Where to go.
I've just built a 100K stepped Volume Control and to be honest I am very disappointed with the result. It uses Vale resistors but the switching noise and resolution is appaulling.
I want to head back back to traditional pots.
Which pots can be recommended ?
I bought a Noble 10K Linear Quad Pot with the idea of adding parallel 1K resistors as Rod Elliot suggests. This Noble pot is absolutely rubbish, channel lineraity is within 50% over most of its travel.
I was going to build a balanced volume control but I'm having enough difficulty getting a decent dual pot.
I've just built a 100K stepped Volume Control and to be honest I am very disappointed with the result. It uses Vale resistors but the switching noise and resolution is appaulling.
I want to head back back to traditional pots.
Which pots can be recommended ?
I bought a Noble 10K Linear Quad Pot with the idea of adding parallel 1K resistors as Rod Elliot suggests. This Noble pot is absolutely rubbish, channel lineraity is within 50% over most of its travel.
I was going to build a balanced volume control but I'm having enough difficulty getting a decent dual pot.
Expensive but the best:
Multi-Channel Rotary Fader | Penny + Giles
Slightly cheaper:
Rotary Fader | Penny + Giles
Multi-Channel Rotary Fader | Penny + Giles
Slightly cheaper:
Rotary Fader | Penny + Giles
If you're into that sort of prices for a volume control you might also look what inductive volume controls have to offer.
IMHO these sound better than whatever potentiometer and provide a better impedance interface between source and load.
IMHO these sound better than whatever potentiometer and provide a better impedance interface between source and load.
Resolution is entirely up to the designer/builder. Switching noise may depend on contact materials and whether any DC is getting in. Also whether MBB or BBM switches.
I've just built a 100K stepped Volume Control and to be honest I am very disappointed with the result. It uses Vale resistors but the switching noise and resolution is appaulling.
10 kOhm would probably have not given such a result.
10 kOhm would probably have not given such a result.
@ Forr that's the first thing I thought when I started reading this thread. 100 K is way to high, which will translate into excessive noise.
At the other hand, a 10 K linear pot with a 1 K resistor between ground and sweep is a bit lowish.
I think it might be a good idea to resolder the stepped pot to a lower value first and see what happens.
vac
At the other hand, a 10 K linear pot with a 1 K resistor between ground and sweep is a bit lowish.
I think it might be a good idea to resolder the stepped pot to a lower value first and see what happens.
vac
100 k is slightly high, yes, but "way to high" and "excessive noise" is a broad generalization. Let´s say we have a gain stage with moderate gain and low current noise (FET input) then a 100k pot (which presents 25k source impedance worst case to the next stage) would be ok.
The OP mentioned switching noise, maybe because of a bad switch, or a BBM type with some DC present; it is important to keep an eye on input impedance but I don't think that resistor noise is the issue here.
Hi
I almost always use volume pots that I have built and find them much better in terms of clarity and lack of noise than any other type of volume control I have ever used. They only have one resister in the signal path and one to earth and that is hard to beat.
You do not mention what type switch you used or what of construction you used. I recomend a make before break switch to aviod switching noise and a design that only has two resistors in use at any one time to reduce resister noise.
If your volume control causes changes in the balance between high and low frequency that would normally indicate an impedance mismatch. I find most transister amplifiers are happy with around a 10k or 25k volume control but it depends on the design.
Don
I almost always use volume pots that I have built and find them much better in terms of clarity and lack of noise than any other type of volume control I have ever used. They only have one resister in the signal path and one to earth and that is hard to beat.
You do not mention what type switch you used or what of construction you used. I recomend a make before break switch to aviod switching noise and a design that only has two resistors in use at any one time to reduce resister noise.
If your volume control causes changes in the balance between high and low frequency that would normally indicate an impedance mismatch. I find most transister amplifiers are happy with around a 10k or 25k volume control but it depends on the design.
Don
- Status
- Not open for further replies.