Ross Comp etch image for the CA3080A (can)?

[xorophone]

Hello! I've decided I want to build a Ross Compressor as my next project. I was planning on using the circuit from tonepad and etching it myself, but I've run in to a problem. I was going to use a CA3080A (the metal can version), but the etch image is made for the DIP-8 version of the chip. Do you guys know where I can find an etch image that works with the metal can chip?

OR

Should I just go for the DIP-8? If I buy the metal can, it's most likely going to be a clone, so maybe it's better to just go for the plastic chip.
How big of a difference does it actually make?

Thanks!

[PRR]

The leads on the metal can package can be bent to fit a DIP-8 socket. Same pin numbers. (Find the pinout for the metal.) We did that all the time.

http://www.interfacebus.com/8-pin-TO-39-package-outline.jpg

[xorophone]

The leads on the metal can package can be bent to fit a DIP-8 socket. Same pin numbers. (Find the pinout for the metal.) We did that all the time.

http://www.interfacebus.com/8-pin-TO-39-package-outline.jpg

Oh yeah, you're right. I didn't think of that. I'm a bit tired.

But do you think metal cans from ebay will be a better option than DIP-8 chips from a more reliable source? Or do you know a better source for metal cans?
Will I actually be able to hear any difference between the two?

[PRR]

There were not many original wafers of '3080, I believe they and the new-made ones SmallBear stocks are all essentially as alike as 8-peg Legos. Metal-can may make it easier to get certified for a 1970s space-rocket, and looks sexier, but metal or plastic makes no difference to sound.

If what you get on eBay is truly a '3080, all well and good. There may be a small advantage to metal because there are MANY more plastic 8-DIPs to relabel as fake '3080, and there may be higher-value metal-8 parts to relabel the cans as. But I'm sure someone is running ECL logic chips through a relabeler this very night.

The most common FAIL is that pin 5 is nowhere near the 0.6V off V-/Gnd, when it has to be. If carelessly handled, pin 5 can be blown by static charge. But we are seeing way more "dead 3080" than can be explained this way.

[italianguy63]

The leads on the metal can package can be bent to fit a DIP-8 socket. Same pin numbers. (Find the pinout for the metal.) We did that all the time.

http://www.interfacebus.com/8-pin-TO-39-package-outline.jpg

Oh yeah, you're right. I didn't think of that. I'm a bit tired.

But do you think metal cans from ebay will be a better option than DIP-8 chips from a more reliable source? Or do you know a better source for metal cans?
Will I actually be able to hear any difference between the two?

I have some experience with this.. I have built a bunch of these... I do prefer the CAN style to the DIP, but a BIG however....

I was getting the CAN style from eBay for a couple years, then they stopped working.  They are Chinese copies of the original.  At first the failure rate was about 10%.  At the end the failure rate was probably 90%.  They just quit working.  And, I tried probably 4 different vendors from eBay. 

But, the DIP style, I have had no problems with...

In short, I suggest you steer away from the eBay CAN style CA3080.  If you can find an original NOS version somewhere (and they are rare now)-- then go for it!

Mark

[thermionix]

If you can find an original NOS version somewhere (and they are rare now)-- then go for it!

+1

Mojo whatever, I switched from an Intersil metal can 3080 to an NOS RCA, and I really like it much more.  I got it on Ebay, but it was a Canadian seller that had listings for a bunch of NOS aerospace and mil-surp components, might not even know what a compressor pedal is.  I should have bought more than one.