ABSTRACT
Today’s analogue to digital converters (ADCs) and digital to analogue to converters (DACs) have excellent performance, with 24-bit accuracy at a 192 kHz sampling rate a commonplace but to achieve this potential performance in an application there are a good number of factors that need to be appreciated. Some of them, such as the need for effective HF decoupling are relatively straightforward providing you follow the manufacturer’s recommendations, but others, involving the actual interfacing to the analogue input and output pins, are a bit more subtle. The PCB layout for both ADCs and DACs requires observance of certain precautions, which are basically the same for both functions. A double-sided (or, more likely, four-layer) PCB is necessary not only because of the large number of connections that have to be made in a small space, but also because it allows tracks that need to be isolated from each other to be put on opposite sides of the board.
