Overloading IC op-amps for distortion

bifurcation

Well-known member
If you took a Quad-channel op amp IC (like the TLO74) and ran channel one into channel two, channel two into channel three and channel three into channel 4, would you have the world's simplest 4-stage distortion, or would you just have a dead IC?
 
Depends on how you do it. You can get all of the gain you need from a single opamp. The only reason to cascade them is to put clippers or tone-shaping in between. Example: you can build an opamp version of a Big Muff using four opamps.
 
What about controlling (unwanted) noise levels?

There's at least a few circuits that use 2x TL072 instead of just one TL074; and there have been attempts to glean as much out of a 4049UBE as possible by using all its inverters, but that doing so was noisy with some cross-talk within the chip.

Two inverters ▷०▷०
Tube Sound Fuzz, Red Llama, Purple Platypus, 49er, Insanity Box

Three inverters ▷०▷०▷०
Blackstone OD, Three Legged Dog, Bloody Finger

Four inverters ▷०▷०▷०▷०
Mr EQ, 22/7 (muff), Hot Tubes/Heist Wurst, Christine


Five inverters ▷०▷०▷०▷०▷०
UBE-Screamer (808), Double-D

All six inverters used ▷०▷०▷० ▷०▷०▷०
Tubesteak by Moosapotamus, Heartbreaker by ELS
(Tubesteak w/ 3inverters per bass and treble, or a 3-band Bax with 2 inverters per band.)
(Heartbreaker is a UBE screamer w/o 5th inverter for clean blend, and a Llama)


There's bunches more 4049 builds, but I don't know the number of inverters used.



I realise a bunch of inverters in the 4049 isn't the same as gain stages in a 4558 or TL07x, but the overall question remains:

How to reduce noise in IC-circuits that use all available avenues within the IC?
 
Back
Top