I'm looking for a rotary switch with a nicer feel than the standard Mouser/Digikey kind, E-Switch, Alpha etc. They "snap" into position with a fair amount of wiggle room once they're set.
Who makes the kind of switch found in better audio equipment, the kind that feels "spring loaded," settles into position with a soft thwack, and doesn't wiggle?
Who makes the kind of switch found in better audio equipment, the kind that feels "spring loaded," settles into position with a soft thwack, and doesn't wiggle?
I'm going to try a Lorin and a Grayhill; they're not too expensive.
When I turn the knob on my Alps Blue Velvet pot, it just feels nice...you can feel the quality, just the right amount of torque needed. When I turn the knob on an E-Switch rotary, it feels cheap and plasticy. I don't want to spend $37 on an Elma switch, which I'm sure is pretty nice, but even the switches on my ancient Pioneer receiver feel 10x better than the E-Switch. We'll see..
When I turn the knob on my Alps Blue Velvet pot, it just feels nice...you can feel the quality, just the right amount of torque needed. When I turn the knob on an E-Switch rotary, it feels cheap and plasticy. I don't want to spend $37 on an Elma switch, which I'm sure is pretty nice, but even the switches on my ancient Pioneer receiver feel 10x better than the E-Switch. We'll see..
Just to toss in my 
here,
How about... cheapo rotary and relays for your audio signal? It's a little more complex, but for $20 worth of stuff, gives you similar performance of a $60 ceramic switch.
It's been a system I've been switching to and because only low current DC goes throught he switch, there's less lead dressing problems and adding LED's for channel position is a breeze.
Cheers!
here,How about... cheapo rotary and relays for your audio signal? It's a little more complex, but for $20 worth of stuff, gives you similar performance of a $60 ceramic switch.
It's been a system I've been switching to and because only low current DC goes throught he switch, there's less lead dressing problems and adding LED's for channel position is a breeze.
Cheers!
There are lots of 4P3T switches available. See http://www.mouser.com .
I use some tiny NKK MRK-series 4P3T rotary switches for front panel controls for instrumentation. Looking at the datasheet, they seem to be quite well made. I haven't noticed any mechanical "slop" in them, either. They're about $10 each, for qty 10.
But, the series that I use is probably not what you need. They're PCB-mounted, and extremely small. And I don't know anything about NKK's other switches. Sorry.
Actually, I only used those NKK switches because they have the smallest height that I could find, in rotary switches, so I could fit them between the front panel and a parallel PCB that sits about 1/2" behind the panel. (Well, I also liked their tiny "footprint" size.)
It's a good idea to get the paper versions of the catalogs from some of the major distributors. It makes selecting components much easier than using on-line searches. Mouser.com's catalog has gotten huge, and is a pretty good reference. And recently, Allied's huge catalog has improved a lot: It now has color photos of most of the stuff ( http://www.alliedelec.com ), which is really great.
OT: Allied has the best prices on Molex KK connectors that I've ever found. They may not have the full line. But, for what they do have, their prices are very, very good, compared to Mouser and Digikey.
Good luck finding the right switch.
- Tom Gootee
http://www.fullnet.com/~tomg/index.html
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I use some tiny NKK MRK-series 4P3T rotary switches for front panel controls for instrumentation. Looking at the datasheet, they seem to be quite well made. I haven't noticed any mechanical "slop" in them, either. They're about $10 each, for qty 10.
But, the series that I use is probably not what you need. They're PCB-mounted, and extremely small. And I don't know anything about NKK's other switches. Sorry.
Actually, I only used those NKK switches because they have the smallest height that I could find, in rotary switches, so I could fit them between the front panel and a parallel PCB that sits about 1/2" behind the panel. (Well, I also liked their tiny "footprint" size.)
It's a good idea to get the paper versions of the catalogs from some of the major distributors. It makes selecting components much easier than using on-line searches. Mouser.com's catalog has gotten huge, and is a pretty good reference. And recently, Allied's huge catalog has improved a lot: It now has color photos of most of the stuff ( http://www.alliedelec.com ), which is really great.
OT: Allied has the best prices on Molex KK connectors that I've ever found. They may not have the full line. But, for what they do have, their prices are very, very good, compared to Mouser and Digikey.
Good luck finding the right switch.
- Tom Gootee
http://www.fullnet.com/~tomg/index.html
-
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