Question: Related to [What's the uA741's appeal?](https://electronics.stackexchange.com/questions/8253/whats-the-ua741s-appeal), a lot of schematics use this rather dated opamp. My follow-up question would be: What is a good alternative?

Of course if you have specific requirements you just search for the correct part. What I'm talking about is, what should be the default opamp I stock in my parts bin?

Imagine the average hobby project with a breadboard and an Arduino, single-supply, probably 5V, frequencies in the audio spectrum, and accidental shorts.

It should just be a nice, single-ended, well behaved (no phase reversal) opamp with a large voltage swing (preferably rail-to-rail), and reasonable performance for audio.

Some comments on the linked question mention LM358 and LM324, but I've read the low slew-rate may be bad for audio, which is what most of my analogue signals are.

Answer: 
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> what should be the default opamp I stock in my parts bin?
> 
> 
> 

It's a failure on your part to think that there is a default op-amp that suits most applications. It's as simple as that. It's also a failure to limit what you think are the important parameters to those that you have stated.

There are many important parameters that may be important to a particular target application but, these parameters may be of no-consequence to a different application. 

Examples are, but not limited to: -

* Input offset voltage
* Input offset voltage drift with temperature
* Input bias and offset currents
* Input common mode range
* Input impedance (resistance and capacitance)
* PSRR
* CMRR
* Phase margin
* Input equivalent voltage and current noises
* Ability to operate down to 1.8 volts on power supply
* Operating current
* Output impedance versus frequency
* Open loop gain

Your question is asking about the uA741 yet you quote a general application that would run on 5 volts - are you aware that the minimum recommended power supply is sometimes as high +/-10 volts with some hints in some data sheets that +/- 5 volts will be OK. 

The ST uA741 is quoted to run at 5 volts but this is the exception rather than the rule.
Ne5532 is a good all purpose opamp. Tda1308 is another one for good low voltage application. It has poorer DC performance however.