Abstract

Audio amplifier by using IC lm386 can amplify sound that is given from3.5mm audio
jack from the mobile phone. This circuit can be used as “Input audio jack and
loudspeaker system” for a small space like a room. This circuit can also be used in many
applications like portable music players, intercoms, radio amplifiers, TV sound systems,
Ultrasonic drivers etc. It can also be used as sound sensor for microcontrollers. It is
inexpensive, low power operated and only need few components to work. This circuit is
based on LM386 IC to amplify sound.

LM386 is a low voltage audio amplifier and frequently used in battery powered music
devices like radios, guitars, toys etc. The gain range is 20 to 200, gain is internally set to
20 (without using external component) but can be increased to 200 by using resistor and
capacitor between PIN 1 and 8, or just with a capacitor. Voltage gain simply means that
Voltage out is 200 times the Voltage IN. LM386 has a wide supply voltage range 4-12v

1
Introduction

Basically, Audio Amplifier LM 386 includes three functional blocks and they are: Power
as well as Output, Bypass, and gain control.

The LM386M-1 and LM386MX-1 are power amplifiers designed for use in low voltage
consumer applications. The gain is internally set to 20 to keep external part count low,
but the addition of an external resistor and capacitor between pins 1 and 8 will increase
the gain to any value from 20 to 200. The inputs are ground referenced while the output
automatically biases to one-half the supply voltage. The quiescent power drain is only 24
mW when operating from a 6-V supply, making the LM386M-1 and LM386MX-1 ideal
for battery operation.

The LM386 is an integrated circuit containing a low-voltage audio power amplifier.[1] It

is suitable for battery-powered devices such as radios, guitar amplifiers, and hobby
electronics projects. The IC consists of an 8-pin dual in-line package (DIP-8) and can
output 0.25 to 1 watts of power, depending on the model, using a 9-volt power supply.

Given below is the schematic circuit diagram of the ic lm386

Fig1.1 schematic representation of ic lm 386

2
2.Pin diagram of LM386.

Fig 2.1 Pin diagram of IC lm 386

PIN 1 and 8: These are the gain control PINs, internally the gain is set to 20 but it can be
increased up to 200 by using a capacitor between PIN 1 and 8. We have used
10uF capacitor C1 to get the highest gain i.e. 200. Gain can be adjusted to any value
between 20 to 200 by using proper capacitor.

Pin 2 and 3: These are the input PINs for sound signals. Pin 2 is the negative input
terminal, connected to the ground. Pin 3 is the positive input terminal, in which sound
signal is fed to be amplified. In our circuit it is connected to the positive terminal of the
condenser mic with a 100k potentiometer RV1. Potentiometer acts as volume control
knob.

A capacitor C5 of 0.1uF has also been used along with potentiometer, to remove the DC
component of input signal and only allow audio (AC component) to be fed into LM386.

Pin 4 and 6: These are the power supply Pins of IC, Pin 6 for is +Vcc and Pin 4 is
Ground. The circuit can be powered with voltage between 5-12v.
3
Pin 5: This is the output PIN, from which we get the amplified sound signal.

The output signal has both AC and DC component, and DC component is undesirable
and can’t be fed to Speaker. So to remove this DC component, a capacitor C2 of 220uF
has been used. This has the same function as Capacitor C5 (0.1uF) at input side.

Along with this capacitor, a filter circuit of Capacitor C3 (.05uF) and resistor R1 (10k)
has been used at the output PIN 5. This filter also called the “Zobel network”, this
electronic filter is used to remove the sudden High frequency oscillations or noise.

Pin 7: This is the bypass terminal. It can be left open or can be grounded using a
capacitor for stability.

ZThe power amplifier circuit section is taken from the Texas Instrument’s LM386N
datasheet.

Fig 2.2 Data sheet of IC lm 386 by Texas instruments

In the above image, we can see a screenshot from LM386N datasheet from Texas
Instruments. The circuit will provide 200x gain on the input signal to the output. The
circuit consists of few components where two electrolytic capacitors of 10uF and 250 uF
(We used 470uF), and one 0.05uF capacitor (0.047 used in our circuit) with a 10 Ohms
resistor makes the Power amplifier circuit. Resistors of .047uF and 10 Ohms are creating
the snubber circuit across the inductive load (Speaker). The circuit needs to be powered
from 5-12V, and load of 4 to 32 Ohms can be connected with the power amplifier.

4
2.1 Features and Specifications
 Wide range of supply voltage: 4V-12V or 5 V-18V (Based on model)
 Voltage gain from 20 to 200
 Battery operation
 Minimum external components
 Low static power drain: 4mA
 Available in package of MSOP
 Operating temperature: 0 -70˚C
 Low Distortion :0.2%
 Input is referenced by ground
 Self-concentric output static voltage
 Speaker impedance 4Ω

5
3.Functional Block Diagram of LM386

Functionally, the LM386 Audio Amplifier IC can be divided into Amplifier, Gain
Control, Bypass, Power and Output. The following image shows the functional block
diagram of LM386.

6
Fig 3.1 Functional Block diagram of IC lm386

3.1 Components Required for LM386 Audio Amplifier Circuit

 IC LM386
 Condenser Mic
 Speaker 8 ohm
 Capacitors- 220uF, 10uF (two), 0.1uF, 0.05uF
 Resistor- 10k (two)
 Potentiometer- 100k
 Battery 5-12v

The design of LM386 Audio Amplifier Circuit is very simple. First, connect the power
supply pins (Pins 6 and 4) to 12V and Ground respectively. Note that the maximum
power supply for LM386 is 15V.

7
Next, we need to connect the input. The input can be given from any audio source like
mobile phone or a microphone. We have given the audio input from a mobile phone
using the 3.5mm connector.

Simple 3.5mm connector (without microphone) will have three connections: Left Audio,
Right Audio and Ground. Since LM386 is a Mono Audio Amplifier, we need to connect
either the Left audio or the Right Audio from the source along with ground.
Alternatively, both the channels can be combined to produce a mono channel using
appropriate resistors.

Fig 3.2 schematic representation of 3.5mm Audio jack

If we want to control the level of the input, we need to connect a 10 KΩ Potentiometer at

the input. Since we are doing this project on a breadboard, we did not connect any input
volume control POT. Additionally, a small capacitor can be connected in series with the
input to filter out the DC Components.

Internally, the gain of the LM386 Audio Amplifier is set to 20 (without any gain control
circuitry). We connected a 10 µF Capacitor between the gain control pins i.e., pins 1 and
8. Hence, the gain is now set to a factor of 200.

Although the data sheet of LM386 says the bypass capacitor at Pin 7 is optional, we
found that connecting a 100 µF capacitor was really helpful as it helps in reducing the
noise. It can be left open for normal operation.

Finally, for the output, first connect a 0.05 µF Capacitor and a 10 Ω Resistor in series
between the output pin (Pin 5) and ground. This forms a Zobel Network, a filter
consisting of resistor and capacitor in series and is used to fix the input impedance of the
driver.

8
Next is the speaker connection. LM386 can drive any speaker within the impedance
range of 4 Ω to 32 Ω. We have used a 4 Ω Speaker. Connecting the speaker through a big
1000 µF capacitor was really helpful as it filtered out the unnecessary DC signal.

9
4.Working of LM386 Audio Amplifier Circuit

10
Below is the schematic diagram given for this LM386 IC based audio amplifier.

Fig 4.1 Circuit diagram of audio amplifier

A simple but efficient Audio Amplifier is designed using LM386 Audio Amplifier IC.
The working of the circuit is very straight forward as all the work is done by the LM386
IC itself.

When the system is powered on and proper audio input is given at the input, the LM386
Amplifier the input signal by a factor of 200 and drives the output speaker.

One of the main problems with audio amplifiers like LM386 is the noise. Surprisingly,
even though the circuit is built on a breadboard, there was very little noise from the
speaker.

Resistor R2 (10k) has been used as a Pull up resistor to connect Condenser mic to the
positive supply voltage, to provide the power to the mic. A suitable resistor should be
used for proper working of mic, you can look up to datasheet for the value or use a
variable resistor and set the proper value.

This LM386 audio amplifier circuit can be also used to record any sound. We just
need a 3.5 mm audio plug and a computer with sound recording software. We only need
to connect computer’s 3.5mm jack in place of Speaker, using 3.5mm audio plug, and we
can easily record our voice or any sound into computer like a professional microphone

11
5.Applications

 LM386 is already one of the important IC in audio department and is featured

commonly portable speakers and laptop speakers.
 The LM386 Audio Amplifier Circuit can be used for recording voice from
microphone, building small speakers that are battery operated, in FM Radio
Devices, etc.
 They can also be used in TV Sound Systems, Line Drivers, Servo Drivers,
Ultrasonic Drivers, etc
 A battery-operated system like TV sound systems, Ultrasonic Drivers, Recording
voice from microphone
 AM and FM radio amplifiers
 Low-power audio amplifiers
 Portable music players
 Laptop/computer speakers and small portable stereos
 Audio boosters
 Wien Bridge Oscillator
 Intercoms
 Power converters

12
Result

The given picture is the power rating of the IC lm 386.

The input signal from the 3.5mm jack is amplified from 1.5-1.75 VDC. Output voltage of
an audio amplifier ranges between 14V and 28V for an 8 Ohm amp.

Conclusion

During this process of making our mini project on audio amplifier using IC lm386

We came across various factors to be dealt with in the working of lm386. This gives us a
hands-on experience working with the IC lm386 and the combination of various passive
components to obtain the amplified output of input audio signal.

13
Bibliography

 Texas Instruments
 Circuit digest.com
 Wikipedia
 https://www.electronicshub.org/

14
15