TL072 substitute? (They're expensive now outside the USA)

And hey, if the through hole TL072 becomes a thing of the past we can definitely do some pre-soldered SOIC8 > DIP8 adapters, just like the MMBFJ201's.
 
mybud said:
Push comes to shove, I could get them delivered to me and then send them on to you.
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Very decent of you to offer. I have some coming from AliExpress, which I'll test. And I can probably find some somewhere for a reasonable price in the long term. But I greatly appreciate the offer, and if I can help you with any Australian thing, let me know.
 
mybud said:
What about those little (scary) SOIC to through hole adapter boards? I optimistically ordered a couple and can scarcely see the little lines on them 🤨
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I bought a bunch of them a while back, and my close up vision is good. I am thinking about getting some SMD 72s... I have managed to successfully put... maybe 10 or 12 SMD J201s and 5457s onto adaptor boards. EDIT: and I didn't destroy any in the process.
 
Through hole devices are still used in plenty of mission-critical applications, so I don't foresee a complete end of production of those parts. Also, the demand remains high for general purpose parts like DIP8 TL072. Right now, the Si shortages / fab concentration has led to rationing and prioritizing production. Now that production is going in the direction of less concentration and more regional fab houses are coming online, I think there's an end in sight to shortages—although the exact timeline there is probably later rather than sooner. But, I do think that niche products (e.g., dynamic processors that have the VAST majority of their application in production electronics), will see DIP package EOL for sure. There's always the possibility of companies such as Coolaudio resurrecting ancient tech and offering it to hobbyists, but there's of course a premium there.

I have no problem with surface-mount ICs / transistors, but I'd like to continue to use through-hole passives.
 
Robert said:
I think it's going to be fine. We can still get germanium transistors and diodes....when did they quit making those?
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I've heard that the USSR made literally millions of Germanium diodes to stockpile for use in radioactivity detectors / Geiger counters.
 
They're fairly tolerant to heat, not like germaniums... after all, they sit in a reflow oven at high temperature for several minutes.
 
mybud said:
What about those little (scary) SOIC to through hole adapter boards? I optimistically ordered a couple and can scarcely see the little lines on them 🤨
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It gets better after you do a few dozen (or a few hundred), trust me. I almost never use through hole opamps anymore, for my purposes the SMD variants are just uniformly better. Especially for onboard electronics, which is my main thing.

Those little adapter boards are very inexpensive BTW, through OSHpark they run me three for a buck, shipping included. Multiple people have shared their fabrication files there if you don't want to do the layouts yourself.
 
In terms of 'scary' — I've gotten away with soldering a 16 Pin QSOP with .8mm solder and a T18-D16 tip with some solder wick. It's really not as difficult as it might seem to be.

EDIT: And a flux pen. Definitely necessary.
 
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Nope, at some point drag soldering becomes more reasonable than pin-by-pin.

After you do it a few times you won't even think about it.

Remember the first time you ever soldered anything? That was probably a little uncomfortable too.

Start small then work your way .. uh... down.
 
The one thing I don't like about SMD ICs is that removal can be destructive to the board. It also throws the general order of operations out the window since you're soldering the SMD parts first. Typically, I like to save transistors/ICs for last.
 
DAJE said:
There's a reason I wrote for people who do not live in the USA in big bold letters in the OP. It's bad enough paying postal rates from the US on PCBs, which I can't get anywhere else. Things that I can get locally or direct from Asia (which is much closer to me than the USA) are much more affordable.
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Dump! Mah reedin’ skills sux! 🤪
 
Wow! That's a huge jump. I have a few 72s sitting around because they were so cheap. I just checked and the first time I ordered them in April of 2020 they were 34 cents. Gonna to look into those LF353Ps now. Get some ne5532s and lm833s and such to mess with now too. I think those are bjt input instead of jfet so maybe not exactly similar.
 
temol said:
My experience with 72's from Ali is bad. Three different sellers. Stuff of course works, but sounds bit fizzy on decay (crossover distortion, that's not present with legit chips).
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My luck with SMD 72s has been better than through hole from Ali. I have a handful of Ali 72s that I would only use if it's already in a dirt path of a pedal.

LCSC has through holes for 75¢ and 97¢ US a pop

TL072IP | TI | Price | In Stock | LCSC Electronics

TL072IP by TI - In-stock components at LCSC. Price from $0.3323. Free access TL072IP datasheet, Package, pinout diagrams, and BOM tools.
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Texas Instruments | Texas Instruments TL072CP | FET InputAmplifiers - LCSC.COM

Texas Instruments Texas Instruments TL072CP US$0.9666 LCSC electronic components online Amplifiers FET InputAmplifiers - leaded datasheet+inventory and pricing
lcsc.com lcsc.com
 
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