Sad. What are hobbyists going to do when the present supply of the LM386 runs out?

From the Digi-Key site:
Part Status: End of Life; Last Time Buy Date: 09-28-2016. Minimums may apply.

 

Sad. What are hobbyists going to do when the present supply of the LM386 runs out?

From the Digi-Key site:
Part Status: End of Life; Last Time Buy Date: 09-28-2016. Minimums may apply.

If the want a high noise 1 Watt monolithic chip, they can buy an NJM386 or an LM386 from unisonic.

http://www.unisonic.com.tw/datasheet/LM386.pdf

http://www.njr.com/semicon/PDF/NJM386_E.pdf

 

there are several manufacturers for the lm 386 other than Ti.

 

Sad. What are hobbyists going to do when the present supply of the LM386 runs out?

.

http://www.fieros.de/philips/tba820m.pdf


http://www.circuitspecialists.com/pdf/Kit_27.pdf


http://www.unisonic.com.tw/datasheet/TDA2822.pdf

 

It's not just the LM386, the list of parts to be discontinued is several pages long. A few others listed are the LM3914/3915 and the LM833.

 

the list of parts to be discontinued is several pages long.

Audio Guru hopes the 741 is on the list.

(newbies: It's an inside joke.)

 

Audio Guru hopes the 741 is on the list.
........................

No such luck.
I think the 741 will be around as long as there's analog electronics, especially in third world countries.
One possible advantage of students using the 741 is that they immediately run into the glaring differences (and deficiencies) between the ideal op amp they studied and a real but poor one in practice (supply voltage limits, offsets, bandwidth, slew-rate, common-mode range, etc).

 

No such luck.
I think the 741 will be around as long as there's analog electronics, especially in third world countries.
One possible advantage of students using the 741 is that they immediately run into the glaring differences (and deficiencies) between the ideal op amp they studied and a real but poor one in practice (supply voltage limits, offsets, bandwidth, slew-rate, common-mode range, etc).

If they wanted that much of a challenge, they'd bring back the 709.

 

Hello,

I still have some LM301 chips laying around.
Are those also on the list?

For a lot of us it would be a greater loss when the 555 would be on the list.

Bertus

 

If they wanted that much of a challenge, they'd bring back the 709.

Sometimes the difference between a challenge and an impossible task can be close.

 

Hello,

I still have some LM301 chips laying around.
Are those also on the list?

For a lot of us it would be a greater loss when the 555 would be on the list.

Bertus

They might well start phasing out the bipolar version, but in relative terms the CMOS 555 is still new kid on the block.

Through hole parts of any description are probably at greater risk of being finished off.

It wasn't all that long ago that Zetex introduced a version of the 555 that can run off a single 1.5V cell.

 

It would be amazing if TI would come out with a great replacement for the LM386. <0.1 THD, 1 Watt, Ultra-low noise, wide input voltage range, wide amplification range, low input, DIP Package for hobbiests

 

It would be amazing if TI would come out with a great replacement for the LM386. <0.1 THD, 1 Watt, Ultra-low noise, wide input voltage range, wide amplification range, low input, DIP Package for hobbiests

Wasn't the LM386 originally a NS part?

NS do various AF PA chips that far exceed the 386 in performance.

http://media.digikey.com/pdf/Data Sheets/National Semiconductor PDFs/LM4831.pdf

But I'm not sure whether there's any through hole parts.

 

Wasn't the LM386 originally a NS part?

Yes, TI recently purchased NS and now they are discontinuing a lot of old NS parts.

 

Yes, TI recently purchased NS and now they are discontinuing a lot of old NS parts.

Like a lot of acquisitions. After some executive decides to buy another company, the product managers and technology people decide that most of it is a pile of $h!t.

 

Like a lot of acquisitions. After some executive decides to buy another company, the product managers and technology people decide that most of it is a pile of $h!t.

As long as people keep paying for the parts - small SE Asian firms will keep making them.

 

It would be amazing if TI would come out with a great replacement for the LM386. <0.1 THD, 1 Watt, Ultra-low noise, wide input voltage range, wide amplification range, low input, DIP Package for hobbiests

Wishful thinking, I'm afraid.

 

DIP packages themselves are on the endangered species list.

 

It would be amazing if TI would come out with a great replacement for the LM386. <0.1 THD, 1 Watt, Ultra-low noise, wide input voltage range, wide amplification range, low input, DIP Package for hobbiests

It would be nice, but volume manufacturer's aren't going to do much of anything for the hobbyist. If doing so is truly a low=cost, low-hanging fruit, then maybe. But it's not going to be a decision driver.

 

Like a lot of acquisitions. After some executive decides to buy another company, the product managers and technology people decide that most of it is a pile of $h!t.

It's more about what old equipment can still be supported and what can easily be re-qualified on new equipment. Most of these old line parts are still being made on 6 inch 20+ year old equipment that's running on shoe-strings and bailing wire in a FAB that's long past it's prime. The safety requirements for legacy installs are pretty lax but when you have to consolidate equipment to another location it must meet modern requirements. People are currently dealing with some major technology transfer issues with products from old-school acquisitions. If you have a critical need for something from a company that was recently swallowed up by another, my advice is to buy what you need NOW.