The Kynix Blog - Amplifiers

Introduction The operational amplifier has a non-inverting input terminal and an inverting input terminal in the electronic circuit. The polarity of the input terminal and the output terminal are the same is a non-inverting amplifier, and the polarity of the input terminal and the output terminal are opposite called inverting amplifier. The inverting amplifier circuit has the function of amplifying the input signal as inverting output. Inverting Op Amp and The Concept of Virtual Ground in Op Amp Catalog Introduction Ⅰ Inverting Amplifier Basics Overview 1.1 Working Principle 1.2 Inverting Amplifier Gain Calculator 1.3 Inverting Amplifier Features 1.4 Inverting Amplifier Functions Ⅱ Inverting Amplifier Applications Ⅲ Inverting Amplifier Explain with Diagrams: NE5532 Ⅳ Inverting Amplifier Circuit Design Steps Ⅴ FAQ Ⅰ Inverting Amplifier Basics Overview 1.1 Working Principle As shown in Figure 1, the inverting amplifier circuit has the function of amplifying the input signal as inverting output. "Inverting" means that the positive and negative signs are reversed. This amplifier uses negative feedback technology, which used to return a part of the output signal to the input. In Figure, the wiring method of connecting the output Vout to the inverting input terminal (-) via R2 is negative feedback. Figure 1. Inverting Amplifier Circuit Operational amplifiers have such characteristics. When the power supply voltage is not applied to the output terminal, the non-inverting input terminal (+) and the inverting input terminal (-) are considered to have the same voltage, that is to say, it can be regarded as a virtual short circuit. Therefore, when the positive input terminal (+) is 0V, the voltage at output is also 0V.The input impedance of the operational amplifier is extremely high, and there is basically no current in the inverting input terminal (-). Therefore, when the current flows to R2, the I1 and I2 are basically equal. Based on the above conditions, using Ohm's Law for R2, we get Vout=-I1xR2. I1 is negative because I2 flows from point A where the voltage is 0V. From another point of view, when the input voltage of the inverting input terminal (-) rises, the output will be inverted and amplified greatly in the negative direction. Since the output voltage in the negative direction is connected to the inverting input terminal via R2, the voltage rise of the inverting input terminal (-) will be blocked. Both the inverting input terminal and the non-inverting input terminal voltage become 0V, and the output voltage is stable.   1.2 Inverting Amplifier Gain Calculator Calculate the gain through the relationship between the input and output in this amplifier circuit. The gain of an inverting op amp is the ratio of the feedback resistance to the input resistance, that is, the ratio of Vout to Vin, and the formula is Vout/Vin= (-I1xR2) /(I1xR1)=-R2/R1. The resulting gain is negative, indicating that the waveform is inverting.The current flowing through R1: I1=(Vi-V-)/R1...aThe current flowing through R2: I2=(V--Vout)/R2……bV-=V+=0………………cI1=I2……………………dSolve the above algebraic equations to get Vout=(-R2/R1)*Vi.This is the input and output relationship of the inverting amplifier circuit.   1.3 Inverting Amplifier Features It can reduce the input impedance or keep a certain value.It can be used as a current input type.Virtual short-circuit point is generated at a certain potential.Its positive input port is free.If the signal source impedance is low, it is easier to obtain a required S/N.The magnification is -Rf/R.   1.4 Inverting Amplifier Functions The inverting amplifier is the basic gain stage in the CMOS circuit. It adopts a common source structure, and the load can be an active load or a current source.Advantages: The potential of the two input terminals is always approximately zero (the non-inverting terminal is grounded, and the inverting terminal is virtual ground). With only differential mode signals,it has strong anti-interference ability.Disadvantages: The input impedance is very small, equal to the resistance of the series resistance from the signal to the input.   Ⅱ Inverting Amplifier Applications Figure 2. Basic Inverting Amplifier Circuit 1) As a IntegratorThe original resistor R2 of the inverting amplifier is replaced by a capacitor C2. At this time, the relationship between the input signal Vi and the output signal Vo forms an integral relationship.2) As a DifferentiatorReplace the original resistor R1 of the inverting amplifier with an electric capacitor C. At this time, the relationship between the input signal Vi and the output signal Vo is differential.3) As a AdderIf the inverting amplifier is slightly changed, the relationship between the input signal and the output signal Vo at this time, if R1 = R2 = R3 =...= Rn = Rf, it can be simplified to Vo = -(V1+V2+V3+.. .+Vn), is additive.   Ⅲ Inverting Amplifier Explain with Diagrams: NE5532 The equivalent resistance seen between the input terminal and the ground of the inverting amplifier circuit is equal to the equivalent resistance between the input terminal and the virtual ground, so the input resistance of the circuit is Ri=R. It can be seen that although the input resistance of the ideal operational amplifier is infinite, the input resistance of the inverting proportional arithmetic circuit is not large because of the parallel negative feedback introduced by the circuit. Figure 3. NE5532 Audio Amplfier Circuit In order to increase the input resistance, R must be increased. For example, when the scale factor is -50, if Ri=10kΩ, R should be 10kΩ and Rf should be 500kΩ. If Ri=100kΩ, R should be 100kΩ and Rf should be 5MΩ. In fact, when the resistance in the circuit is too large, on the one hand, due to the process, the stability of the resistance is poor and the noise is large, on the other hand, when the resistance is of the same order of magnitude as the input resistance of the integrated op amp, the proportional coefficient -Rf/R of the circuit will change greatly, and its value will not only be determined by the feedback network. Therefore, it is necessary for practical applications to use a resistor with a smaller resistance value to get a larger scale factor and a larger input resistance.Look at the following two simulations: Figure 4. Current and Voltage Measuring From above, it doesn't matter without R0, take a look at this below. Figure 5. Current and Voltage Measuring Their output is different, if the expected result is -4V. The reading value -3.608V obviously does not meet the design requirements. We now know that the resistance value of Rs in Figure 5 is orders of magnitude greater than the input resistance of the integrated operational amplifier. Next, if have R0, look at the picture below. Figure 6. Current and Voltage Measuring It can be seen from Figure 6 that after adding R0, the output of the op amp is normal. Why is this?In a TTL circuit, the transistor has a bias current, which will produce a DC voltage drop on the feedback resistor of the e pole. Although it is small, the amplifier has a high amplification factor, which affects the output accuracy greatly. A resistor in the same value as the negative terminal is connected to the positive terminal to cancel the effect of the bias current.R0 is a compensation resistor, which minimizes the bias current error to ensure the symmetry of the differential amplifier circuit of the input stage. When its value is u=0 (that is, the input terminal is grounded), the inverting input terminal is always the equivalent resistance, that is, the parallel connection of the resistance of each branch, so R0=Rs/Rf, through Rf in the circuit, induce negative feedback. According to practical experience, it is best to add a compensation resistor to improve the stability of the circuit. Of course, it can be omitted under normal circumstances.   Ⅳ Inverting Amplifier Circuit Design Steps Inverting amplifiers are several commonly used amplifier types. How to use operational amplifiers design inverting amplifier circuit? The following sharing is the detailed steps.Step 1: Determine the magnification.As shown in the figure below, the amplification factor of the inverting amplifier is (-R2/R1). Figure 7. Determine the Magnification Step 2: Determine the supply voltage.Ensure that the output voltage after the input voltage Vin is multiplied by the amplification factor (-R2/R1) will not exceed the power supply voltage. If it is not the rail-to-rail operational amplifier used, it is better to have a margin of 1~2V. Figure 8. Determine the Supply Voltage Step 3: Determine the gain bandwidth product (GBW).If you are amplifying an AC signal, you need to consider the gain bandwidth product. The calculation formula is: bandwidth of input signal × design gain, select an operational amplifier whose GBW is greater than the required one. Step 4: Check the bandwidth with the slew rate (SR).If the amplifying is a large AC signal, there may be insufficient bandwidth, and it may not be accurate enough to calculate based on the gain-bandwidth product.SR = 2*pi*f*Vp -> f = SR/(2*pi*Vp), where Vp: peak output voltage.If the calculated value f is less than the input voltage frequency, the operational amplifier is not suitable and needs to be replaced. The actual bandwidth should be the smaller of the gain bandwidth product and the slew rate. Step 5: Determine the input offset voltage.Since the offset voltage is also a DC signal, if it is to amplify the DC signal, it should be noted that the offset voltage will also be amplified by the corresponding multiple. If the accuracy is high, try to choose an operational amplifier with a small offset voltage. Step 6: Determine the resistance value.In step 1, the ratio of R1 and R2 has been determined. R1 is generally 1k~10k. A small value is prone to cause gain errors, and a larger value will increase noise (resistor thermal noise). R2 takes the resistance value corresponding to the multiple of R1.It is better to choose the chip resistor, because the parasitic parameters are small.R3=R1/R2, if R1 and R2 are connected in parallel, which are not required.   Ⅴ FAQ 1. What is the inverting amplifier?An inverting op amp is an operational amplifier circuit with an output voltage that changes in the opposite direction as the input voltage. In other words, it is out of phase by 180o。   2. What is inverting amplifier and its application?The inverting amplifier is an important circuit configuration using op-amps and it uses a negative feedback connection. An inverting amplifier, like the name suggests, inverts the input signal as wells as amplifies it.   3. How does an inverting amplifier circuit work?In an inverting amplifier circuit, the operational amplifier inverting input receives feedback from the output of the amplifier. Assuming the op-amp is ideal and applying the concept of virtual short at the input terminals of op-amp, the voltage at the inverting terminal is equal to non-inverting terminal.   4. What are the applications of inverting amplifier?op-amp inverting amplifier. Op amp summing amplifier: Based around the inverting amplifier circuit with its virtual earth summing point, this circuit is ideal for summing audio inputs. It is widely used in audio mixer and many other applications where voltages need to be summed.   5. Why is it called inverting amplifier?It is called Inverting Amplifier because the op-amp changes the phase angle of the output signal exactly 180 degrees out of phase with respect to input signal. Same as like before, we use two external resistors to create feedback circuit and make a closed loop circuit across the amplifier.   6. What are the characteristics of inverting amplifier?1) No Current Flows into the Input Terminals.2) The Differential Input Voltage is Zero as V1 = V2 = 0 (Virtual Earth)   7. What is the formula of inverting amplifier?One final point to note about the Inverting Amplifier configuration for an operational amplifier, if the two resistors are of equal value, Rin = Rƒ then the gain of the amplifier will be -1 producing a complementary form of the input voltage at its output as Vout = -Vin.   8. What are advantages and disadvantages of inverting amplifier?Advantages and Disadvantages of Inverting AmplifierIt follows the negative feedback. The gain factor of these amplifiers is very high. The output generated will be out of phase with the applied input signal. The potential values at both the inverting and the non-inverting terminals maintained at zero.   9. What are the advantages of inverting amplifier?The op amp circuit for the inverting amplifier offers many advantages including relatively low input impedance, a low output impedance and the level of gain that is required (within the limits of the op amp and the gain required from the overall circuit.   10. What is the use of inverting amplifier?The inverting amplifier is an important circuit configuration using op-amps and it uses a negative feedback connection. An inverting amplifier, like the name suggests, inverts the input signal as wells as amplifies it.   11. What is mean by inverting amplifier?An inverting amplifier takes an input signal and turns it upside down at the op amp output. When the value of the input signal is positive, the output of the inverting amplifier is negative, and vice versa. ... The amount of amplification depends on the ratio between the feedback and input resistor values.   12. How an opamp is used as inverting amplifier?Theory: An inverting amplifier using opamp is a type of amplifier using opamp where the output waveform will be phase opposite to the input waveform. The input waveform will be amplifier by the factor Av (voltage gain of the amplifier) in magnitude and its phase will be inverted.   13. What is an inverting amplifier used for?op-amp inverting amplifier. Op amp summing amplifier: Based around the inverting amplifier circuit with its virtual earth summing point, this circuit is ideal for summing audio inputs. It is widely used in audio mixer and many other applications where voltages need to be summed.   14. How does an inverting amplifier work?An inverting amplifier takes an input signal and turns it upside down at the op amp output. When the value of the input signal is positive, the output of the inverting amplifier is negative, and vice versa.   15. What is the gain of an inverting amplifier?The gain of inverting amplifier is Av= – Rf/Ri.

Introduction The audio power amplifier, also called power amp, is a sound-producing device that reconstructs the input audio signal on the output element. The reconstructed signal volume and power level must be idea, effective and low distortion. The audio frequency range is about 20Hz to 20000Hz, so the amplifier must have a good frequency response in this range. Depending on the application, the power level varies greatly, from the milliwatt level of earphones to the several watts of TV or PC audio, to the tens of watts of home stereo and car audio, to the more powerful home and commercial audio, even the system’s hundreds of watts are large enough to meet the sound requirements of the movie theater or auditorium. Catalog Introduction Ⅰ What is Audio Power Amplifier? Ⅱ Types of Audio Power Amplifiers 2.1 Class A Power Amplifier 2.2 Class B Power Amplifier 2.3 Class AB Power Amplifier 2.4 Class D Power Amplifier Ⅲ Audio Power Amplifiers Comparisons Ⅳ Audio Power Amplifier Circuit Architecture Ⅴ Typical Audio Amplifier Circuits Examples Ⅵ FAQ Ⅰ What is Audio Power Amplifier? Audio power amplifier is one of the important components of multimedia products and is widely used in the field of consumer electronics. Linear audio power amplifiers have always dominated the traditional audio amplifier market due to their low distortion and good sound quality. With the popularization of portable multimedia devices such as mobile phones, tablet PC, and notebook computers, the efficiency and volume of linear power amplifiers can meet the requirements of the market, for example, class D power amplifiers have become more and more popular for their advantages such as high efficiency and small size.The development of audio amplifier has experienced three generations of electron tube (vacuum tube), bipolar transistor and field effect tube. The tube audio amplifier has a mellow tone, but it is bulky, with the disadvantages of high power consumption, extremely unstable, and poor high-frequency response. Bipolar transistor audio amplifiers have bandwidth, large dynamic range, high reliability, long life, and high-frequency response, but its static power consumption and on-resistance are very large, so it is difficult to improve its efficiency. The FET audio amplifier has the same mellow tone as the electronic tube, and its dynamic range is wide, and more importantly, its on-resistance is small, which can achieve very high efficiency. audio power amplifier" width="410" height="250" /> Figure 1. Hi-Fi Audio Power Amplifier Ⅱ Types of Audio Power Amplifiers There are many types of audio power amplifiers, and more than ten modes of it commonly used, such as Class A, Class B, Class AB, Class C, Class D, Class E, Class F, Class G, Class H, and Class S, but only four types suitable for audio applications: Class A, Class B, Class AB and Class D. 2.1 Class A Power Amplifier The main feature of the Class A power amp is: The operating point Q of the amplifier is set near the midpoint of the load line, and the transistor is turned on during the entire cycle of the input signal. The amplifier can work in a single tube or push-pull state. Since the amplifier works in the linear range of the characteristic curve, transient and alternating distortion are small. The circuit is simple and the debugging is convenient. Class A power amplifiers only need one transistor to provide current to the load, and the conduction angle is 360°C during a complete signal cycle. This kind of power amplifier has low distortion, but often requires a large static current and is low in efficiency. Theoretically, the maximum working efficiency of a class A power amplifier is 25%, so a heat sink is required when working. 2.2 Class B Power Amplifier Class B power amplifier is composed of two complementary transistors. In a complete signal cycle, each amplifier tube will be turned on in one half cycle and turned off in the other half cycle, that is, the conduction angle is only 180°C. Because it has no static current, it has a higher efficiency. In theory, the maximum efficiency of a Class B power amplifier can reach 78%. However, when the input signal is close to zero, the amplifier tube has a critical conduction state, resulting in crossover distortion. 2.3 Class AB Power Amplifier Class AB power amplifier inserts two diodes into the input end of the Class B power amplifier. When the input is close to zero, the amplifier tube has been slightly turned on, so that the conduction angle of each amplifier tube is greater than 180°C and less than 360°C. It overcomes the crossover distortion of Class B power amplifiers, and the efficiency is between Class A and Class B power amplifiers, based on a common structure of traditional linear power amplifiers. However, the medium output voltage is usually far away from the power supply voltage, and a lot of power consumption is consumed in the transistor. Therefore, even a well-designed amplifier, its efficiency is still low. 2.4 Class D Power Amplifier Class D (digital audio power) power amplifier is a kind of input analog audio signal or PCM digital information into PWM (pulse brightness modulation) or PDM (pulse density modulation) pulse signals, which is used to control the amplifier power switching devices turn on/off audio power amplifiers, also known as switching amplifiers. It has the outstanding advantage of high efficiency.The output stage of the Class D power amplifier consists of two complementary power tubes. Driven by the high-frequency control pulse signal, the power tubes work in the on-off state. One is turned on and the other is turned off. Therefore, the amplifier does not require static power consumption, that is, it has a very high efficiency. In theory, the efficiency of Class D power amplifiers can reach 100%, but in fact it is over 80%, which is 2 to 3 times that of traditional linear power amplifiers.The digital audio power amplifier also looks like a one-bit power digital-to-analog converter. The amplifier is composed of four parts: input signal processing circuit, switching signal forming circuit, high-power switching circuit (half-bridge and full-bridge) and low-pass filter (LC). In electronics, Class D amplifiers use a very high frequency switch circuit to amplify the audio signal. DIY Class D Audio Amplifier Class D amplifiers have the following advantages:1) It has a high efficiency, usually above 85%.2) Small size, which can save a lot of space than analog amplifier circuits.3) Connection without crack noise.4) Have low distortion and good frequency response curve. Few peripheral components, easy to design and debug.   Ⅲ Audio Power Amplifiers Comparisons 1) Class A, B, and AB amplifiers are analog amplifiers, and class D amplifiers are digital amplifiers. 2) Class B and Class AB push-pull amplifiers have higher efficiency and less distortion than Class A amplifiers, and their transistors consume less power and have better heat dissipation. However, Class B amplifiers will have poor switching characteristics during the transition between transistor on and off states or cause alternate distortion due to improper selection of circuit parameters. 3) The Class D amplifier has high efficiency and low distortion, a good frequency response curve, and fewer peripheral components. 4) Class AB amplifier and Class D amplifier are the basic circuit forms of audio power amplifiers at present. Figure 2. Amplifier Circuit Example Ⅳ Audio Power Amplifier Circuit Architecture The purpose of audio amplifier is to reproduce the audio input signal with high efficiency and low distortion on the sound output element at the required volume and power level. The frequency range of the audio signal is 20 Hz to 20000 Hz, so the audio amplifier must have a good frequency response. Audio amplifiers usually consist of preamplifiers and power amplifiers.PreamplifierThe amplitude of the audio signal source signal is generally very small and cannot directly drive the power amplifier. Therefore, they must be amplified to a certain condition first, which requires the use of a preamplifier. In addition to the signal amplification function, it can also have functions such as volume adjustment, tone control, loudness control, and channel equalization.Power amplifierThe power amplifier is referred to as the power amplifier for short, and its purpose is to provide the load with a large enough current drive capability to achieve power amplification. Class D power amplifier works in the on-off state. In theory, it does not require static current and has high efficiency.The topological structure of a typical Class D power amplifier circuit is shown in Figure 2: It consists of a triangle wave generator, a comparator, a power output stage and an LC low-pass filter. Figure 3. Class D Power Amplifier Circuit Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of the working principle of a Class D power amplifier. The sine wave audio input signal and the triangular wave signal with a much higher frequency are modulated by the comparator to obtain a PWM modulation signal whose duty cycle is proportional to the amplitude of the input signal. It pushes the output power tube to work in the on-off state. The output end of the tube obtains an output signal with a constant duty cycle. The amplitude of the output signal is the power supply voltage and has a strong current drive capability. After signal modulation, the output signal contains both the input signal and the fundamental component of the modulated triangle wave, as well as their higher harmonics and combinations. After LC low-pass filtering, the high-frequency components in the output signal are filtered out, and a low-frequency signal with the same frequency and amplified amplitude as the original audio signal is obtained on the load.   Ⅴ Typical Audio Amplifier Circuits Examples The following is a brief introduction of AN7115 audio power amplifier circuit. Figure 4. AN7115 Audio Amplifier Circuit AN7115 has an output power of 2.1W and a noise output of 3mV under the conditions of V=9.0V, THD=10%, and RL=8Ω.Limit parameters: Vcc=13V, power dissipation (without radiator) is 1.2W, and 2.25W with a radiator. Working temperature: -20℃ to 70℃, suitable for small portable radio recorders and audio equipment as power amplifiers. TDA2030 adopts V-shaped 5-pin single in-line plastic package structure. According to the shape of the pin, it can be divided into H-type and V-type. This integrated circuit is widely used in car stereo radio and tape recorders and mid-power audio equipment. It has the characteristics of small size, high output power, low distortion, etc., and has an internal protection circuit. Circuit characteristics are as followed: Figure 5. TDA2030 Audio Power Amplifier Circuit 1) Very few external components.2) The output power is large, Po=18W (RL=4Ω).3) The use of ultra-small package (TO-220) can increase the assembly density.4) The boot impact is minimal.5) It contains various protection circuits, so it is safe and reliable to work. The main protection circuits include: short circuit protection, thermal protection, ground wire coupling open circuit, power supply polarity reverse connection (Vsmax=12V), and load discharge voltage kickback, etc. Figure 6. Mini Audio Power Amplifier Ⅵ FAQ 1. What is audio power amplifier?An audio power amplifier (or power amp) is an electronic amplifier that amplifies low-power electronic audio signals such as the signal from radio receiver or electric guitar pickup to a level that is high enough for driving loudspeakers or headphones. Audio power amplifiers are found in all manner of sound systems including sound reinforcement, public address and home audio systems and musical instrument amplifiers like guitar amplifiers.   2. How do audio amplifiers work?An amplifier takes an input signal from a source, such as a laptop, turntable or CD player, and creates a larger copy of the original signal before it's sent to the speakers. It gets the power to do this from your mains electricity, which is sent directly to the power supply within the amplifier.   3. What does an audio power amplifier do?An audio power amplifier (or power amp) is an electronic amplifier that amplifies low-power electronic audio signals such as the signal from radio receiver or electric guitar pickup to a level that is high enough for driving loudspeakers or headphones.   4. What is the most powerful audio amplifier?Classic audio brand McIntosh has announced its most powerful integrated amplifier. The fully loaded, hybrid MA12000 Integrated Amplifier is McIntosh's most powerful integrated amplifier ever offering 350W per channel.   5. Do you need amplifier for speakers?Powered speakers do not need an amplifier. They have an amplifier already installed in them which is why they are called 'powered speakers' to begin with. Depending on the speakers' input options, you can hook them up to different audio sources without the need for a separate amplifier.   6. Does an amplifier improve sound quality?Amplifiers ideally amplify audio signals linearly and, therefore, do not technically improve or worsen sound quality. However, less-than-ideal amplifiers, amp settings and amplifier-speaker combinations may worsen sound quality. Amps are nevertheless needed to drive speakers and headphones properly.   7. Why do I need a power amplifier?Some users prefer to separate input switching and AV processing from the task of providing power for, and connection of, loudspeakers through separate AV preamp/processors and power amplifiers. ... A separate preamp and power amp results in more equipment and cable clutter.   8. Which is better power amplifier or integrated amplifier?A preamplifier / power amp does generally offer better quality; while flat output has become common place, keeping your switching circuitry separate from your amplification and having two separate power supplies can reduce the internal interference that can be introduced into your signal.   9. What is a home audio amplifier?A home theater amplifier (also known as an audio-visual receiver or simply an AVR) is a powerful piece of kit that combines amplifiers and digital signal processors to convert output from a range of source devices into high quality sound and video. In short, it is the hub of a home theater set up.   10. What is the most powerful audio amplifier?Classic audio brand McIntosh has announced its most powerful integrated amplifier. The fully loaded, hybrid MA12000 Integrated Amplifier is McIntosh's most powerful integrated amplifier ever offering 350W per channel.   11. What is the purpose of an audio amplifier?The goal of audio amplifiers is to reproduce input audio signals at sound-producing output elements, with desired volume and power levels—faithfully, efficiently, and at low distortion.   12. What do you mean by audio amplifier?Any electronic device that increases the power of an electrical signal whose vibrations are confined to the audio frequency range—the range that can be perceived by the human ear—is an audio amplifier.

For so many years, tube amplifier has always been a “controversial” component in the electronic field, people are attracted by its premium sound quality but discouraged by its price.   Today we are going to talk about tube amplifiers, to understand what this device is, why its price is so much higher than other amplifiers, what are its advantages and disadvantages compared with other amplifiers, and so on. Catalog I. What is a Tube Amplifier? II. Pros and Cons of Tube Amplifier? III. How Does the Tube Amplifier Work? IV. Tube Amplifier VS Solid State Amplifier? V. Tube Amplifier VS Transistor Amplifier? VI. Things Needing Attention While Using a Tube Amplifier VII. Why is Tube Amplifier So Expensive? Is It Worth It? VIII. How to Extend the Life of   the Tube Amplifier?    FAQ I. What is a Tube Amplifier? The tube amplifier is one of the earliest electrical signal amplifiers.   The cathode electron emission part, the control grid, the acceleration grid, and the anode (panel) lead enclosed in a glass container (generally a glass tube) are welded to the tube base.   The electric field is used to inject an electronic modulation signal into the control grid in the vacuum, and the signal data of different parameters after signal amplification or feedback oscillation is obtained at the anode.   Tube amplifiers were used in electronic products such as televisions and radio amplifiers in the early days. In recent years, they have been gradually replaced by amplifiers and integrated circuits made of semiconductor materials. However, in some high-fidelity audio equipment, tube amplifiers with low noise and high stability coefficient are still used. II. Pros and Cons of Tube Amplifier? Pros: 1. The tube amplifier has a large input dynamic range and a fast conversion rate.   2. Electronic tube amplifiers mostly use discrete components, manual wiring, and welding, which are low in efficiency and high in cost. This is especially obvious in developed countries.   3. The open loop index of the tube amplifier is better than that of the transistor amplifier. It does not need deep negative feedback and can work stably without adding phase compensation capacitors, so its dynamic index is better.   4. The sound quality of the tube amplifier is generally soft and pleasant. More specifically, the low-frequency sound of the tube amplifier is soft and clear, and the high-frequency sound is slender and clean. The performance of human voice is its strong point.   5. The treble of the tube amplifier is smoother, has enough air, and has a sound coloring that quite a few people like. The soft and slightly fuzzy sound is very beautiful.   6. The tube amplifier mainly causes even-numbered second harmonics. This harmonic component is very pleasing, just like adding rich overtones and beautifying the sound.   Cons: 1. The service life of the tube amplifier is relatively low, and some technical indicators will drop significantly after one to two thousand hours of use.   2. The tube amplifier consumes high power and often works in Class A state, which reduces the efficiency. However, there are basically no harmful sound quality factors such as transient intermodulation distortion, switching distortion and crossover distortion.   3. The tube amplifier is not at all superior to the transistor amplifier in terms of weight, efficiency, and lifespan.   4. In use, the tube amplifier should have good ventilation and heat dissipation. Overheating of the temperature will inevitably shorten the life of the tube amplifier, so it is necessary to keep the temperature of the tube amplifier as low as possible.   5. Vibration is not good for tube amplifiers, so it is important to take anti-vibration measures to avoid vibration as much as possible. III. How Does the Tube Amplifier Work? This is a basic overview of some of the components of a tube guitar amp and how they work, without getting too technical. IV. Tube Amplifier VS Solid State Amplifier? A solid-state amplifier converts an electrical signal into an audio wave using transistor circuitry. Instrumental amplifiers have two amplification stages: the preamp stage at the beginning of the circuit and the power amp stage at the end.    The physical difference between a solid-state amp and a tube amp is that a solid-state machine employs electronic transistors for amplification, whereas a tube amp employs vacuum tubes (also known as valves). Transistors differ from tubes in that they do not deform pleasantly when pushed to their limits.   The key difference between tube amplifier and solid state amplifier is: solid-state amplifiers are ideal for guitarists that require a lot of power (a.k.a a loud, clean, undistorted signal). However, without any natural distortion, an electric guitar can sound brittle. As a result, solid-state amplifiers are more popular among bassists and keyboard players than guitarists. Compared with tube amp, solid-state amp has several advantages: 1.    They are less expensive. Almost all solid-state amplifiers are less expensive than tube amplifiers. They have fewer parts and the ones they do have are reasonably inexpensive.  2.    They are less bulky. Weight can be an issue if you're a gigging musician who needs to transport an amp around town. Tube amplifiers are almost always heavier than solid-state amplifiers. This is due to the circuitry necessary to operate the glass tubes, not the glass tubes themselves (which are hollow). 3.    They require less maintenance. Tube amplifiers need routine maintenance. Most gigging guitarists replace their power tubes once a year and their preamp tubes every two years. Solid-state amplifiers, on the other hand, do not require part switching. They can function for decades with all of their original components. V. Tube Amplifier VS Transistor Amplifier? A transistor amplifier, as the name implies, is used to amplify power, voltage, or current signals. It has a common emitter amplifier, a common collector amplifier, and a common base amplifier. This is the most basic. There are also differential, push-pull, and so on. The audio is actually a power (transistor) amplifier. The difference between transistor amplifier and tube amplifier: 1. Working characteristics and circuit structures are different Transistor amplifiers work under low voltage and high currents. The working voltage of transistor power amplifiers is within tens of volts, and the current reaches several amperes or tens of amperes. In the circuit design, direct-coupled (OCL, BTL, etc.) non-output transformer circuits are mostly used. The output power can be very large, up to several hundred watts, and the various electrical properties are very high. The tube amplifier works under high voltage and low current conditions. The screen voltage of the final power amplifier tube can reach 400-500V or even thousands of volts, and the current flowing through the electron tube is only tens of milliamps to hundreds of milliamps. The input range is too large and the conversion rate is fast. Most of the tube amplifiers use discrete components, manual wiring, and welding, which are low in efficiency and high in cost. Transistor amplifiers mostly use a combination of transistors and integrated circuits, and printed circuit boards are widely used, with high efficiency, stable soldering quality, and high electrical performance indicators. 2. Power reserve and anti-overload ability are different The dynamic range of the high-fidelity amplifier should be 120dB, so as to meet the needs of the sound from the slightest to the peak of the climax, the amplifier output is not clipped, so the amplifier must have sufficient power reserve. If the dynamic range of the audio voltage is 3:1, since the power is proportional to the square of the voltage, the power dynamic range is 9:1. That is to say, a power amplifier with a power of 90W can only be turned on to 10W to achieve high-fidelity playback. Therefore, the transistor amplifier needs a large power reserve to avoid overload distortion. Once the ground is loaded, its distortion will almost rise in a vertical line, which can damage the transistor in severe cases. The anti-overload capability of the tube amplifier is far stronger than that of the transistor amplifier. In case of overload, the peak of the music signal only becomes slippery than the normal waveform, and the sound is not deformed much. For transistor amplifiers, clipping will occur at this time, and the sound quality will deteriorate significantly. 3. Efficiency, life, and cost are different Tube amplifiers are not superior to transistor amplifiers in terms of weight, efficiency, and lifespan. The service life of the electron tube is relatively low, and some technical indicators will drop significantly after one to two thousand hours of use. The lifetime of transistors and integrated circuits is much longer. In addition, the tube amplifier consumes high power and often works in the Class A state, which reduces the efficiency. However, there are no harmful sound quality factors such as transient intermodulation distortion, switching distortion, and crossover distortion. In terms of cost, for the same grade of amplifiers, tube amplifiers are generally significantly higher than transistor amplifiers. The main reasons are the high cost of electronic tubes and output transformers, and the production process of electronic tube power amplifiers is not easy to automate, and the production efficiency is low. 4. Different sound quality The sound quality of the tube amplifier is significantly better than that of the transistor amplifier. Transistor power amplifiers have a sense of overwhelming when listening to high and medium and high frequencies, and less low frequencies. Transistor power amplifiers sound hard, especially low-frequency sounds are not soft enough, and high-frequency sounds are sharp and dry. Sometimes it sounds like there is crossover distortion in the high-frequency range. These phenomena become more obvious when the frequency increases and the volume is louder. However, the transistor amplifier has large dynamics and high speed, which is especially suitable for music with greater dynamics. As for the sound effects of guns and lightning, it is certainly better than a tube amplifier. Generally speaking, the sound quality of the tube amplifier is soft and pleasant. Specifically, the low-frequency sound of the tube amplifier is soft and clear, and the high-frequency sound is slender and clean. The performance of the human voice is its strong point, and therefore it is more valuable. All in all, the choice of amplifier varies from person to person. If you like orchestral music, especially chamber music and vocals, then tube amplifiers should be your first choice. If you like jazz, rock, and modern music, then transistor amplifiers are the choice. VI. Things Needing Attention While Using a Tube Amplifier? 1.    The tube amplifier must be used under the limit parameters. Although it can still work normally under the limit parameters, the life of the tube amplifier will be shortened quickly. Therefore, the tube should be used under the rated parameters. 2.    The location of the components in the device should be conducive to the heat dissipation of the tube amplifier. To control the temperature of the tube case of the tube amplifier, the allowable temperature of the glass case of various tube amplifiers is different. For example, the allowable limit temperature of the power output tube during operation does not exceed 90°C in principle. 3.    Except for the high-reliability tube amplifier with a special structure that can work at higher accelerations, other receiver amplifier tubes can only withstand small shocks for a short time. Therefore, pay attention to the shock absorption of the tube when using it. 4.    When using small tubes (thumb-finger type) and other tubes without tube bases (but with tube needles), use tube sockets specified by the Ministry of Electronics Industry. Prevent cracking or damage to the glass shell. When plugging and unplugging the tube, its direction should be perpendicular to the plane of the tube base. When inserting an electronic tube, prevent damage to the normal position of the contact reed in the socket socket of the tube socket, and avoid using the empty foot of the tube socket as a connecting pad. 5.    When using an indirectly heated tube amplifier, the potential difference between the cathode and the filament must not exceed the specified limit. For this reason, a dedicated filament transformer is often used for power supply. In order to eliminate the effect of leakage current instability, under the condition of not hindering the operation of the circuit, a shunt resistance of about several ohms can be connected between the cathode and the filament. VII. Why is Tube Amplifier So Expensive? Is It Worth It? In short, tube amplifiers are costly because they use pre and power tubes as their primary amplification source. Each tube costs approximately $50 and can have up to four of them in a single unit. Second, these amplifiers have more expensive components, larger casings, and more complicated circuitry than solid-state amplifiers.   Whether tube amplifiers are "worth it” or not, well, that’s more of a subjective question.   If your goal is to build a pristine audio chain that cleanly reproduces the input signal you give it, a tube amplifier is definitely not worth it. By spending extra money to put a tube in your signal chain, you are intentionally distorting the sound.   Note that modern high end A/D/A conversion equipment (which aims for perfect signal reproduction) never uses tubes. The marketing pitch on tube equipment is that it does change the sound that you give it. Don't buy a tube amplifier unless that is what you want.   Now, if your goal is not to amplify signal accurately, but rather to make a sound that you personally find pleasing, a tube may yield some benefits.   You can listen to some tube amps at different levels to decide what you personally prefer. Does this make a tube amp worth it? Bear in mind that there are many ways of creating harmonic distortion (in the analog domain, or emulated with digital techniques), and many are cheaper than tubes, which are expensive to produce.   The high cost of tubes is not a function of the fact that it was difficult to engineer their particular audio qualities. The way tube amplifiers color audio is a historical function of the fact that engineers were not able to compensate for the changes they introduce.   Many people have now decided that this is a valuable property - but the production of tubes is becoming relatively more expensive as demand for them diminishes and they require specialty, limited-run manufacturing (compared to transistors, demand for which is growing).   In all, thinking from your practical needs before jump into any conclusion, whether tube amplifier is worth it or not, there’s no absolute answer to this question. VIII. How to Extend the Life of the Tube Amplifier?    The problem of short life of the tube amplifier is often criticized, but this is often not a problem of the tube amplifier itself, but a defect in the circuit design and a problem in use. It should be noted that a good quality tube amplifier must have a correctly designed circuit, sufficient heat dissipation, and thoughtful shock absorption.   In use, the tube amplifier must have good ventilation and heat dissipation. Overheating of the temperature will inevitably shorten the life of the tube, so the tube amplifier should be kept as low as possible.   Vibration is not good for tube amplifiers, so it is important to take anti-vibration measures to avoid vibration as much as possible. If these two can be achieved, the service life of the tube amplifier can be at least doubled. For this reason, there should be a proper space around the tube amplifier equipment, especially above it, in order to have good convection ventilation, if possible, a fan can be used to help dissipate heat.   When the cathode of the tube amplifier has not reached the required temperature, the high-voltage power supply is immediately applied, and its cathode will be damaged, which will also shorten the life of the tube amplifier.   Therefore, if the tube amplifier equipment has a preheating device, it must be used. For example, first turn on the filament low-voltage power supply to preheat, and then turn on the high-voltage power supply. If there is no preheating device, don't rush to connect the input signal, you can turn the volume down to the minimum, wait for 20-30 minutes to warm up the machine before using it.   If the indirectly heated rectifier tube is used to supply the high voltage of the whole machine, it just provides a simple and effective high voltage delay. In addition, do not switch the power supply frequently during normal use.   Of course, if the tube amplifier circuit is designed correctly and the wrong use is avoided, the tube amplifier will not "die young". It should be normal for the tube amplifier to use thousands of listening hours.   The most common mistakes in circuit design are: 1. The potential difference between the filament and the cathode of the tube amplifier is too high 2. The screen or screen grid voltage of the tube amplifier is applied to the maximum value 3. The filament voltage of the tube amplifier is too low or too high 4. Improper installation position of the tube amplifier causes the electrode to overheat and the high-voltage power supply does not have a delay device, etc.   Therefore, these problems should be avoided when designing the circuit to effectively extend the service life of the tube amplifier. FAQ 1. Why is a tube amp better? Tubes, like analog recordings, have a more full-bodied sound than transistor gear. There's a "roundness" to tube sound that solid-state gear never equals. Tubes are less forgiving about mismatches, so to get the best out of a tube amp it must be used with just the right speaker. 2. What is tube amplifier used for? Tube amplifiers, or tube amps as they're commonly called, are tiny electronic or electromagnetic components that are used to boost electric current in devices to improve their performance. It's what makes your hearing aid pick up sounds through a microphone from all around you. 3. Are tube amps worth it? In many cases, tube amps do not require the amount of maintenance that they have a reputation for. As long as you properly take care of your gear, owning a tube amp is simple and very well worth it for the tone. 4. How long should a tube amp warm up? 20 to 30 minutes. As a rule of thumb, your tube amp needs to be warmed up for 20 to 30 minutes at least before you can start playing your guitar. 5. Why are tube amps louder? When tubes are driven outside their linear region, for the first 12db or so of overdrive the harmonics that they produce trick the human ear into thinking that the sounds are getting louder, when in fact the sound is getting progressively more distorted. 6. How does a tube amplifier work? The power transformer and rectifier work together as an electron pump which pulls electrons out of the amp circuit creating a positive voltage (electron scarcity = positive voltage). The amplifier's electronics need DC to amplify. The amp is powered by DC but the guitar signal moving through the amp is AC. 7. What's the difference between a tube amp and a regular amp? The physical difference between a solid-state amp and a tube amp is that a solid-state machine derives amplification from electronic transistors, while a tube amp uses vacuum tubes (also known as valves). ... Solid-state amps are great for players who want maximum headroom (a.k.a a loud, clean, undistorted signal). 8. Which is better tube amp or solid state? Tube amps are generally more expensive in initial cost and to operate (because you need to replace the tubes occasionally), and solid-state amps are generally less delicate and more reliable. Many players, however, feel that tube amps yield a warmer, more musical tone and more musical-sounding distortion. 9. How often should a tube amp be serviced? 15 years. If its a well made amp, recap every 10 or 15 years, retube as needed. Fenders might go many years without needed a power tube replaced. 10. How many watts do I need in a tube amp? 100 watts. You'll need a solid state amp that has around 100 watts, or a valve amp that has around 50 watts. This will usually give you enough volume that you can be heard over the drummer, without having to push your amp's volume too hard so that the distortion becomes overbearing.

  Op-amp is short for operational amplifier. In practical circuits, they are usually combined with a feedback network to form some kind of functional module. It was named "operational amplifier" because it was used in the early days of analog computers to realize mathematical operations, and the name has been continued to this day. An operational amplifier is a circuit unit named from the point of view of function, and can be implemented by discrete devices or in semiconductor chips. With the development of semiconductor technology, the majority of op amps exist today in the form of a single chip. Nowadays, there is a wide variety of op amps, which are widely used in almost all industries. What is an operational amplifier? Catalog   Working principle of operational amplifier  Why is operational amplifier called op amp? Types of op amp Features of op amp FAQ Working principle of operational amplifier  When an operational amplifier is used, its output is connected to its inverTIng input node to form a negative feedback configuration—negaTIve. The reason is that the voltage gain of the operational amplifier is very large, ranging from hundreds to tens of thousands of times, the use of negative feedback to ensure the stable operation of the circuit. But that doesn't mean the operational amplifiers can't be connected to the positive feedback. On the contrary, in many systems that need to generate oscillatory signals, OP Amp with positive feedback configuration is a common component. Operational amolifier schematic diagram    Why is operational amplifier called op amp? In an actual circuit, the feedback network is usually combined to form a certain functional module. Since it was used in analogue computer to realize mathematical operation, it is named "operational amplifier", which continues to this day. Operational amplifier is a circuit unit based on its function, which can be implemented by discrete devices or semiconductor chips. With the development of semiconductor technology, the vast majority of operational amplifiers are in the form of single chip. Nowadays, there are many kinds of operational amplifiers, which are widely used in almost all industries. History of operational amplifier    Summing amplifier In 1941, the first operational amplifier composed of vacuum tubes was invented by Karl D. Swartzel Jr. Of Bell Labs and got the American patent 2,401,779, named “Summing Amplifier”. Model K2-W In 1952, model K2-W, the first operational amplifier with vacuum tube was sold by George A. Philbrick Researches (GAP/R) in the market. μA702 In 1963, the first operational amplifier in the form of a single IC chip was the μA702 designed by Fairchild Senmiconductors's Bob Widlar, and it was introduced after modification in 1965 named μA709.  μA741 In 1968, Fairchild Semiconductor Inc. Introduced the μA741 still in production, it is one of the most successful operational amplifiers of all the time and one of the very few oldest IC models.   - In 1941, the first operational amplifier composed of vacuum tubes was invented by Karl D. Swartzel Jr. Of Bell Labs and got the American patent 2,401,779, named “Summing Amplifier”. - In 1952, model K2-W, the first operational amplifier with vacuum tube was sold by George A. Philbrick Researches (GAP/R) in the market. - In 1963, the first operational amplifier in the form of a single IC chip was the μA702 designed by Fairchild Senmiconductors's Bob Widlar, and it was introduced after modification in 1965 named μA709.  - In 1968, Fairchild Semiconductor Inc. Introduced the μA741 still in production, it is one of the most successful operational amplifiers of all the time and one of the very few oldest IC models.   Types of op amp - General type: Its performance parameters are suitable for general use (low frequency and slow signal change), such as 741A, LM358 (double OP Amp), LM324 and LF356  with FET as input stage. - High-Z type:The characteristic of this kind of amplifier is that the input impedance of differential mode is very high and the input bias current is very small. The main measure to achieve these targets is to make use of the high input impedance of FET, but the input offset voltage of this kind of operational amplifier is larger. Such operational amplifier have LF356, LF355, LF347, CA3130, CA3140, etc. - Low-temperature drift type:In precision instruments, weak signal detection and other automatic control instruments, the bias voltage of operational amplifier is small and does not change with the temperature. The low temperature drift operation amplifier is designed for this purpose. At present, the commonly used operational amplifier has OP07, OP27, OP37, AD508 and ICL7650 composed of MOSFET device and so on. - High slew-rate type:In fast A/D converter, D/A inverter and video amplifiers, the conversion rate of the operational amplifier must be high, and the BWG of the unit gain bandwidth must be large enough. Common operational amplifier has LM318, 175A and so on. - Low -consumption type: Due to the wide application of portable instruments, low power supply and low power consumption must be used. Commonly used low-power operational amplifier has TL-022C,TL-160C and so on. - High voltage and power type:The output voltage of operational amplifier is mainly limited by power supply. In ordinary operational amplifier, the maximum output voltage is only dozens of volts and the output current is only dozens of Ma. In order to increase the output voltage and current, the auxiliary circuit must be added to the external circuit of the operational amplifier. High-voltage and high-power operational amplifier can output high voltage and high current without any additional circuit.   Features of op amp The input resistance is very high, the output resistance is very small, the voltage magnification is very large, and the zero drift is very small. Characteristics of ideal operational Amplifier in Linear region - Virtual Ground: When the operational amplifier is in a linear state, the potential of the inverse input is zero. - Virtual Short Circuit: When the operational amplifier is in a linear state, the two input terminals can be regarded as equipotential, which is called virtual short circuit. But both sides are not real short circuit. - Virtual Open Circuit: When the operational amplifier is in a linear state, two input terminals can be regarded as equivalent open circuit, which is called virtual open circuit. Obviously, it doesn’t break the two inputs actually.   FAQ   1. What is an op amp used for? What is an Operational Amplifier (Op-amp)? An operational amplifier is an integrated circuit that can amplify weak electric signals. An operational amplifier has two input pins and one output pin. Its basic role is to amplify and output the voltage difference between the two input pins.   2. What is op amp in electronics? An operational amplifier (op amp) is an analog circuit block that takes a differential voltage input and produces a single-ended voltage output. ... The inverting input is denoted with a minus (-) sign, and the non-inverting input uses a positive (+) sign.   3. How do op amps work? An operational amplifier only responds to the difference between the voltages on its two input terminals, known commonly as the “Differential Input Voltage” and not to their common potential. Then if the same voltage potential is applied to both terminals the resultant output will be zero.   4. What is a 741 op amp used for? The most common Op-Amp is the 741 and it is used in many circuits. The OP AMP is a 'Linear Amplifier' with an amazing variety of uses. Its main purpose is to amplify (increase) a weak signal - a little like a Darlington Pair. The OP-AMP has two inputs, INVERTING ( - ) and NON-INVERTING (+), and one output at pin 6.   5. What are the characteristics of op amp? -Infinite open-loop gain G = vout / v. in -Infinite input impedance Rin, and so zero input current. -Zero input offset voltage. -Infinite output voltage range. -Infinite bandwidth with zero phase shift and infinite slew rate. -Zero output impedance R. out -Zero noise. -Infinite common-mode rejection ratio (CMRR)   6. Where are op amps used? Op-amps are linear devices that are ideal for DC amplification and are used often in signal conditioning, filtering or other mathematical operations (add, subtract, integration and d3.   7. What is operational amplifier and its types? An operational amplifier (op amp) is an analog circuit block that takes a differential voltage input and produces a single-ended voltage output. Op amps usually have three terminals: two high-impedance inputs and a low-impedance output port.   8. Why is it called operational amplifier? Op-amp stands for operational amplifier. ... Originally, op-amps were so named because they were used to model the basic mathematical operations of addition, subtraction, integration, differentiation, etc. in electronic analog computers. In this sense a true operational amplifier is an ideal circuit element.   9. What is the difference between amplifier and operational amplifier? Amplifiers can be either electronic or mechanical in common definition whereas operational amplifiers are electronic amplifiers. Amplifiers, in general, have a limited capability of amplifying DC signals but all op-amps are capable of amplifying DC signals.   10. What is the main function of operational amplifier? An operational amplifier is an integrated circuit that can amplify weak electric signals. An operational amplifier has two input pins and one output pin. Its basic role is to amplify and output the voltage difference between the two input pins.   11. What are the advantages of operational amplifier? Advantages:  1. increased circuit stability 2. increased input impedance  3. decreased output impedance  4. increased frequency bandwidth at constant gain.   12. What are op amps used for in real life? Op amps are widely used in amplifiers oscillators, filters, comparators, integrators and differentiation,voltage regulator, current regulator. Non linear applications include precision rectified log amplifier . It is also used in analog to digital and digital to analog converter.   13. Where are operational amplifiers used? Operational amplifiers are linear devices that have all the properties required for nearly ideal DC amplification and are therefore used extensively in signal conditioning, filtering or to perform mathematical operations such as add, subtract, integration and differentiation.   14. What is an ideal operational amplifier? Operational amplifier: The ideal op amp is an amplifier with infinite input impedance, infinite open-loop gain, zero output impedance, infinite bandwidth, and zero noise. It has positive and negative inputs which allow circuits that use feedback to achieve a wide range of functions.   15. Why does an operational amplifier need a power supply? Operational amplifiers have two power supply rails because they usually need to swing bipolar - output voltages that go either positive or negative in response to the normal range of input signals. ... Without the dual supplies the output signal would clip at the ground potential.   16. How op-amp can be used as a differentiator? An op-amp differentiator is an inverting amplifier, which uses a capacitor in series with the input voltage. ... Differentiators have frequency limitations while operating on sine wave inputs; the circuit attenuates all low frequency signal components and allows only high frequency components at the output.   17. Is an op amp a transistor? Well for starters, an op amp is simply a combination of transistors, so by varying the transistor you can get different properties. One thing to also remember is that op amps are class A amplifiers which basically means that they are always on and therefore drawing power which can be undesirable.   18. Why is op amp a versatile device? Op Amps or operational amplifiers, are fundamental building blocks in electronic design, mainly because these analog integrated circuits (ICs) are very versatile. ... The term “differential amplifier,” for instance, simply means that the op amp will try to amplify any difference between the signals.   19. Does op amp need ground? An Op Amp inverting input (-) is at zero potential (A virtual ground), even though it does not have a galvanic connection to ground.   20. What is the difference between real ground and virtual ground? Real ground is when a terminal is connected physically to the ground or earth. where as virtual ground is a concept used in Op-Amps in which a node is assumed to have the potential that of the ground terminal.  

This article mainly tells about what's an op amp, and then briefly introduce LM358 about its features and parameters, the last we present you the 24 classical circuits of LM358.     Catalog   I. What is an Op Amp? II. LM358 Introduction      2.1 What is LM358?      2.2 LM358 Features      2.3 LM358 Parameters III. 24 Classic Circuits of LM358 FAQ   I. What is an Op Amp? This is a tutorial video introducing what's an opearational amplifier in details.   II. LM358 Introduction   2.1 What is LM358? The LM358 includes two independent, high gain, internal-frequency compensated dual operational amplifiers that are suitable for single power sources with a wide range of voltages, as well as dual-power operation modes. Under recommended operating conditions: the power supply current is independent of the power supply voltage. Its applying range includes sensor amplifiers, DC gain modules, audio amplifiers, industrial control, DC gain components, and all other situations where operational amplifiers can be used with a single power supply.   The LM358 has plug-in type and the patch type packaging which are the plastic package with double-row 8 lead wires.     2.2 LM358 Features       2.3 LM358 Parameters Input bias current 45 nA Input offset current 50 nA Input offset voltage 2.9mV Power suppression ratio (100dB) Common-mode suppression ratio (80dB) Input common-mode voltage maximum VCC about 1.5 V   III. 24 Classic Circuits of LM358   Schematic diagrams are as shown as following:  Figure 1. DIP Plastic Pin Diagram Figure 2. Circular Metal Shell Packaging Pin Diagram Figure 3. Internal Circuit Schematic Diagram Figure 4. DC Coupled Low Pass RC Active Filter Figure 5. LED Driver Figure 6. TTL Drive Circuit Figure 7. RC Bandpass Filter (BPF) Figure 8. Squarewave Oscillator Figure 9. Hysteresis Comparator Figure 10. Bandpass Filter (BPF) Figure 11. Lamp Driver Figure 12. Current Monitor Figure 13. Low Drift Peak Value Detector Figure 14. Voltage Follower Figure 15. Power Amplifier Peripheral Circuit Figure 16. Voltage Controlled Oscillator (VCO) Figure 17. Fixed Current Source Figure 18. Pulser Figure 19. AC Coupled Inverting Amplifier Figure 20. AC Coupled Non-Inverting Amplifier Figure 21. Adjustable Gain Instrument Amplifier Figure 22. DC Amplifier Figure 23. Pulser Figure 24. Bridge Current Amplifier FAQ   1. What is lm358 op amp? LM358 is a dual op-amp IC integrated with two op-amps powered by a common power supply. It can be considered as one half of LM324 Quad op-amp which contains four op-amps with common power supply. The differential input voltage range can be equal to that of power supply voltage.   2. What is lm358 used for? LM358 can be used as transducer amplifier, DC gain block etc. It has large dc voltage gain of 100dB. This IC can be operated on wide range of power supply from 3V to 32V for single power supply or from ±1.5V to ±16V for dual power supply and it also support large output voltage swing.   3. How does an lm358 work? IC LM358– LM358 consists of two independent, high gain operational amplifiers in one package. Important feature of this IC is that we do not require independent power supply for working of each comparator for wide range of power supply. LM358 can be used as transducer amplifier, DC gain block etc.   4. How do I know if my lm358 op amp is broken? Measure the DC voltage at the +input. then measure the DC voltage at the output. if the results are significantly different, the opamp is most likely shot. if they are the same, the opamp is most likely ok and the problem is something else.   5. What is the difference between lm386 and lm358？ The LM386 is a complete audio power amplifier, the LM358 is a dual operational amplifier. When using the LM358 e.g. as a pre-amplifier, you will have to supply a separate power amplifier.   6. How to import lm358 into LTspice? 1. Download model file and unzip.2. Place .cir file in same folder as schematic.3. Place "opamp2" symbol on schematic.4. Change "opamp2" value to LMX58_LM2904.5. Place directive on schematic ". lib LMx58_LM2904. CIR" without quotes.   7. How many comparators are in LM358? 2 comparator. In this tutorial LM358 IC is used. It has got 2 comparator.   8. What is the difference between LM358 and LM741? Two commonly used opamp are LM741 & LM358. Difference between LM358 & LM741 is, LM358 is newer and have two OP-AMP on chip while in 741 only one OP-AMP is present. Both the IC's have 8 pins.   9. Why does an op amp require both positive and negative supply voltages? Without the dual supplies the output signal would clip at the ground potential. Operational amplifiers have two power supply rails because they usually need to swing bipolar - output voltages that go either positive or negative in response to the normal range of input signals.   10. Does op amp need ground? An Op Amp inverting input (-) is at zero potential (A virtual ground), even though it does not have a galvanic connection to ground. You May Also Like Rectifiers and Filters Notes A Load Insensitive High-Power Balanced Power Amplifier Discussion on the influencing factors of clock in FPGA design Brief introduction to the Application of some IC chips in Maxim Integrated DIY Community: Let's make amplifier Rechargable Pokect Sized Amplifier Portable - Mini Amplifier Speaker

A high-output-power balanced power amplifier is designed with power-combining architecture for satellite communication terminals. The power-combining architecture introduces a ±45° phase shift in the output matching network of two amplifiers, which makes the balanced power amplifier more tolerant to load mismatch and less sensitive to load variation. This balanced power amplifier is implemented with InGaP/GaAs HBT process. Under the band of 1.5 GHz to 1.7 GHz and the supply voltage of 5 V, the measured results show that 32 dB of the gain, 38 dBm of the saturated output power and 43% of power added efficiency (PAE) are achieved, and a good radio frequency performance can be maintained under load mismatch conditions. Power Amplifier ( PA ) Basics and fundamental tutorial on radio frequency   Catalog Ⅰ Introduction of Power Amplifier 1.1 Background of power amplifier 1.2 Application of power amplifier in   power combination scheme 1.3 High power balanced power amplifier Ⅱ Design and Analysis of balanced Power   Amplifier 2.1 Design of Integral circuit 2.2 Circuit Analysis Ⅲ Test result Ⅳ Conclusion FAQ     Ⅰ Introduction of power amplifier 1.1 Background of power amplifier In recent years, with the development of economy, satellite communication and navigation systems are widely used in electronics and automobile industry,and the demand for power amplifiers of handheld terminal transmitters is increasing.These power amplifiers require greater power output and better stability to meet the performance requirements of satellite communications and navigation systems. Therefore, it is of great significance to study the practical and reliable high power integrated power amplifier used in the handheld terminal of satellite communication and navigation system. The traditional single-terminal multi-stage integrated power amplifier is not only low in output power, due to the influence of its own semiconductor physical characteristics and the limitations of processing technology, heat dissipation, impedance matching, etc, but the output power will also decrease rapidly with the increase of frequency. In order to improve the output power, the power combination technology is a practical and easy method to implement. At the same time, the balanced power amplifier is widely used in the power synthesis scheme because of its insensitive load and wider bandwidth than the single-ended power amplifier.    1.2 Application of power amplifier in power combination scheme In reference, a high linearity and high efficiency power amplifier is realized by balanced synthesis method. The power amplifier has the advantages of flat gain characteristics and more stability than the corresponding single-ended amplifier in a wide band. However, the introduction of orthogonal 3dB couplers at the input and output ends makes the power amplifier require more discrete devices, which is not conducive to miniaturization and integration. In reference, a novel balanced synthesis architecture was used to design a load insensitive power amplifier.This kind of power amplifier adds ±45 °phase shift network to the upper input and lower output terminals, and finally combines the two power channels through the Wilkinson synthesizer at the output end. This design not only achieves high efficiency and linearity, but also has good stability when the load changes. It is widely used in 3G WCDMA mobile phone terminals. However, the introduction of Wilkinson synthesizer also brings many disadvantages, such as large insertion loss, increasing integration cost and complexity. In reference, on the basis of reference, the ±45°phase shift network in the output end of the power amplifier is improved and optimized, the Wilkinson synthesizer is removed either, which makes the power amplifier insensitive to the load change while achieving high efficiency and high linearity.This design reduces the integrated devices, reduces the cost, and is widely used in modern 3G smart phone terminals.   1.3 High power balanced power amplifier Based on the comprehensive consideration of output power and stability, a high power balanced power amplifier based on InGaP/GaAs HBT process, operating in the 1.5-1.7 GHz band, is designed in this article. The test results show that the balanced power amplifier has high output power and power addition efficiency (PAE), and the circuit can still maintain good RF performance when the load mismatches. Ⅱ Design and analysis of balanced power amplifier 2.1 Design of Integral circuit  Due to the superior linearity and high efficiency of HBT process in RF IC design, a balanced power amplifier working in 1.5-1.7 GHz band is designed by using InGaP/GaAs HBT process in this article. The overall circuit structure is shown in figure 1. The balanced power amplifier circuit includes the same upper and lower branch amplifiers, and the input and output matching circuits of ±45°phase-shifting networks. In order to obtain a higher gain, the upper and lower branches are designed using a three-stage power amplifier structure, in which the first stage works in a class A to obtain a high linearity; in order to take into account the linearity and efficiency of the overall power amplifier, the second and third stages work in Class AB.   Figure 1. A balanced power amplifier circuit   In order to achieve a good compromise between efficiency and linearity, the biasing circuit adopts self-adaptive linearizing bias.By adding one inductor and one capacitance to the input matching circuit of the upper and lower branches, the balanced power amplifier generates ±45°phase shift to the input signal, thus realizing that the upper and lower channels of the amplifier work in an orthogonal state. A LC resonant network with a resonant frequency of 2Ω0 is added to the output matching, where Ω0 is the fundamental frequency, which is equivalent to getting a load of second harmonic short circuit at the same time, thus realizing the suppression of the second harmonic. The structure is similar to that of F power amplifier, and is beneficial to obtain higher efficiency. The main characteristic of the circuit in this article is that the output matching circuit of the upper and lower branches added a ±45°phase shift network, the upper branch adds a -45°phase shift network with a low pass filter structure, and the lower branch adds a +45°phase shift network with a high pass filter structure. The balanced power amplifier designed by this synthetic structure has the advantages of small space usage, simple structure and easy implementation. At the same time, it can make the balanced power amplifier more tolerant to load mismatch and insensitive to the change of load.   2.2 Circuit Analysis When the balanced power amplifier is in operation, the input signal is coupled to the A node through the blocking capacitor, and two signals are separated from the A node into the upper and lower branches respectively, because the three-stage amplifier in the upper and lower branches is exactly the same, they sharing an equal input impedance, so the power of the two signals separated at the A node is equal. The separated signals are transmitted to the input end of the amplifier through the opposite 45°phase change of the upper and lower branches respectively, and then the orthogonal signals are amplified by the three-stage amplifier of the upper and lower branches. The orthogonal signal of the upper and lower branches undergoes an opposite phase shift of 45° in the output matching network, so the same signal with the same phase and the same amplitude is realized at point B, and the output power of point B is the sum of those of the two amplifiers, finally the balanced power amplifier can obtain higher output power. The balanced power amplifier is equivalent to the three-port network shown in figure 2. Because the upper and lower branch of amplifiers are exactly the same,it can be considered that the amplifiers of the upper and lower branches have the same output reflection coefficient ΓPA. After passing through ±45°phase shift network, we can obtain ΓPAе −j2ΔΦ and ΓPAе +j2ΔΦ respectively. Therefore, the equivalent output impedance of the upper and lower branches viewed from the ab surface to the left in figure 2 is respectively as follows:   The equivalent output impedance ZL of the network viewed from the terminal to the left can be obtained in parallel by ZL1 and ZL2: The output reflection coefficient of node B is: By substituting formula (1)-(3) into equation (4) and simplifying, the output reflection coefficient of the balanced power amplifier is as follows: When ΔΦ=45°, you have: It is shown that the output reflection coefficient and VSWR of the balanced power amplifier are twice as much as that of the single branch power amplifier. Therefore, when the load mismatch occurs, the load mismatch tolerance of the balanced power amplifier is higher than that of the single-branch power amplifier after the ±45°phase shift output matching network is introduced. Figure 2. Circuit equivalent diagram In order to analyze the performance of the balanced power amplifier in the case of load mismatch, the equivalent circuit of figure 2 is simulated and analyzed. When the load mismatch (such as VSWR=3:1), the load impedance (normalized) of the upper and lower branch amplifiers varies with the phase ψ of the reflection coefficient Γ, as shown in figure 3. By comparing the load impedance of the upper and lower branches, it can be seen that they have a phase difference of 180°. Because of the change of the load impedance of the upper and lower branches, the corresponding current is changed, and the phase difference of 180°occurs between the two. The collector of the two third-stage amplifiers of the balanced power amplifier is single power supply, so the current of the upper and lower branches compensates each other, resulting in little change in the total current, as shown in Figure 4. Therefore, when the load mismatch of the balanced power amplifier occurs, the change of working current is relatively small, that is, not sensitive to the change of load. The load insensitive effect of using this balancing architecture is similar to that of classical balanced power amplifier which is realized by using orthogonal 3 dB coupler. Figure 3. Changes in the load of the structure (normalized) when VSWR=3:1 In the case of terminal mismatch (VSWR=3:1), the single end circuit architecture and the present balanced architecture are compared as shown in Fig. 5 with the same output power of 38 dBm. It can be seen from figure 5 that the output power of the single-ended circuit architecture fluctuates greatly with of the phase ψ of the reflection coefficient Γ, while the output power of the balanced architecture in this article is relatively flat. At the same time, compared with the circuit architecture without phase shift, the in-phase circuit architecture has more advantages than the single-ended circuit architecture, but the output power of the balanced architecture is the flattest and can work stably. Figure 4. Changes of current of the structure (normalized) when VSWR=3:1 Figure 5. Comparison with the output power (normalized) changes in three kinds of circuits when VSWR=3:1   Ⅲ Test result  In this post, the balanced power amplifier is fabricated by InGaP/GaAs HBT technology. The three-stage amplifier and bias circuit with upper and lower branches are realized in the chip with an DIE area of 0.9 mm×0.8 mm. The choke inductor, input matching and output matching circuit are realized out of the chip. Considering the heat dissipation of the power amplifier, the whole thing is integrated on the Fr4 substrate with an area of 8 mm×8 mm. Figure 6 is the physical diagram of the circuit.The working voltage of the balanced power amplifier is 5 V and the total static current is about 310 mA. Using Agilent's network analyzer E5071C to measure the small signal S parameters S21, S11, S22 of the balanced power amplifier, as shown in figure 7: S21 > 31 dB (in the band of 1.5 GHz-1.7 GHz with a variation of less than 1 dB) S11 < -12 dB S22 < -10 dB The test results show that the design has good small signal performance. Using Agilent's signal generator N5182A and spectrometer N9030A to build the test platform, inputting continuous wave (CW) and the performance of the balanced power amplifier is measured at 1.5,1.616 and 1.7 GHz, as shown in figure 8. It can be seen from the diagram that the gain of the balanced power amplifier in the frequency band is about 32 dB, the in-band gain flatness is ±0.3 dB, the saturation power is more than 38 dBm/6.3 WN, and the power additional efficiency is greater than 43 dB. At the same time, according to the gain curve of each frequency point, the balanced power amplifier has good AM-AM characteristic and 1dB compression point is about 37 dBm. The third order intermodulation distortion (IMD3) and the fifth order intermodulation distortion (IMD5) of the balanced power amplifier are measured by using a two-tone signal with a deviation of 2 MHz, as shown in figure 9. The results show that the balanced power amplifier has good linearity. In general, the balanced power amplifier not only has high gain, high output power and high efficiency, but also has good linearity.  Figure 6. Chip physical diagram Figure 7. S parameter test results Figure 8. Test performance in frequency band when CW signal is input In order to verify the tolerance of the balanced power amplifier to the load mismatch and the load insensitivity, and the balanced power amplifier can still work properly when VSWR=20:1, a microwave manual tuner is connected to the output of the power amplifier. And when the working frequency is 1.616 GHz, the input power Pin=10 dBm and voltage standing-wave ratio VSWR=3:1, the output power of the balanced power amplifier changes with the reflection coefficient phase, as shown in Figure 10. The figure shows that the output power is about 35.7 dBm, with a range of ±0.7 dBm. Therefore, the performance of the balanced power amplifier is stable when the load is mismatched to a certain extent. Figure 9. Test performance of IMD3 and IMD5 Figure 10. Changes of output power when VSWR=3:1 Ⅳ Conclusion In this post, a high power balanced power amplifier is designed by using the balance architecture, the chip area is 8 mm×8 mm by using InGaP/GaAs HBT process and the total static current is about 310 mA at a operating voltage of 5V. When the CW signal is input, the gain can be up to 32 dBm in the band of 1.5-1.7 GHz, the saturation output power psat is 38 dBm, and the additional power efficiency is 43%. Beyond that, it can still work stably when the load mismatches. This balanced power amplifier is practical, reliable and safe, and can be used in handheld terminal of the satellite communication and navigation system.   FAQ     1. What is a power amplifier used for? The function of a power amplifier is to raise the power level of input signal. It is required to deliver a large amount of power and has to handle large current. The base of transistor is made thicken to handle large currents.   2. How does a power amplifier work? The power amplifier works on the basic principle of converting the DC power drawn from the power supply into an AC voltage signal delivered to the load. Although the amplification is high the efficiency of the conversion from the DC power supply input to the AC voltage signal output is usually poor.   3. Does a power amp make a difference? A better amp will make your speakers play louder and sound better, but it won't make bad speakers sound like good speakers. Many speakers have a "maximum wattage rating" on the back. ... High-end amplifier companies make amps with more than 1,000 watts, and you could plug in a $50 speaker into it with no problem.   4. What is power amplifier circuit? A power amplifier circuit is used to drive the loads like speakers with minimum output impedance. ... In this mode the output is an inverted amplified signal which is at low power. Two Darlington power transistors are arranged in a class AB configuration to amplify the power level of this signal.   5. How do you make a power amp circuit? Amplifier power gain and design. As power is the voltage multiplied by the current in a circuit, the power gain can simply be expressed as the product of the two. It is also possible to use the voltage and current levels to provide gain expressed in dB, but any changes in impedance must be accounted for.   6. What is balanced amplifier? A balanced amplifier has two amplifying devices that are run in quadrature. That is, they are operating 90 degrees apart in transmission phase. ... Balanced amplifiers may more immune to load pull effects than in-phase power combining schemes, because the two reflection coefficients are seen 180 degrees out of phase.   7. What is the difference between amplifier and power amplifier? The crucial difference between a voltage amplifier and a power amplifier is that a voltage amplifier increases the voltage level of the applied input signal.   8. Why do we need power amplifier? The function of a power amplifier is to raise the power level of input signal. It is required to deliver a large amount of power and has to handle large current. The base of transistor is made thicken to handle large currents.   9. What power amplifier do I need? Generally you should pick an amplifier that can deliver power equal to twice the speaker's program/continuous power rating. This means that a speaker with a “nominal impedance” of 8 ohms and a program rating of 350 watts will require an amplifier that can produce 700 watts into an 8 ohm load.   10. Does a power amp improve sound quality? No, amplifiers don't improve sound quality. They just increase the signals to required levels. However if amplifiers have equaliser or other signal processing facility, they can make it sound different and possibly more suitable for listening pleasure. But again that is the work of signal processing part of amplifier.