster specification and is not covered here.

• One 5 V or 12 V supply with signals near 0 V (sensor outputs, current shunts, battery monitors, comparator jobs): the LM358. It is the only one of the three whose inputs are specified down to the negative rail. The LM358 page has the full pinout and application circuits.
• Audio, active filters, or a source with megohms of impedance on dual rails: the TL072. Its bias current is about a thousand times lower than the 741's and it slews about 40 times faster. See the TL072 page.
• A ±12 V or ±15 V textbook or lab circuit that names a 741: a 741 works (the 741 page covers it). If you are buying new parts, a TL071 fits the same socket and is faster.
• A 3.3 V microcontroller board, or anything that needs the output close to both rails: none of these three. Look for a rail-to-rail CMOS op-amp.

1. Amplify a 0 to 100 mV current-shunt signal for a 5 V microcontroller

Use a non-inverting amplifier with Rf = 18 kΩ and Rg = 1 kΩ: gain = 1 + 18/1 = 19, so 100 mV becomes 1.9 V. The input sits between 0 and 100 mV on a single 5 V supply.

• LM358: the input range starts at V−, so 0 V is in range. The output can reach 5 − 1.5 = 3.5 V with a 2 kΩ or lighter load, and 1.9 V is well inside that. At the bottom, the output gets within 20 mV of ground at worst, which is about 1 mV of input (20 ÷ 19). Offset is the bigger error: 7 mV max × 19 = 133 mV at the output, or 57 mV typical (3 mV × 19). The LM358A's 3 mV maximum cuts the worst case to 57 mV. If you need 0 mV to read as 0, calibrate it out in firmware.
• TL072: TI's recommended input range starts at V− + 4 V, so on a 5 V supply the inputs have to sit between 4 V and 5.1 V. A 0 to 100 mV signal is far outside that. Don't use it here.
• 741: a single 5 V supply is below the recommended minimum on both TI sheets (µA741C ±5 V, which is 10 V in total; LM741C ±10 V), and its inputs need about 3 V from each rail anyway. Don't use it here.

2. Audio line driver: 10 V peak at 20 kHz on ±15 V

A sine wave of peak voltage Vp at frequency f needs a slew rate of at least 2π × f × Vp. Here that is 2π × 20,000 × 10 = 1.26 V/µs. Turned around, the highest frequency each part can deliver at 10 V peak without slew distortion is SR ÷ (2π × 10 V):

• 741: 0.5 V/µs ÷ 62.8 V gives about 8 kHz. Above that, a 10 V sine turns into a triangle.
• LM358: 0.3 V/µs gives about 4.8 kHz. ±15 V is also 30 V in total, the top of its recommended supply range.
• TL072: 20 V/µs typical gives about 318 kHz; even TI's 8 V/µs minimum gives 127 kHz.

The bandwidth figures agree. At a gain of 10 the closed-loop bandwidth is roughly GBW ÷ 10: about 70 kHz for the LM358 and about 525 kHz for the TL072 (300 kHz in PS/NS packages). For audio, the TL072 is the only one of the three with headroom.

3. Buffer a 10 MΩ source

A high-value divider, a piezo sensor or an electrode can have megohms of source resistance. The op-amp's input bias current flows through it and appears as an error voltage, I × R.

• 741 (LM741C): 80 nA × 10 MΩ = 0.8 V typical, and 500 nA × 10 MΩ = 5 V at the maximum. That swamps most signals.
• LM358: 20 nA × 10 MΩ = 0.2 V typical, 250 nA × 10 MΩ = 2.5 V at the maximum.
• TL072C: 65 pA × 10 MΩ = 0.65 mV typical, 200 pA × 10 MΩ = 2 mV at the maximum at 25 °C. The bias current rises with temperature, though: TI's maximum over 0 to 70 °C is 7 nA, which is 70 mV through 10 MΩ. That is still far better than the other two, but keep the part away from hot regulators.

4. Replacing a 741 in an old circuit

Say the board runs on ±12 V, the 741 is an inverting amplifier with a gain of 10, and the socket is a single 8-pin DIP.

• A TL072 or LM358 will not drop in, because the pinout is different (Figure 1). You would need an adapter or a rewired socket, and the second op-amp in the package needs its inputs tied off.
• A TL071 drops straight in on pins 2, 3, 4, 6 and 7. Check pins 1 and 5. If the board has an offset trimmer there, TI's DIP and SOIC TL071s mark those pins "do not connect", so remove the trimmer or leave it unconnected.
• ±12 V is 24 V in total, inside the TL071's recommended 4.5 to 40 V and inside the 741's range, so the supply needs no change.

• When one of these circuits misbehaves, check the inputs against the common-mode range first. A TL072 or 741 on one 5 V supply with the signal near 0 V is out of range before speed even matters.
• Tie off the spare half of a dual. Connect an unused LM358 or TL072 section as a follower (output to inverting input) with the non-inverting input at a voltage inside its input range. Left floating, it can oscillate and draw extra current.
• Don't expect the LM358 output to reach the top rail. On a 5 V supply it is guaranteed only to 3.5 V, which matters if it drives a 5 V logic input or an ADC reference.
• Fit a bypass capacitor at each supply pin. TI's LM358 layout guidance calls for a low-ESR 0.1 µF ceramic from each supply pin to ground, placed close to the pin, and the same habit suits the other two.
• On a 741 board, measure the supply. TI's LM741C sheet recommends at least ±10 V, so a 741 run from a single 9 V battery is outside its specified range even if it seems to work on the bench.

For a sensor or shunt on one 5 V or 12 V rail we'd use an LM358 (or the LM358B for the wider supply and extra speed) and calibrate the offset in firmware. For audio, filters or any high-impedance source on ±12 V or ±15 V we'd use a TL072, or a TL071 in a single socket. We'd keep the 741 for textbook circuits and repairs, and buy a TL071 when a 741 socket needs a new part.

Each part has its own page with packages, ratings and an application circuit: LM358, 741 and TL072. The op-amp limitations lesson explains slew rate, bias current and input range from the inside, and the non-inverting amplifier lesson works through the gain formula used in example 1.