Analog

Introduction Let me take a detour from the HDL and digital things and go back for a while into the analog domain. For this whole system I’m building to be of any use, the signal from the guitar has to have enough amplitude to: Dominate the noise of the processing chain Use as much of the XADC’s dynamic range as possible In any case, I need something simple, while also thinking I wouldn’t be able to respect myself if I built it as a circuit mounted on a breadboard. So, I also took the chance to learn PCB production in a long afternoon. ...

Introduction It took me a while to come up with worthy content, but here I am. I have been working on getting my FPGA board to sample analog audio with the internal ADC for a project proposed by a colleague as a way to learn the intricacies of digital design. Let me tell you straight: the documentation for the ADC on this Artix 7 device does a great job of being confusing. I’m not ashamed to say that this is the part that took me the longest to figure out, also considering my paranoia about damaging the components with non-compliant voltages. ...