Due to the gain-bandwidth characteristics of operational amplifiers, their nonlinearities are frequency dependent, showing a rise in distortion at higher frequencies. Depending on the circuit and system implementations, this distortion can be significant to listener perception of sonic character and quality and is therefore relevant to models of op amp-based analog equipment. Power-series models of the harmonic signature of various op amp nonlinearities are developed with and without this frequency dependence. Listening tests are performed to determine the extent to which the distortion characteristic of the model must match that of the real component to create a perceptually similar result.

Author: Gaskell, Robert-Eric
Affiliations: McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada; GKL Audio Inc., Montreal, QC, Canada(See document for exact affiliation information.)
AES Convention: 137 (October 2014) Paper Number: 9206
Publication Date: October 8, 2014 Import into BibTeX
Subject: Signal Processing
Permalink: https://www.aes.org/e-lib/browse.cfm?elib=17529

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