[sdiy] FPAA for analog synthesis?

[Eric Brombaugh]

On 03/02/2010 01:56 PM, Joel B wrote:
> Anyone here experimented with field programmable analog arrays?

I've done a bit of work with Cypress PSoC chips that have a small analog 
array. They work fine for relatively low frequency stuff but aren't 
great for most audio work.

Over the years a lot of companies have tried to make FPAAs work and none 
have been really successful. The biggest problem is that the 
power/size/performance trade-offs you can make with discrete and 
small-scale analog tends to favor arrays only in situations where 
extreme reconfigurability is required, and in most of those situations 
one is better off digitizing early in the chain and going with 
microprocessors or FPGAs.

Like nuclear fusion, reconfigurable analog arrays are a technology that 
will likely always be a few years in the future.

Eric