Many people in DIY mentioned MELF as their top choice for SMD resistors.
MELF are regarded as better than thin film by the manufacturers and the reasons seem to be reliability, durability, long term stability rather than real time electrical performance...
these things are obviously important in audio to some extent, but I doubt normal high precision thin films arent already more than good enough in this regard.
Im sure both are also more than good enough for any audio circuit in terms of electrical performance but I would think flat thin film would have slightly less inductance than cylindrical MELF.
Based on some recent browsing it looks like good quality Susumu RG thin films come in higher tolerance and lower tempco for the same price as MELF too.
MELF fill the gap for higher power precision SMD resistors but unless there are other factors im missing for typical 1/4W needs I dont see any advantage.
MELF are regarded as better than thin film by the manufacturers and the reasons seem to be reliability, durability, long term stability rather than real time electrical performance...
these things are obviously important in audio to some extent, but I doubt normal high precision thin films arent already more than good enough in this regard.
Im sure both are also more than good enough for any audio circuit in terms of electrical performance but I would think flat thin film would have slightly less inductance than cylindrical MELF.
Based on some recent browsing it looks like good quality Susumu RG thin films come in higher tolerance and lower tempco for the same price as MELF too.
MELF fill the gap for higher power precision SMD resistors but unless there are other factors im missing for typical 1/4W needs I dont see any advantage.
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The very best thin film resistors, like the Susumu you mentioned, perform as well as MELF.
That's my experience as well. MELF are annoying to work with. They tend to roll off the board and fly off tweezers.
Tom
SMD resistors too, just when you think you've got them, they fly off the tweezers (by themselves
) out of the board and into to the great unknown. That's where the "hunt for the tinny resistor" begins. I order extra smd resistors just for this reason.Problem with MELFs is that you can't always find every value.
With surface mount parts the smaller the active element the more thermal issues will affect performance, either drift or distortion (metal film distortion is low, but at low frequencies thermal distortion is definitely measurable for small resistors, and there is a tiny amount of voltage dependence too). You can use 2012 and 1210 sized thin film and normally this will be good enough if the dissipation is low.
Series strings can be used to both reduce voltage distortion or cancel it to first-order (in a resistive divider of integer ratio, just use N identical resistors in series and they see the same voltage).
MELF devices provide better performance by having more active area, and being SMT use less board area.
Series strings can be used to both reduce voltage distortion or cancel it to first-order (in a resistive divider of integer ratio, just use N identical resistors in series and they see the same voltage).
MELF devices provide better performance by having more active area, and being SMT use less board area.
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