Obsolete Chip Inventory Companies

[Chuck(G)]

Tell me about it, it hits my music hobby as well. I had to junk a great rackmount MXR Flanger from the late 70's/early 80's because to replace the failed I/C in the unit would cost me $400 for a pack of 200 of said I/C. I forget what chip it was, I just know I spend 8 hours for 2 days chasing it around on google back in 08/09.

I've got quite a few rants about the hobbyist market and what's available in general.

There are some outfits that know exactly what they're selling and offer decent prices, e.g. Unicorn. However, many Web-centric outfits merely report the stock that other dealers believe that they have. Said dealers, may, in fact, not have the inventory claimed at all.

Worse, some buy from Chinese (mostly) chip re-branders. You really don't know what's inside the package.

Extreme care is advised here.