Small- Signal Audio Design

Preface

“Another damned thick book! Always scribble, scribble, scribble! Eh, Mr. Gibbon?”

Attributed to Prince William Henry, Duke of Gloucester, in 1781 upon receiving the second volume of The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire from its author.

This book deals with small-signal audio design: the amplification and control of audio in the analog domain, where the clever stuff is done with op-amps or discrete transistors, usually working at a nominal level of a volt or less. ‘Small-signal design’ is the opposite term to the large-signal technology used in power amplifiers, welding gear, and the electricity distribution grid.

Audio signals frequently need to be manipulated, by altering their level, frequency response, routing and ...