Xpantastic!

On Wed, Jan 13, 2010 at 9:22 PM, schmuckfenster
<schmuckfenster@...> wrote:
> To be honest, I also ask myself what actually does 'fail' in such a chip? Is it a
> physical 'burning' through or just a contact that is lost? No way of trying to repair
> the chip itself?

As I understand it, it's a weakness of the fabrication process used to
make the chips. Basically the analogue components etched onto the
silicon deteriorate over time (due to e.g.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electromigration) and drift from their
original values. Eventually they drift so far that the auto-tune
mechanism can't vary other component values far enough to compensate.

A bit like CDs & DVDs - they were supposed to last "indefinitely", but
after a decade or three they're not quite what they once were.

I have seen people using small microcontrollers to emulate failed
custom digital chips in old gear; I would expect that, eventually,
people will use small DSPs to emulate failed CEM chips in vintage
synths. In fact, there's probably a business opportunity there for
someone already.

Cheers,

John :^P