TI to discontinue many ICs!

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this is what TI does it just needs business they never understand how small is audio industry compared to others and expect the same as other industries. In the process they acquire good companies like National Burr Brown and kill the beautiful parts. TI why do you acquire these companies don`t do it and kill great products.
 
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Check Mouser. At least the ones I checked, they're all listed as end of life.

Damn! You're right. At Mouser they show as EOL. At Digikey, they're now non-stock devices.

According to the PCN, they're closing down the 6-inch fab that runs the process used for those ICs. I guess that makes sense from a business perspective, but it sure sucks from a DIY Audio perspective.

Awesome. Way to go TI. Grr!

Tom
 
Probably not. LMH6321 is pretty much an LME49600 in low bandwidth mode and I've not seen any discontinuation indication on it. Many audio op amps are suitable for use as the control device of an LMH6321/LME49600 composite amplifier; there's nothing fundamentally special about the 49710. It just provides exceptionally good performance at a very reasonable price.
 
:eek:

LME49600 worked so well for me in one prototype circuit that I am planning on trying several more circuits with it. In fact my "prototype" has been my headphone amp for over a year. :)

And I was congratulating myself on designing and building circuits with new and exciting devices instead of sticking with what I know.

The LME49600 worked better for my circuit than the BUF634. Of course I prefer the convenience of DIP-8 and TO-220 packaging, but the LME49600 was worth the inconvenience (to me).

I guess I'll have to order up a little stash before they're gone.
 
The main losses appear to be:
LME49600 (bummer)
LME49990 (!!!)
LME49710 & LME49740
all DIP package LME49720/LM4562/LME49860 and LM833 parts (grrr)
LM4702
LM1036
LM837

I hope they can be arsed to still port some of these to their newer fabs.

Beancounters...

I have to admit my jaw hit the floor when I saw this list a couple of weeks ago. The (former) National audio op amps are supported by an audio group in Dallas and those of us in the (former) Burr-Brown op amp group in Tucson had no idea this was in the works.

I think the most frustrating obsolescence for me is the DIP package LME49720/LM4562. Really outstanding performance, in a package that hobbyists love, and at a really good price.
 
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For those who build ultra low volume (1-10 finished units) gear for their own use and maybe to give the kids, why not buy a couple tubes of parts from Mouser now while you still can? People who bought themselves 200 pieces of 2SK170 and 2SJ74 before those devices disappeared, are very very happy. I myself am glad I bought some LM394s and NPD5566s while I still could. More recently, I'm sure people who bought extra ThermalTrak BJTs after the cancellation notice appeared, are delighted with their decision.

Oh and let me just say, thank Diety for Rochester Electronics . High quality, non-counterfeit, NOS parts you can't get elsewhere. With a big hefty minimum order and a big hefty minimum shipping charge, to discourage pikers, whiners, wheedlers, and ten cent dilettantes.

_
 
The end of an era. :mad:

+1 on what sgrossklass said, TI could "make this right" for the audio community by porting a couple of the still-useful devices (LME49600, LME49990, LME49880) over to a current fab. With a new fab the IQ may even drop lower (quiescent current, not TI marketing department average intelligence, lol).

...and while they are at it publish the gain/phase plot for the LME49990 that I have asked TI people for over the last few years. How about producing the LME49600 in a TO-220 package? Methinks that alone probably has been responsible for a huge chunk of missing sales of the part.
 
How about producing the LME49600 in a TO-220 package? Methinks that alone probably has been responsible for a huge chunk of missing sales of the part.

I doubt it. Who, outside of DIY, uses leaded parts these days? The assembly cost is way too high.

TI could "make this right" for the audio community by porting a couple of the still-useful devices (LME49600, LME49990, LME49880) over to a current fab.

Porting a product to a new fab is as nearly as much work and expense as designing a new product from scratch. From a design perspective, it's actually worse than designing a new product as the designer's hands are tied completely on the specs. There's no, "I can't quite make it 140 dB, would you ask the key customer(s) if 138 dB is OK?" types of wiggle room. Then you add that the newer processes won't have the same devices. They may not offer devices that can handle the full supply voltage, etc. It's not just a matter of redrawing the masks using new design rules. A pretty strong business case is needed to justify such an endeavour.

In all fairness, there was a fair amount of overlap in the LM38xx-series of power amps and in the LME49700-series. Consolidating the portfolio makes a certain amount of sense.

Mostly, I'll miss the DIP parts. It's very hard to beat the performance of the LME49710 and it remains my favourite op-amp. LME49600 is replaceable. For high-power applications, I'll definitely miss the LME49810/11/30-series. Those are pretty unique.

Tom
 
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So, I'm ordering some stuff so I can have a stash of parts when they're gone. Any suggestions?

LM3915 & LM3916 (LED bar graph driver) 4x each
LM4780 (2x LM3886 power amp in one package) 2x
LME49860NA DIP-8 Dual opamp 4x
LME49710NA DIP-8 Single opamp 8x
LME49720NA DIP-8 Dual opamp 4x
LM3875TF 56W power opamp 2x
LME49990MA SO-8 Single opamp 4x
LME49600 DDPAK-5 HiCurrent buffer 8x

EDIT: Added LM1036MX x2 (Volume/EQ/Balance-always wanted to play with it, to see how well it would work) and
LME49811TB x2 (I'd like to see what it can do)
 
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