14-Bit Digital To Analogue Converter

EE 38 October 1987 14-BIT DIGITAL TO ANALOGUE CONVERTER Most D-A converters (DACs) that find applications in home-made peripheral equipment are 8-bit types. The converter chip used in this project, however, is a 14-bit type originally designed for use in compact disc players. The programmable number of steps of this chip is 2", or 16,384. The present converter board has a parallel input for ready connection to most types of microcomputer. Appli- cations of the board include a computer-controlled function generator (see the above photo- graph), a power supply con- troller, or a high quality driver for synthesizers and effects equipment. Many other appli- cations are within reach pro- vided the appropriate software is available -and that is where the programmer"s own ingen-. uity and creativity come in. The Type TDA1540 14-bit DAC The standards, and therefore the manufacturing technology, for ensuring the accuracy of a 14-bit DAC are quite different from those applied to, say, 8-b...