Usually targeted at audio applications, these circuit blocks find homes in all types of designs. Here’s a quick study of their operation and properties. Two of the most often used amplifier building ...

The circuit in Figure 1 sinks a constant current (ICE3) through Q3’s collector and emitter. This design is balanced so changes in Q3’s base-emitter voltage (VBE) don’t affect the current sink’s ...

Figure 1 The addition of a simple diode in the emitter circuit yields the symmetric waveform in Figure 4. Figure 2 This amplifier circuit produces the distorted waveform in Figure 3. Diode D 1 ...