# LM386 chips



## East Texas (Jun 25, 2020)

Hi everyone, first post here. I have been building pedals off and on for about 15 years, mostly on perf board or hand etched pcbs. I just completed my first pedalpcb circuit - a Paradise Overdrive. I love the sound of it, but the build doc recommends the LM386-3 and all I have been able to locate is the LM386-1 chip, which has about half the output (325 mWatts versus 700 mWatts.) So I was wondering if anyone has compared the sound of these 2 chips in this type of circuit? The chip I used has plenty of output and sounds glorious, but I just wondered if there is an audible difference in the two?


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## daeg (Jun 25, 2020)

This is not my area of expertise, but I would think that you'd only get an audible difference under a heavy, heavy load. Remember that these chips are designed to drive 8 / 16 / 32 ohm speakers, not 100k volume pots.

A comparison would be worrying about driving a Ford F150 instead of an F250, when all you're hauling is your kids tricycle.


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## music6000 (Jun 26, 2020)

East Texas said:


> Hi everyone, first post here. I have been building pedals off and on for about 15 years, mostly on perf board or hand etched pcbs. I just completed my first pedalpcb circuit - a Paradise Overdrive. I love the sound of it, but the build doc recommends the LM386-3 and all I have been able to locate is the LM386-1 chip, which has about half the output (325 mWatts versus 700 mWatts.) So I was wondering if anyone has compared the sound of these 2 chips in this type of circuit? The chip I used has plenty of output and sounds glorious, but I just wondered if there is an audible difference in the two?


National Semi LM386N-3 is available from Mouser.
Here is a discussion about this pedal build :
https://forum.pedalpcb.com/threads/paradise-overdrive-gain-pot-motorboating.2535/#post-19680


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## East Texas (Jun 27, 2020)

music6000 said:


> National Semi LM386N-3 is available from Mouser.
> Here is a discussion about this pedal build :
> https://forum.pedalpcb.com/threads/paradise-overdrive-gain-pot-motorboating.2535/#post-19680


Cool, thanks.


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