Hi guys,
working on my new project i guess if any audibile issue would emerge mounting devices such as DACs, OpAmps and generic ICs on sockets instead of soldering.
The project could be highly tunable so i would avoid removing of ICs after first soldering operation.
Any opinion and/or experience would be much appreciated.
working on my new project i guess if any audibile issue would emerge mounting devices such as DACs, OpAmps and generic ICs on sockets instead of soldering.
The project could be highly tunable so i would avoid removing of ICs after first soldering operation.
Any opinion and/or experience would be much appreciated.
Have a couple of these just in case-> (IC Extractor) I like soldering better, good heat transfer, good contact, less chance of noise from a week contact, but I don't know all the details of you design.
A good deal of my custom work is pulling the IC's from being directly soldered to the board and putting in sockets for them (in none-too-cheap amps to boot).
Cheers!
Cheers!
I have never liked using sockets but agree they can be an advantage if you like trying different parts.
On a practical level they do introduce a little stray capacitance/inductance etc that certainly can be an issue with HF work etc.
On a practical level they do introduce a little stray capacitance/inductance etc that certainly can be an issue with HF work etc.
Which sockets are better?
There are 3 kinds of pins shape,
1 http://www.solarbotics.com/assets/images/dc-14pin/dc14_pl.jpg
2 http://rocky.digikey.com/weblib/Aries/Web Photos/08-3518-10.jpg
3 http://media.digikey.com/photos/3M Photos/228-4817-19-0602J.JPG
My guess is first one is better due to match between IC pin shape and it's opposite connector (they are both flat)
There are 3 kinds of pins shape,
1 http://www.solarbotics.com/assets/images/dc-14pin/dc14_pl.jpg
2 http://rocky.digikey.com/weblib/Aries/Web Photos/08-3518-10.jpg
3 http://media.digikey.com/photos/3M Photos/228-4817-19-0602J.JPG
My guess is first one is better due to match between IC pin shape and it's opposite connector (they are both flat)
The first are better for fiddling about with... opamp swapping etc as many on here like to do.
The second are a better product but not suited IMO to keep inserting and removing parts. Think they are Berrylium copper ? plated contacts.
Best of all... get the design right and don't use any 🙂
The second are a better product but not suited IMO to keep inserting and removing parts. Think they are Berrylium copper ? plated contacts.
Best of all... get the design right and don't use any 🙂
Oh, easy to say .... hard to do !!!
In my case i would like to experiment much variants of circuits.
Second, my soldering ( and unsoldering ) skillness is not at the best anymore !
Anyway, thanks to all of you that replied !
Much appreciated
That's rediculous.
Sockets aren't for getting the design right or not, sockets exist for a very different purpose.
Cheers!
Hi Max,
Soldering and desoldering on a PCB is hard on the PCB and IC. Sometimes it's beneficial to remove the IC for diagnostics if something breaks down.
Also IC manufacturers are always coming out with "bigger and better" versions of their predecessors. I have stereo EQ's that had they used sockets, I could have easily gone over time from 4558 to TL071 to the new Analog Devices fancy chips out now 🙂
Sockets are also useful for "chip rolling". For example, would you buy a tube preamp with a 12AX7 welded to the PCB? Not likely 😉
Physically, the dielectrics are chosen for sockets (other than the real cheap ones) that their properties degrade nothing, especially at audio. Matter of fact, the board pad roughness and lefotover solder flux from desoldering and resoldering straight to the board can and will degrade the connection far worse than using a socket in the first place (I discovered this in an electrostatic audio power amp where impedances are high).
None of these examples involve "prototyping", or "getting the design right", they involve production units.
Cheers!
Soldering and desoldering on a PCB is hard on the PCB and IC. Sometimes it's beneficial to remove the IC for diagnostics if something breaks down.
Also IC manufacturers are always coming out with "bigger and better" versions of their predecessors. I have stereo EQ's that had they used sockets, I could have easily gone over time from 4558 to TL071 to the new Analog Devices fancy chips out now 🙂
Sockets are also useful for "chip rolling". For example, would you buy a tube preamp with a 12AX7 welded to the PCB? Not likely 😉
Physically, the dielectrics are chosen for sockets (other than the real cheap ones) that their properties degrade nothing, especially at audio. Matter of fact, the board pad roughness and lefotover solder flux from desoldering and resoldering straight to the board can and will degrade the connection far worse than using a socket in the first place (I discovered this in an electrostatic audio power amp where impedances are high).
None of these examples involve "prototyping", or "getting the design right", they involve production units.
Cheers!
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There is no right or wrong answer...
if you add a socket where one was not fitted before then the HF characteristics of the circuit will be altered, particularly if the surrounding circuitry is high impedance.
As with most things... take them into account in the design and use appropriately and they should be fine.
if you add a socket where one was not fitted before then the HF characteristics of the circuit will be altered, particularly if the surrounding circuitry is high impedance.
As with most things... take them into account in the design and use appropriately and they should be fine.
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