Monday 19 August 2013

Note on the LM386

There are some common mistakes in circuits using the LM386

The amplifier internal circuit is:

Screen Shot 2013 08 19 at 10 16 18

Which shows several things:

1 The inputs have internal resistors to ground - so external resistors are NOT needed. The inputs are ground referenced. Inputs can be on either terminal, with the unused one grounded, or using a balanced input to both.

2 There is an internal feedback tapped at pins 1 & 8. Leaving these pins open give the smallest gain of about 20, while connecting a capacitor from 1 to 8 increases the gain to 200.

3 An output stabilising network of a series 47nF to 100nF capacitor and a 10 - 22R resistor is highly recommended.

4 To prevent supply line noise or hum reaching the input stages a decoupling capacitor can be connected from pin 7 to ground. 47-100uF would be suitable.

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