Join us later today for our seventh installment of Weekend Projects Hangouts On Air. We’ll be looking at projects from the past few years that have included power amplifier ICs. We’ll be talking specifically about the LM386, a low-power but highly capable 8-pin DIP integrated circuit that is commonly found in hobbyist amplifiers and audio projects. It’s extremely versatile, capable of operating from typically 4V-12V of input power, while outputting significant wattage. Even name-brand amps use variations of the LM386 to power their products.
Bounce back here at the scheduled hangout time to watch LIVE or join the event on Google+ to watch and ask Charles and Sean any questions.
Watch previous Weekend Projects Hangouts On Air:
Every Friday from Oct. 11 – Dec. 20 (except Nov. 29) we’ll be hanging out with makers of Weekend Projects, our beginner-friendly series of electronics builds powered by RadioShack. Join our host and 2012′s Maker Camp Director Nick Raymond, guest MAKE Editors, and specially invited makers for these fun and informal hangouts.
2 thoughts on “Weekend Projects HOA – Audio Amplification with the LM386 Live Now!”
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Howdy, guys! I’m sorry I missed the Hangout but I was up to my elbows in a misbehaving industrial laser at an auto parts factory.
You really got the essentials of the LM386 amp chip. It’s a simple mono power amp with 26 dbs (or more) of gain and a decent amount of current capability to drive a speaker. Single power supply with flexible voltage requirements. The voltage is specced from 4VDC to 12VDC but I’ve recently run one from one of the common 3.6V Li ion camera batteries with good results.
The Monobox circuit implements a bass boost feature described in the TI datasheet: a resistor/capacitor feedback circuit. This gives the bass sounds a little more drive to make up for the limited low frequencies of a small speaker.
The Bass Bump Headphone Amp boosts the bass in a different way, by passively filtering out a variable amount of the sound above the bass region.
I’m currently working on another circuit using that handy dual circuit board and other Radio Shack parts. This will be of interest to people wanting to get into vinyl records in DIY style, and may become a future Weekend Project.
This was a lot of fun and I’m looking forward to the next HOA.