• NE5532

    From Scott Dorsey@2:221/10 to Unknown on Wed Jun 3 16:25:02 2026
    So, now that the TI folks have die-shrunk the NE5532 and broken decades
    of designs that were optimized for those chips, what are the popular alternatives? We have so many circuits optimized for 22k input Z and
    8K output Z to get the lowest possible distortion.
    --scott
    --
    "C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

    ---
    * Origin: rbb pygate - the fidonet nntp junction (2:221/10.0)
  • From billy@2:221/10 to Unknown on Thu Jun 4 07:14:23 2026
    Scott Dorsey <kludge@panix.com> writes:

    So, now that the TI folks have die-shrunk the NE5532 and broken decades
    of designs that were optimized for those chips, what are the popular alternatives? We have so many circuits optimized for 22k input Z and
    8K output Z to get the lowest possible distortion.

    I don't know about popular but speaking of lowest possible distortion
    getting off 15 volt rails works for me.

    Billy Y..
    --
    rol -(sp) ; save carry
    .purge #lun.sr ; dump open .cstat channel
    ror (sp)+ ; pop carry

    ---
    * Origin: rbb pygate - the fidonet nntp junction (2:221/10.0)
  • From Scott Dorsey@2:221/10 to Unknown on Thu Jun 4 08:16:34 2026
    In article <10vr8kf$c98$1@reader1.panix.com>, <billy@MIX.COM> wrote:
    Scott Dorsey <kludge@panix.com> writes:

    So, now that the TI folks have die-shrunk the NE5532 and broken decades
    of designs that were optimized for those chips, what are the popular
    alternatives? We have so many circuits optimized for 22k input Z and
    8K output Z to get the lowest possible distortion.

    I don't know about popular but speaking of lowest possible distortion
    getting off 15 volt rails works for me.

    Well, the new "5532" now has +/-15V maximum, unlike the normal +/-22V ones.
    So I suspect they changed the process and not just the layout.

    Last night I did an open-loop Bode plot and the new chip doesn't have the
    three humps, so I am suspecting that this is more than just a process change and a die shrink, but it's also a complete topology change.
    --scott
    --
    "C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

    ---
    * Origin: rbb pygate - the fidonet nntp junction (2:221/10.0)
  • From Paul Babiak@2:221/10 to Unknown on Thu Jun 4 11:13:51 2026
    On 6/4/26 08:16, Scott Dorsey wrote:

    Well, the new "5532" now has +/-15V maximum, unlike the normal +/-22V ones.
    So I suspect they changed the process and not just the layout.

    Last night I did an open-loop Bode plot and the new chip doesn't have the
    three humps, so I am suspecting that this is more than just a process change and a die shrink, but it's also a complete topology change.
    --scott
    --
    EEVblog details the changes here:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=22ZmmZ67SMY



    ---
    * Origin: rbb pygate - the fidonet nntp junction (2:221/10.0)
  • From John Williamson@2:221/10 to Unknown on Thu Jun 4 16:41:33 2026
    On 04/06/2026 13:16, Scott Dorsey wrote:
    In article <10vr8kf$c98$1@reader1.panix.com>, <billy@MIX.COM> wrote:
    Scott Dorsey <kludge@panix.com> writes:

    So, now that the TI folks have die-shrunk the NE5532 and broken decades
    of designs that were optimized for those chips, what are the popular
    alternatives? We have so many circuits optimized for 22k input Z and
    8K output Z to get the lowest possible distortion.

    I don't know about popular but speaking of lowest possible distortion
    getting off 15 volt rails works for me.

    Well, the new "5532" now has +/-15V maximum, unlike the normal +/-22V ones. So I suspect they changed the process and not just the layout.

    Last night I did an open-loop Bode plot and the new chip doesn't have the three humps, so I am suspecting that this is more than just a process change and a die shrink, but it's also a complete topology change.
    --scott

    Looking at the number and type of the changes, should they not have
    changed the part number? Leaving aside those currently using it in new equipment, who can probably design round the changes, what happens when someone repairs an item and can't make it function as it should because
    the replacement chip is now, in effect, leaving the factory with faults?
    Or even blows up because the power rails are okay for the old version,
    but too high for the new one?

    --
    Tciao for Now!

    John.

    ---
    * Origin: rbb pygate - the fidonet nntp junction (2:221/10.0)
  • From Scott Dorsey@2:221/10 to Unknown on Thu Jun 4 14:39:15 2026
    John Williamson <johnwilliamson@btinternet.com> wrote:
    Looking at the number and type of the changes, should they not have
    changed the part number? Leaving aside those currently using it in new >equipment, who can probably design round the changes, what happens when >someone repairs an item and can't make it function as it should because
    the replacement chip is now, in effect, leaving the factory with faults?
    Or even blows up because the power rails are okay for the old version,
    but too high for the new one?

    They should have changed the part number.

    They should have warned customers.

    They should have given an opportunity for a last-chance buy.

    They should have done a lot of things rather than leave people to find
    out when their boards hit QA testing.
    --scott


    --
    "C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

    ---
    * Origin: rbb pygate - the fidonet nntp junction (2:221/10.0)
  • From Geoff@2:221/10 to Unknown on Fri Jun 5 13:16:22 2026
    On 5/06/2026 3:13 am, Paul Babiak wrote:
    On 6/4/26 08:16, Scott Dorsey wrote:

    Well, the new "5532" now has +/-15V maximum, unlike the normal +/-22V ones. So I suspect they changed the process and not just the layout.

    Last night I did an open-loop Bode plot and the new chip doesn't have the three humps, so I am suspecting that this is more than just a process
    change
    and a die shrink, but it's also a complete topology change.
    --scott

    Some online suppliers still showing NE5532 SOIC from ONSEMI with 3-20V
    spec.

    All the suppliers appear to have updated their specs to the max +/-15V
    for the TI versions.

    A good market developing for 'vintage' DIP8 ones ?!!!

    --
    geoff

    ---
    * Origin: rbb pygate - the fidonet nntp junction (2:221/10.0)
  • From Don Pearce@2:221/10 to Unknown on Wed Jul 22 15:03:30 2026
    On Thu, 4 Jun 2026 14:39:15 -0400 (EDT), kludge@panix.com (Scott
    Dorsey) wrote:

    John Williamson <johnwilliamson@btinternet.com> wrote:
    Looking at the number and type of the changes, should they not have >>changed the part number? Leaving aside those currently using it in new >>equipment, who can probably design round the changes, what happens when >>someone repairs an item and can't make it function as it should because >>the replacement chip is now, in effect, leaving the factory with faults? >>Or even blows up because the power rails are okay for the old version,
    but too high for the new one?

    They should have changed the part number.

    They should have warned customers.

    They should have given an opportunity for a last-chance buy.

    They should have done a lot of things rather than leave people to find
    out when their boards hit QA testing.
    --scott

    Have they sold the original tooling to anyone? I hope they haven't
    just dumped it

    d

    ---
    * Origin: rbb pygate - the fidonet nntp junction (2:221/10.0)
  • From Scott Dorsey@2:221/10 to All on Wed Jul 29 14:56:26 2026
    Don Pearce <spam@spam.com> wrote:
    On Thu, 4 Jun 2026 14:39:15 -0400 (EDT), kludge@panix.com (Scott
    They should have done a lot of things rather than leave people to find
    out when their boards hit QA testing.


    Have they sold the original tooling to anyone? I hope they haven't
    just dumped it

    The tooling itself is just masks... and if they don't have the masks they
    can fab new ones up from the drawings very easily.

    In fact, they could fab up masks easily from pictures of someone else's
    die... which is what NEC did to make copies of Intel products in the
    seventies until they got caught at it.

    Process parameters are more difficult because they ARE moving to a different process at a different fab line in a different country. I don't know how big an issue this is, but they are certainly moving to a newer and more advanced process with higher resolution. That should be a good thing, right? I don't know.
    --scott
    --
    "C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

    ---
    * Origin: rbb pygate - the fidonet nntp junction (2:221/10.0)
  • From Don Pearce@2:221/10 to All on Sat Aug 1 20:43:20 2026
    On Wed, 29 Jul 2026 14:56:26 -0400 (EDT), kludge@panix.com (Scott
    Dorsey) wrote:

    Don Pearce <spam@spam.com> wrote:
    On Thu, 4 Jun 2026 14:39:15 -0400 (EDT), kludge@panix.com (Scott
    They should have done a lot of things rather than leave people to find >>>out when their boards hit QA testing.


    Have they sold the original tooling to anyone? I hope they haven't
    just dumped it

    The tooling itself is just masks... and if they don't have the masks they >can fab new ones up from the drawings very easily.

    In fact, they could fab up masks easily from pictures of someone else's >die... which is what NEC did to make copies of Intel products in the >seventies until they got caught at it.

    Process parameters are more difficult because they ARE moving to a different >process at a different fab line in a different country. I don't know how big >an issue this is, but they are certainly moving to a newer and more advanced >process with higher resolution. That should be a good thing, right? I don't >know.
    --scott

    Well, for a given mask geometry, better resolution will mean cleaner
    edges etc. But low noise demands a bigger base area - the normal added
    noise vs added signal equations apply here. And voltage handling needs
    physical separation of collector and emitter. So although the device
    could be copied in new geometry, the fab process would have to be
    compromised to achieve the performance. So my guess is that production
    would really require recommissioning old fab stations.

    d

    ---
    * Origin: rbb pygate - the fidonet nntp junction (2:221/10.0)