Philips TDA1387 and TDA1545A digital-to-analog converter (DAC)

The Philips TDA1387 is an 8-pin multi-bit digital-to-analog converter (DAC), released approx. 1995. It is a very close relative to the Philips TDA1545A (developed/released around the same time as the TDA1387).

Both DACs use Philips' "Continuous Calibration" topology. The TDA1387 was mass-produced in the mid- to late 1990s due to its use in popular computer sound cards.

The major difference between 1387 and 1545A is the input data format:

• I2S (1387)

• EIAJ (1545A)

Above photo, taken 2006-12-29, shows: A DIY non-oversampling, parallel-processing digital-to-analog converter (DAC) inside a Serpac project box. Can be battery-powered (as shown, roughly 14vdc). A high-quality computer power supply (semi-visible in this image, below DAC box) may also be used.

The DAC IC's used are Philips TDA1545A (x4). The parallel tower-stack arrangement, as shown in this late 2006 image, was one experimental iteration in the development of the project.

In subsequent iterations, the stack config. was abandoned in favor of the std. single-IC topology.

Also in its current config (not shown above), this project uses a more advanced discrete cascode (solid-state) output stage (schematic below).