22-08-2019, 11:09 AM
Fake components from eBay? There's a surprise 
It's been happening for decades - companies like RS are very careful about their supply chains, and so are usually reliable, but of course that diligence adds to the price you pay. But if you put a price on your time, the cheap eBay parts have already cost more than the RS part would have done.
Anything that's related to audio is rich pickings for the scammers. Often, fancy audio op-amps are simply re-labelled TL082s or worse. Audio output transistors are a huge minefield. Apparently, a relabelling machine is a good investment.
https://sound-au.com/counterfeit.htm
I do buy components from eBay occasionally, but only NOS or "pulls". Never new, especially not from China. RS and Farnell aren't as convenient as eBay, but problems with them are very rare indeed.
The only proviso I'd add about your chips specifically is to put a 'scope on them to make sure they're not oscillating. The LM388 is a little bit fussy about layout and decoupling, which is fair enough.
It's been happening for decades - companies like RS are very careful about their supply chains, and so are usually reliable, but of course that diligence adds to the price you pay. But if you put a price on your time, the cheap eBay parts have already cost more than the RS part would have done.
Anything that's related to audio is rich pickings for the scammers. Often, fancy audio op-amps are simply re-labelled TL082s or worse. Audio output transistors are a huge minefield. Apparently, a relabelling machine is a good investment.
https://sound-au.com/counterfeit.htm
I do buy components from eBay occasionally, but only NOS or "pulls". Never new, especially not from China. RS and Farnell aren't as convenient as eBay, but problems with them are very rare indeed.
The only proviso I'd add about your chips specifically is to put a 'scope on them to make sure they're not oscillating. The LM388 is a little bit fussy about layout and decoupling, which is fair enough.
