INVESTIGATED PART TWO Continuing Ren Duncan’s series, Part Two describes the a by three desi, pproaches adopted ners and manufacturers of audio VCA ICs and modules fe frst widely sues audio VOR sing transistors was pioneered and tented between 1870 and 1813 by David Blacker, cofounder of db. In the basi logantilog VCA Fig 10, Part One, ‘Studio Sound, June 1989), operation is inte to ‘one polarity of input signal. In an eaier pent for an audio VCA by Embley (1970, single-ended (nipoar) operation was made workable by suitable biasing, Bight years later, competing ‘VGA pinasr Pol Bal patontod teehee wing fall wave rectification ai the input to facitate the required four quadrant operation fm @ ‘transistor core, But dbx's model 202 was the frst VCA to contain score comprisine ‘symmetrical pars of apn and pap ogentilog teanssters for bipolar ot helanced operation Fgh. dbx ‘The 202s biasing is Clase AB, meaning it's Ant ht aa An power amplifies the minimum standing curent ‘sae bya Vpp ultpir. In the days when the conformity of np IC fabricated transistors lef a ~ ato be desided pop not even bring _-—menunabe in polite eampany) the use of discrete devies inthe dbx 22' care was foregone conclusion fr else matching. To this. end, dbx developed ovens that could bold ore 100 fronsatre under iathermal culty le simultaneously measuring and providing ‘entiation of those with matching Va voltages. On the other hand, icthermsl ‘ditions in the 202 were Himited to impowing ermal condutvty between the transite cases ‘through a thermally conduetiveeeramie block, Snterfaced with alice opating I they cxcurred, vertical’ temperature ferential Ucween the npn ana pop cote tener (QL, Q2 in Fig 1) would crate an aft voltage (ue to Vigg's temperature depandenes, leading to @ ‘hump when modulated by gui changes. Ia other word, the 209' feedthrodgislation might suffer it were earleiysteé near parts radiating significant het. At the same time, Class AB operation means that feedthrough is inherently low, a the DC (i) curent in the cell, hence & changes created by Vag mismatch, are both orders of magnitude smaller than in og. nil VCAS operating in Clase A. ‘Then agai, with Class AB aptaton, the core 58 Studie Sound, July 1989 TTansators temperatures old We intemal ele Arnal Siva QLP and Q24+4, the loggers and antloggers respective) the VCA's DC input blocking were leaky Caving ‘itopen to DC offset) while being sett attenuate high level programme, Highly asymmetric high devel programme eg percussion) could arguably have similr consequences: harmaniediorton, “According to db, thermal inertia residing in the silicon substrate and the metal packaged. uous uae lhe ere of the 20 eet alstotion would only rise appreciably at th lemest audible frequencies. And while the Aistrton would be predominantly od onde, dbx fnpidor that i's warshadeed im pastes ther error mechanisms, Lete in 1978, dbx introduced model 202C, 2 refinement ofthe 202, Additional crutey was used to sense when any ofthe cove transistors ‘were approaching currents that would ease log rors, and generated a correction signal to compensate forthe errr. This doubled the number of matched npn+pnp devices require, to gli Fusher de correction Nad to be Eqs. to sit the transistors in individual core, king the 202C more expensive and diffi to ‘manufactre. The benefits were a reduction in Astcion af 108 or mov far given sperting arent and IN ratio, Alternatively, the interplay beeen THD and SV rat enn ht diam Col hws neste ureng er ‘Spring SN rat ro gen THD. Ela dbx claim the clean dynamic range is extended fr around tah a i808 ee mae In 1980, dbx responded to demands by customers for a Class A wc with {ie 0 Ta ray et cf is Acai ‘bo emsirent gummi emp as | ‘Bogert dx cin» pial cod cof around 0.001% for the 2001, contrast 0.00% fap the 0rd 00 or he 208. Toe 4 osreage sed nei ocr a amg ieee tit som Vad sn thee gaa ‘in proportion to the square root of current. Se tw the Cs AB ei, sno see lee essen 2 nee es ttc ccna tage i Nghe snipe ma came fe 938 > Ses higher (6) seen 2B gr under noi ein However ln gar range sated ‘hema high Reader of Cla A ‘operation, the 2001 retur a DNR that wag omiewarke se | ceaiey- nantes tatty Te dara eign ~66 dB) and greater susceptibility to thermal < spans (peal ena by educate Epnonts Te extent eich he ‘pelican ler nsqases Cla 1 peratn per esl bse ear er ‘The net slge wan nonlin Pactaged ooh 0, emerate iis am 2 Teatenidtenshodly cxtpese ss Spicinghetwen toe dves toe may» Grr of mage sod by aot ako fest ef ternal bers the ie Nd Steyn snl sio0 rire in seine ite Spa eran lpn elec 0, 261 beg| ‘umber moe th cream ef he byw 215 bing linn heer na Sy tytn; bd 2504 bing the itr gd Aha our years of eee neuen vith an IC manfred had eed wih ce apa of uting eet papas Bre monolith saree ces wi ulhed apa. The monic ogantg cre a allt, Th 210 series een inl ig enfaraere carson ay ie x8 wipe ea ors oe ‘When operating Cs the elegy Fig i dbx Cl circuitry) iss A-B log-antilog VCA (excludes log conformance correction yvery polarity reversal During this transition, the signal curent approaches mi. With the remaining Class AB bias curent being at small spol, the availabilty of current is reticted tt Une very plat where uscontact Aliminshing fst, Avoiding outright crosover distortion at hgh fequencies while keeping the ‘bias caret low relies onthe core’ input half ‘sing partnered with a widebandwidh fart. sewing opamp. At the same tie, the logging ‘transistors’ gain has tobe degenerated, olberwise the poor phase margin and consequent risk of Snnaby resi the erento which pap speed aod opelocp gain can be used to ‘kiss SNR in Cass AB antilog VCAs isnot quite what i seems, When sigual levels azeszall, the ‘handing bien carseat ota a reopectably Low mise Alor, But then signal levels directly modulate the ce current, noise fllows the signal. In real operating conditions, with programme near ter- Inet, dh allt th ni lene inn by 24 though 80 dB hasbeen measured (our own ‘measurements of modulation noize wil be included next month). Generally, the nose should ‘be mashed by signal, but noise modulation is readily measurable (ith sullable fering or DC stimulation and is eld to be audible stable conditions by some sound engineers as well as by other VCA makes. One explanation Ts We dignity aye te seuiviy of Ue ckrol ports of dhs VCAS If the circuit and ‘PCB designers ae careless, excess nose present ‘nthe cotrol path is lable to modulate and amplify the resin mise entesing tha VA's audi input, Valley International olga Cae a an inne oP VE teas BD eae BUC on ‘Electronic Gain Control), made by Allison eer, Vell’ predtenr The TAO! and ‘Tat arived in 362 Un 187, Valey cada ne bya co Vai Des Unlike other makers’ VCAs, Valley's VCA node cxain jut there rns ded ‘to implement their patented design: TA-104 and ol aeenpaatny ne metas spented quad and octal ‘Transistor Arrays (hence TA). It's ts penmy pinching st ont, pcs sing. ‘ox end manufacturing convenience a, ho toe taudis ae esl he oleae in {ifanlig cfr tut used tens fom be knd fined conten Toning Fig, he shaded area ulie he commons Yay pine Yea aay. ‘TAO, sureanded by the rcommendedspprt ei, al cmprebeoion sald ome itl enti yeayg the al cre in Fig 2, sas brs red by surly era the negative haf of Ube core-meaning it ean only am uid Like dbx, Valley's patented Class A VCA scheme i bl rund asp cae of pairs of pup and npn transistors. Designer Paul Buff enumerates the residual base- nie etn of th cove rans & ‘source of non-linearity. The resulting THD is Foire eile Ine Sameye Teepapap re socal he may of he ft harm Whe ylding low THD figs, ‘and antilog transistors only Fig 2 Valley Clase A log-antilog VCA core. Simplified halfireult showing pap log Diode connected transistor (BE pattern) Fig & Valley Clase A lograntilog VCA—the full creult ‘aoeallation eaves the Sd and higher olarder ‘Saraows preduse by Cis 4B operation 0 dominate, teeter with ssid inlermodlationproucs Nasty. Because Vals ‘CAs operate in Clas A,distrion i alnast ‘lsvly een order, whch can be largely alld by balancing the core esis, Siient odd ede ditrtion pads dont fre unl the signal curent eso exeed the Was eae at ci. Por the Tao's rerommended bis curet of 20h, curest Clipping implies peak input ees beyond SS (6c he nis ‘producing substantial order distartion ae Father nyponea. ‘Previous allmpls a operating lgatiog ells in Cass A od ome unsusk. The loging tana inthe cae transi conigaraon tig Fart one, Sui Sound se 1) tas cent un bh fea uso For ter aes sentir on tern exelent lg ampli ela, ‘snl seal ae, Wi £048 tant aia pret aide duck eo the anced cpap, VHP fab key fetta ae US cp ie BL So {ie unpented tn mapas olen ad cae see Cand Eh Ths fara et fed on sudo SIN rats een! Mutations the ce are remeel ig vlage Ti he asa the ae can maga thei cae Tae A pce pees ce ue of aes in ents ith theca dev, ons Ge tac pl Ab el, VHF sity can be 99arene wih spl fad onnpennaion capacitor (CI in Fig 2), which ean be kept small in value, thereby preserving the opamp bandwidth and slewing capabilities. Preise sletiel sod thermal matching betwen each transistor and it sociated diode is achieved by doubling the number of eae transistors, then faneting the extra ones ab diodes (Fig 3a. With fhe ine enero x ple, the intra ele loro te Valley VCAs contol pork doubles, 0 120m per deesde or 12020=6 mV per dB. Bias cures sony apportioned equally between the two halves ofthe core (pop+npa) when the onic agit i OY si ya sly. Ws inereasing attenuation, the biescuren is progressively channeled through the loging Atansstr, and for gn, bas current i directed tee inte the ats logging fonsietor. Te hie ‘way the ratio of bias and signal eurrents fn each transistor remains constant 2s does the total bias curren, irespetive of VCA gain. ‘Vi hot aba v sting the bis current high and making the oar devices’ geometry big a is fase. fis minimised by employing low impedances atthe core transistors bases and citer terminals. Designing for minima noise ft te outset is mporcant, because wih Clase A ation, the noise voltage atthe output is ‘ariant, meaning that SIN ratio fll in to increasing stfanuaton. At the same time, the Valley xhome should have none ofthe ise modulation effects that characterise lg antag VCAs working in Class A, ‘One other tradeaf potentially arising from ‘lass A spraton is erosive conte feedthrough, It doesn matter Whether the YCA 1 logantlog a transconductance type. The sme vertial and horiantal temperature (gradients that cap cause DC offsets and LP ‘Grion m Ulss VAS rout fn a shiny DC residual ata Class A VOA's output FDC osking i polen, and swung the DC effect seal enough not ta result in loss of Fondroom, i ood nly bo considered a source of tortion if i's actually eudbl, So mach depends in turn onthe rate of change ofthe control signal: With the viginal BCC 101, uo at 8 fast acting muting element (one of the toughest tests of eontrl feedthrough rejection) could result ina discernible ‘thump! In the TA series, improved thermal coupling reyes contra feedthrough atleast 2048. Agsn, the bottom Tine rests with th designer and how careflly the cantrol ciety i eonigured. David Blacker’ patent ‘Moltpircteuis is ot imited 0 spate nas level ence operating las), sit covers the schemes prometed by Valley, althaogh Valley, have Argued quite reasonably tht the TA series are IEOYOAS in Grmocroh Whey are jst prosision ‘matched transistor erays) Valley cite Blackmer’s patent alongside their own and pay royalties to dbx At the time of writing, Valley are the only roandin VOM mamfctners icone by db, SSM (Solid State Microtechnology) SSM was founded in 197. More than any of the ther audio VCA manufacturers, SSM ae clay inl OEM ty mnaectaring {varity ef audi onto’ chip for incon {nt eletroie msi and, more rset, ro suo equipment In eet years, forme nd langsoringProidnt Dan Prk reise that Saipan wie meen ser wes the oly way tof sais the company’s Uethnlogiesl ambitions. In 1988, SSM was. secured by PMI Precision Monclihics ne a flor marfacurer of innovate, peeison ts brought the benefit of advanced processes beyond the reach ofa small company Gin IC sana antiga $160 ili is ig 4 splays the contents of Ss 2014 (presently ther as highly spesid VCA chip) together with the mai extemal parts needed fo predie stndard CA Abaghantantally [ntgated external opanps (A, 2) ae desta for decent drive capabites. The cee jase the SSM 2014 advanced transconductance VCA, 60 Studio Sound, July 1989Ye VCA CONNECTIONS 22k my BE ! Ir oy SRE , our 6 (2) inverting and noninverting VCAs Fig 6, SSM 2016 ternal parts cout ean be eves by oiting ‘A142 but then the onboard putput amps (hewn ized in Fig by tying thir utats 14 ed 1. la Vn hye limited att extent. Th problems an rin oe, oceoed with the agement of ea, aber hana prces sittin: the +20 dB ina 6000 ine diving Capability tht is demande by procuio esjre ns to be tutad dan for thet own fod! That's beats any sch ult stage in the los confines aa monolith VCA wil elmost Cetanlyprofuce heal grdiens aro he ‘alt antlening i Hoos VOR ened tore ‘ould be dfities deciding at which point to {rin THD and fedtrogh, asthe device warmed Xp Ates, ache VGA might gun eptatin {ren snudig is est afer reaching thermal ‘equim, severl hours arte ene or [rsesor has ben sitshed on. Worse ila Neateaving Class AB ouput tage would hermally modulate te ell to produce a THD ‘ing stanly blow 20 Raurning to SSM 2014, the overall ere is rare completed than ay ofthe previous VCAS, because overall NFB is employed This gives rise th sever! permausons coe of taney ad noninverting VCAs (Fig a) and even VCPs Figs, “AT SSH VAs are tased on mariage twee the rent tring tonne ll and lgelg cre. is patents of 1861 sod 1984, cndsigner Doogas Frey has developed a gh ed i ewe owt ton, meaning thas fo Poel con te esented mth emp or pp dviesar bot, Retin the eal tmp devs ane (ain 204 ses the cost and design headaches involved in developing Sent poppe tha ic igen pateats: Send, nen operating in Class AB ode malching between te cel’ fur dvs is Tecan usual fr god rests. In et ecient dthrough retin over a preioas tranendutance typeof VCA, whore rejection ‘pended on ‘xtreme malching something tat is ial or even th bs C makers to Accomplish with high ys and Rees ow ot. ‘other perennial peblem aes, the ned for istheral condition, sree arcmplished in the 201, being a fllsale moma "he origoe atures of SEs patented VCA tecniga extend to programmable operation Tsing canbe Cas A, A or even Siig Bis Chass And in Cans AB mae, distortion caveat drei ees into oa veda & 62 Studio Sound, July 1988 pS 9.071 Lan pF Vig. 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