...I suggested the use of duals rather than a quad in any location... in the main because it permits the swapping of a very wide range of opamps... which may be of value off in the near future (or not).
_-_-bear
Well, I don't about 20 seconds :-) The DIP has a HUGE installed base, and many are still in current production. If some day everything has to go surface mount, then probably the way to go is a "built" board (like in a computer) and swap things out as a unit.
But, I think we're a ways away yet....
Tubes were essentially obsoleted in mainstream electronic equipment during the early '70s (actually, probably during the late '60s), but some 35 to 40 YEARS later, you can still buy tubes - and there are even certain specialty HIFI equipment builders who actually look for them
Steve,
I'm not trying to argue for the sake of arguing...
I'm not sure how a pair of DIP-8s side by side takes up that much more realestate than a single quad?? The comparison being valid between std size parts as well as between surface mount duals vs. quads...which is what I was getting at. Yeah you might need some jumpers to make the PS connections, if you need to, but beyond that, not many more pins or size?? I'm confused on this...
And, what is the need to make everything surface mount in the first place?
Why does it need to be "small"??
Perhaps because the parts are harder to find in large these days?
More expensive in large?
The board is more expensive in large?
All of the above?
Now, as far as tubes? Yeah, tubes
were once ubiquitous, not not more!!
Try to find me a bunch of 6AQ8s today... for a simple example.
Now try to find me some 845 op amps. Not new ones but earlier pre ROHS production (the current production happens to be not so good and have noisy front ends for reasons that are unclear). Not quite so easy.
Just getting your hands on TTL chips can be a slight pain.
None of these technologies will absolutely become unavailable in our lifetimes, but they have become harder to find, so more expensive, and not as likely to be found residing in a parts drawer as they once were.
So, as I said, there were and are far more duals made than quads, making a swap out much more likely to happen out of the parts drawer in a pinch... or in the first place when building the board up virgin... that's all.
_-_-bear
