All items tagged with circuit design (25)

Book Review: Burkhard Vogel’s Slopes and Levels. Spice Models to Simulate Vintage Op-Amp Noise

June 21, 2023 by Marcel van de Gevel

Book Review: Burkhard Vogel’s Slopes and Levels. Spice Models to Simulate Vintage Op-Amp Noise

Interested in accurately simulating the noise of op-amp circuits? Audio electronics expert Burkhard Vogel wrote a book that addresses this relevant topic for any audio circuit designer that doesn't want to rely just on manufacturers own models. In this review, Marcel van de Gevel explored the full book after he read Vogel's introduction, explaining that some manufacturer-supplied simulation models are way off.

Audio Myths: Why Narrow Bandwidth May Be Better

June 15, 2023 by Jan Didden

Audio Myths: Why Narrow Bandwidth May Be Better

Although feedback theory for electronic circuits has been established for over a century, it is still a subject for discussion. This short essay is an attempt to shed some light on one of those recurring controversies. The subject came up at the 154th Audio Engineering Society (AES) convention in Helsinki, Finland. Audio amplifiers are basically integrators or, if you will, low-pass filters. That means that at some frequency, their open-loop gain starts to fall off. With that, the loop gain available for feedback also starts to fall off, leading to a diminishing of the curative effects of feedback: distortion starts to rise, gain accuracy starts to drop, output impedance starts to go up, etcetera.

Nanusens Announces That It Can Now Create ASICs With Embedded Sensors

May 26, 2023 by audioXpress Staff

Nanusens Announces That It Can Now Create ASICs With Embedded Sensors

Nanusens has announced that it has successfully created a fully digital circuit design to measure the capacitance of its nanosensors. This means that both the sensor structure and its detection circuitry can be made at the same time within a chip using standard CMOS processes on whatever process node is required. As a result, ASICs can now be made with several different sensors embedded within them, helping to expand MEMS applications in hearables.

audioXpress March 2023 Test and Measurement Issue Now Available!

February 10, 2023 by audioXpress Staff

audioXpress March 2023 Test and Measurement Issue Now Available!

audioXpress March 2023 offers an overview of the latest solutions and trends in audio measurement. Stuart Yaniger reviews the new Echo AIO modular audio test system, Philipp P. Klose writes about measurements in automotive audio environments, and Steve Temme shares his knowledge on audio testing in the production line. René Christensen explores Lumped Element Modeling of Transducers, Chuck Hansen expands the topic of power transformer losses, and Ethan Winer concludes his two-part article about Modern PCB Design Practices.

Keysight Updates PathWave ADS Design and Simulation Software for Radio Frequency and Microwave Designers

June 30, 2022 by audioXpress Staff

Keysight Updates PathWave ADS Design and Simulation Software for Radio Frequency and Microwave Designers

Keysight Technologies has introduced the new PathWave Advanced Design System (ADS) 2023, an integrated design and simulation software that rapidly addresses increasing design complexity and higher frequencies in radio frequency (RF) and microwave applications. The updated design and simulation environment includes enhancements to electromagnetic (EM) simulation for circuit designers and streamlines integration of multi-technology circuit assembly and simulation into enterprise electronic design automation (EDA) design workflows.

You Can DIY! Building a Guitar-Controlled Synthesizer - The Sample & Hold Time Machine

May 25, 2022 by Ethan Winer

You Can DIY! Building a Guitar-Controlled Synthesizer - The Sample & Hold Time Machine

This article initiates a fascinating DIY journey through the world of synthesizers. More specifically, a guitar-controlled all-analog synthesizer project that includes a "time machine" sample & hold section, input signal detectors, noise gate, oscillators, envelope generators, filters, signal converters, and more. This first module is a sample and hold circuit designed to translate the guitar notes to equivalent oscillator frequencies.

Chord Electronics Announces Ultima Pre 3 Preamplifier

May 6, 2022 by audioXpress Staff

Chord Electronics Announces Ultima Pre 3 Preamplifier

Chord Electronics has announced an all-new ground-up-design analog preamplifier, the Ultima Pre 3. The new design harnesses more than 30 years of the company's amplifier-building expertise and takes advantage of the very latest developments in advanced low-distortion, switched-mode power supplies. According to the British company, coupled with the company’s latest circuit design, the Ultima Pre 3 offers exceptionally low noise and new levels of performance.

Magnachip Introduces High-Performance Synchronous Boost Converter for Battery-Powered Speakers

March 15, 2022 by Cristina Costa

Magnachip Introduces High-Performance Synchronous Boost Converter for Battery-Powered Speakers

Magnachip Semiconductor Corporation has released a synchronous boost converter with a new architecture of high-side and low-side switches that achieves a high efficiency to support for a variety of applications, including Bluetooth speakers and other battery-operated devices. The new synchronous boost converter is equipped with a fast transient response to reduce output voltage fluctuations in a short response time for stable power supply, making it ideally suited for devices which can exhibit significant current variations.

Audio Electronics - Cascodes, Folded Cascodes, and Current Mirrors (Part 3)

February 2, 2022 by Morty Tarr

Audio Electronics - Cascodes, Folded Cascodes, and Current Mirrors (Part 3)

For those readers following the fascinating article series by Morty Tarr on "Cascodes, Folded Cascodes, and Current Mirrors," this final article in the series contains an additional section with important aspects of amplifier design. In the first two parts of this article series, Tarr discussed the technical merits of cascodes and related circuits. This useful addendum covers a simple test circuit for matching FET devices, the fascinating story of the Blowtorch Line Stage design, and additional notes on inverting and non-inverting amplifier stages and integrators. This article was originally published in audioXpress, December 2021.

Audio Electronics: Cascodes, Folded Cascodes, and Current Mirrors (Part 2)

January 26, 2022 by Morty Tarr

Audio Electronics: Cascodes, Folded Cascodes, and Current Mirrors (Part 2)

In Part 1 of this three-part article about circuit topologies that are used to provide specific functions for an amplifier design, the author discussed cascodes and folded cascodes. In this Part 2, he focuses on current mirrors and line stages. As the author writes, “As designers, we have many devices to choose from. Some devices are ideally suited to certain tasks. Other tasks require performance that is difficult to achieve. While many excellent devices exist today, ideal devices do not exist, except maybe in Spice simulations.” This article was originally published in audioXpress, October 2021.

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