No offense meant
But saying the 3886 is high end, and a big company was involved, it raised my suspicions about your intentions.
After the Gainclone, at least the audio community know that there is little in which you can modify a chip amp...voltages, power supply, load.
But not as much as discrete parts.
So a person calling himself a consultant, who is automatically an experienced person, comes and asks for a chip...you are senior enough to call the makers, this is not the place for that type of question, particularly for a chip which has been discussed and analyzed for decades.
That made me think about what you were trying to achieve.
But saying the 3886 is high end, and a big company was involved, it raised my suspicions about your intentions.
After the Gainclone, at least the audio community know that there is little in which you can modify a chip amp...voltages, power supply, load.
But not as much as discrete parts.
So a person calling himself a consultant, who is automatically an experienced person, comes and asks for a chip...you are senior enough to call the makers, this is not the place for that type of question, particularly for a chip which has been discussed and analyzed for decades.
That made me think about what you were trying to achieve.
J.M.Fahey: Usha / UR is defunct, Bharat Electronics is very much alive, but getting a reply from them is at times difficult. The link I posted was to their site.
They are under the Central Government, Ministry of Defense, they are not much into civilian sales.
Keltron, a Kerala State government company, also make 2N3055. They also are good, and well respected here for their capacitors also, where they are licensed by Sprague of Belgium.
The Usha plant might gone to CDIL, who also make those products, or to Central Electronics, a Central (Federal) government company.
If you want, I will get you the contacts of the traders/dealers. for those items.
They are under the Central Government, Ministry of Defense, they are not much into civilian sales.
Keltron, a Kerala State government company, also make 2N3055. They also are good, and well respected here for their capacitors also, where they are licensed by Sprague of Belgium.
The Usha plant might gone to CDIL, who also make those products, or to Central Electronics, a Central (Federal) government company.
If you want, I will get you the contacts of the traders/dealers. for those items.
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India has some IC factories, but they are at the 6502 stage, or 723.
Their priority is satellite and hardened defense electronics, they will not do any consumer stuff.
You will need silicon foundries, like I said earlier, based in Taiwan, or China, at least the offices you will deal with...it is their factories in different countries where the production will take place.
Quantities and legal formalities will have to be negotiated.
Maybe a STK style 3886 can then be made?
The possibilities are endless...
Their priority is satellite and hardened defense electronics, they will not do any consumer stuff.
You will need silicon foundries, like I said earlier, based in Taiwan, or China, at least the offices you will deal with...it is their factories in different countries where the production will take place.
Quantities and legal formalities will have to be negotiated.
Maybe a STK style 3886 can then be made?
The possibilities are endless...
You were politely asked to STOP
Can you please STOP and in in fact self report your posts #42 , #52 , #57 , #58 , #61 and ask moderators to REMOVE them from the thread, since they are no longer accessible to you?
Just click on the small red and white triangle at bottom left of each offending message.
Otherwise they will stay here forever and if you ask my opinion, they are both unfair and annoying.
And of course contribute nothing to the Forum.
Thanks.
PS: of course I will ask for this one and any other reference to this sad issue to be removed too.
Moderators are already granted permission to do so.
The TI site says just over $3 in 1K quantities.
You might have got a much smaller quantity.
Here the OP was looking for production volumes, which are not in stock.
I suggested he look for alternate chip amps, and even those are on order.
And it was also a heads up for those who needed the chips, to acquire whatever they needed before shortages made it a sellers' market.
You might have got a much smaller quantity.
Here the OP was looking for production volumes, which are not in stock.
I suggested he look for alternate chip amps, and even those are on order.
And it was also a heads up for those who needed the chips, to acquire whatever they needed before shortages made it a sellers' market.
An enlightening video on this subject on youtube I saw the other day
Why the Global Chip Shortage Is Hard to Overcome | WSJ - YouTube
and this one:
Inside China's Accelerating Bid for Chip Supremacy - YouTube
Why the Global Chip Shortage Is Hard to Overcome | WSJ - YouTube
and this one:
Inside China's Accelerating Bid for Chip Supremacy - YouTube
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I didn't ask about TI's long-term plans for the LM3886. We decided not plan anything around it until it's available reliably from TI or distributors. At that point, we'll assess suitability, including longer term availability.
My gut says with so many swirling factors impacting supply chains now, any good-faith attempt at providing reliable information today stands a good chance of being upstaged by the reality 9 or 12 months down the road.
Agreed on the crystal ball's clarity and accuracy in today's electronics/semiconductor market. Note that you run the risk of doing nothing if your criteria for using a semiconductor in a new design is that it be "reliably available". EVERYTHING is in short supply or unobtainium now and in the near/middle-term.
As to 'do they guarantee long term' -- why would the current unprecedented situation lead you to conclude that semiconductor companies, after 'catching up' on the huge backlogs/demands they're currently facing, will then decide, when demand and capacity are better aligned, that they're tired of making stuff and will then decide to obsolete products?
As to 'do they guarantee long term' -- why would the current unprecedented situation lead you to conclude that semiconductor companies, after 'catching up' on the huge backlogs/demands they're currently facing, will then decide, when demand and capacity are better aligned, that they're tired of making stuff and will then decide to obsolete products?
In my mind, there's a critical difference between "available now, future uncertain" and "availability promised, future uncertain." The former gives you an opportunity to inventory enough for the future to bring in the minimum required returns on a project, even if you're only at the design stage. But, as you point out, the latter increases the risk in that you might not actually ever get enough parts to let you amortize development and other costs -- let alone make money. The subtext here is that you need to pivot from lean inventories (which you may or may not have spent years trying to convince clients is the way to go) to old-school stockpiling for critical components.
I'm really glad high-end audio is a relatively small industry. I can't imagine how painful things have been in industries where production can't adapt in an agile way.
I have several tubes of LM3886, sourced from DK. Happy to part with them 2 or 4 at a time for $6.00 each, but no bulk orders. I think it's a fair price, just PM if interested. Jack
I was surprised looking at FindChips: Electronic Components, Distributor Inventories, Datasheets that there is no inventory at any of the usual suspects.
I was surprised looking at FindChips: Electronic Components, Distributor Inventories, Datasheets that there is no inventory at any of the usual suspects.
Amen Brother.
I am painfully aware of that, and have constant updating thanks to sheer Reality
I am into a small niche (Guitar amps) within Audio, and am *constantly* "foraging", meaning purchasing, updating suppliers, etc. plus plain old stockpiling.
My colleagues/competitors: "Juan, you are crazy, you buy "too much" of anything, you can order stuff whenever you need more"
Then they are *desperate* because they run out of some "stupid" component which freezes their production, I am talking minor parts such as some special pot, knob (pedal guys simply CAN NOT switch models
), some special effects IC, a certain Microcontroller they use in their MIDI pedalboard, etc. Or simply there are currency or Customs problems and they run out of JLCPCB or PCBWay boards.
Me? I buy 10 pack copperclad 3ft by 4ft sheets and make over 1200 boards out of that, transformer wire by the 18kg rolls, unopened 100ft Tolex rolls, 18kg contact cementb cans (once bough a 55 gallon drum, but lost 1/3 of it, after 1 year it not only starts to thicken but also starts polymerizing which is irreversible
), etc. Bonus is I pay much lower prices (I typically skip 2 commercial stages by buying from wholesaler, Factory or importer) and most important: merchandise is already there, under my roof, immune to scarcity or crazy price hikes.
Been working doing this since 1969, went through many heavy Argentine meltdowns, (2008 crisis looks like child´s play) meaning Venezuelan style hyperinflation, 400% devaluation in 1 week, 7 presidents in 1 Month (not kidding, in 2002), Military coups, Presidents leaving our "White House" (actually Pink
) in helicopter because they would be murdered in the streets, the whole Monty.And here I am, never stopped .... currently going very slow because of Covid, for own decision, and already firing the old boiler up to restsrt normal production.
What´s my point mentioning all this in this thread?:
I attribute much of that resiliency to ALWAYS having ample stock of needed stuff.
And the opposite conclusion: If you have supply doubts, simply DON´T , search for some alternative.
....they are *desperate* because they run out of some "stupid" component which freezes their production, I am talking minor parts such as some special pot, knob (pedal guys simply CAN NOT switch models
Idiots. Never stopped Mike Matthews. How many variants of the Big Muff Pi are there now? Every time he ran out of a knob, or a box, or paint, or 68k resistors, he changed the BMP. Fan-boys have documented at least four first-glance variants and over a dozen internal detail changes. Some new model/number, some just running changes.
New bigger easier to adjust knobs!
New small sleek streamlined knobs!
New ripple-edge knobs!
New smooth-edge knobs!
New scallop-edge knobs!
New recycled-from-other pedals knobs!
Collect the whole set!
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Indeed.
Problem is that MANY have Zero creativity, not only don´t design or at least tweak schematics but copy "famous" products to the tiniest detail, however irrelevant it is.
One of them fancies himself a "Boutique Maker" , copies old Fender Tube amps (50´s and 60´s only) and imports **everything**.
Meaning he not only imports pots, knobs, jacks, tubes, caps (which to a point would be reasonable, sort of) but also "Tolex" vinyl covering, grill cloth, 3tc.
Of course, buying by the yard, small quantities, over the counter from selling-to-public shops (meaning he pays expensive prices), delivered to Argentina at murderous freight prices through FEDEX, DHL, etc.
His amps are excellent, and in a way "what Leo would be doing today", but horribly expensive, same or more as by an established US Boutique maker, way more than ay Fender reissue.
Then customers find them hard to buy ...... not surprising.
Same with others and doubly so with pedal makers.
Mike Matthews could switch every other day and sell all of them because he was ... ummmm! .... the creator
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