Obsolescence of groovy synth parts

[Tim Ressel]

Y'know, you go through life thinking your synth design is super. And just when
it can't get any better, the manufacturer of the nifty little IC that made your
job so-o-o-o easy announces they have cancelled that part. That is when you get
that sinking feeling. I thought I was ever so cool: my VCA design using an SSM
2015 was working very well. Then I discover Analog Devices, who bought out SSM,
does not make that part any more. I have exactly 5 left, so I guess 5 VCAs is
the perfect amount for my synth. Sigh.

I'm not sure what the lesson is here. None of us are into large production
quantity design, so its not a big deal. I don't like being limited like this,
but that's the engineer in me talking. I guess we all have to deal with the fact
that we're hobbyists scrounging up parts wherever we can. Our designs don't have
to be in production 3 years from now. They have to sound good and be versatile
and easy to use. Robust fits in there somewhere. So 5 VCAs it is. If I need
more, I'll investigate the other 25 VCA designs out there and build one or two
or ten of them. 

Life goes on.

Tim Ressel -- Hardware DQ
Hewlett-Packard
Verifone Division
916-630-2541
tim_r1 at verifone.com