[sdiy] Intersil ICL8038?

[Paul Perry]

The main problem with the 8038, for me, is that you can't quite get a full
audio range out of one, without using some clever tricks.
These tricks are in the Thomas Henry book.

After Harris took over Intersil, they wrote an extensive application note
that showed what was wrong with the 8038 - I guess the problem was that even
with its flaws it was a real cash cow! It's a shame, when you consider the
same guy designed the immortal 555 timer.. though in fairness, I think the
8038 might have been intended for acoustic modem applications, not as an all
purpose audio tone generator.
But the XR2206 is better for modems as well.

And for stompbox use, the 8038 sure sucks a lot of current!

I prefer to use a LM13700 as a VCO (see the datasheet) to generate a
triangle & then squash the tri to a sine by overdriving half another
LM13700.
Yeah it is a few more parts, but you have the option of current control.

paul perry Melbourne Australia