DIY Synthesizer Amp
The Weird Sound Generator
Completed Synth
The synthesizer itself was a kit that I found online which came with all of the necessary parts including a schematic to follow. However, the kit did not come with an audio amplifier which would be necessary if I wanted to play with just my headphones plugged in - I needed to design one myself.
This was a home project I wanted to take on that I thought would be rewarding as a musician and an engineer. My goal was to build a circuit that was more complicated than the ones I had made in my circuit analysis class and get a working synthesizer in the process!
The Guts of the Synthesizer
My General Design for the Audio Amplifier
Overall the project was a success! I learned how useful capacitors are to couple and decouple audio signals when there are AC signals in a DC powered device - not to mention all the soldering experience I gained and having a fun synth to play. Listen for yourself!
Final Amp Design
A little internet research revealed that the LM386 op-amp is a good choice for designing an amplifier. Using the pinout for the LM386 as my guide, and noting how resistors and capacitors were used in the circuit for the kit, I did some experimenting on the breadboard and came up with the circuit drawn here. Through trial and error I found decent values for my resistors and capacitors, and stuck with 10K pots because that’s what the kit used.
