intersil VCO chips and 'synth-level' circuits...

[Jim Patchell]

    The main problem with the 8038 is it's lack of linearity.  What this
means is it will not have very good tuning accuracy.  It is, however
better than some other oscilator circuits, I seem to recall it is only
good to about 0.2% over a 10:1 range.  A typical VCO that is used as a
pitch source is around 0.01%.  It is definately useful as an oscilator
in applications where tuning is not very critical.

    -Jim

Nick Zuccaro wrote:

> has anybody here used the intersil icl8038 as a VCO? i stumbled
> upon it and it's looking like a pretty nice cheap-n-dirty
> soultion for chip-level modular units. newark has them for about
> $4/per, and they only need a few external resistors and opamps,
> depending on the application. the .pdf datasheet can be found
> here:
>
> http://www.intersil.com/data/FN/FN2/FN2864/FN2864.pdf
>
> just checking to see if anybody's used these, i'm planning on
> grabbing a few to see how they work out.
>
> another quick question, i'm relatively new to synth modules, i'm
> planning on integrating some modules with the rest of the gear
> i've got, which is at line level, mic level and guitar/bass
> level, so i'm assuming i'll need some kind of level 'adapter' in
> order to use all of these together. would it be better to use a
> synth level->line level converter to use everything at line
> level <studio standard> to take advantage of passive
> attenuation, or to convert the line level stuff i've got to
> synth level, which is +/- 2.5v? i'm trying to familiarize myself
> with working with synths, which i haven't really worked with
> before. seems like you can treat these circuits like low-speed
> digital, so most of the analog low-level design/layout rules
> aren't as critical. is this a correct assumption? anyway, just
> hoping to start some interesting discussion...l8r...Nick
>
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