Simulation software.

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beppe61

Member
Joined 2005
Dear Sirs,


I am looking for suggestion about a simulation software for audio circuit.
And of course your point of view about their utility.
Do you use them while designing circuits?
I find them extremely interesting.
The possibility to assess the overall quality of a circuit without having to actually build them is very convenient indeed.

Thank you all for any advice.
Kind regards,

beppe
 
Gandalph

Gandalph

Member
Joined 2005
Greetings from Norfolk

Simulation Programmes are all very good, but most have their achilies heels. The results can only be as good as the model of the circuit. The simulation of the active devices may, in some cases, be inadequate for the full realisation of the true circuit. Also, the circuit as entered by the user needs to be 'complete' - for the higher frequency end of the audio spectrum the effect of stray capacity cannot be ignored.

With all this said they are a very useful TOOL, but the results must be used with inteligence, and the only TRUE test of a design is to build it and listen to it.

Richard
 
B

beppe61

Member
Joined 2005
Gandalph said:
Greetings from Norfolk
1) Simulation Programmes are all very good, but most have their achilies heels.
...
2) the only TRUE test of a design is to build it and listen to it.
Richard
Click to expand...

Dear Mr. Gandalph,

thank you sincerely for your kind and valuable reply.
1) do you have any software of choice? or have heard of one particularly dependable?
2) I have to tell you that I suspected so.

Thank you so much again.
Kind regards,

beppe
 
J

jpnascim

Member
Joined 2004
beppe61 said:
Dear Sirs,


I am looking for suggestion about a simulation software for audio circuit.
And of course your point of view about their utility.
Do you use them while designing circuits?
I find them extremely interesting.
The possibility to assess the overall quality of a circuit without having to actually build them is very convenient indeed.

Thank you all for any advice.
Kind regards,

beppe
Click to expand...

Hi beppe,

You can try LTSpice ( www.linear.com/software/ )

It is free, offers very good features (enough to get you going with audio circuit simulations). Also and important, it is easy to use. You just have to obtain your components' models and plug in it, since it doesn't have a very large library, but that's not the end of the world.

Best regards,

João Pedro
 
B

B Cullingford

Member
Joined 2005
If you use OS X try iSugar

it open source and seems to work pretty well - main problem (which I have inexplicably not seriously tried to solve) is that it does not want to work with JFET models, have to email the developer (who unfortunately says he is no lomger developing the program) and maybe get my hands dirty.
Also it does not have a lot of models but they are not hard to add.

Bill
 
B

B Cullingford

Member
Joined 2005
Oh and on Open Collector I found some time ago a Java based program which in theory should work 'anywhere'. I did get it to run under OS X and got too busy at work and now I cannot remember why I did not go back and use it/learn it maybe I just forgot about it until just now.
Now if I can just find it again maybe I'll try it and I will be able to sim some JFET circuits... or maybe I'll just build them!!!!

Bill
 
B

beppe61

Member
Joined 2005
Dear Friends,

I sincerely thank you all for your extremely kind and valuable response.
As I am looking for confirmations here about the validity of these simulation softwares (I always think about the flight simulation device and I do not know why. Nevertheless they seem to reproduce quite realistically the even after all) I would like to ask you the following:
" Have you ever compared the output from a simulation software with the output from an oscilloscope?"

This could be very telling after all.
Thank you so much again for your very helpful advice.
Kind regards,

beppe
 
J

jcx

Member
Joined 2003
beppe, please loose the polite noise at the top of your messages

your excessively polite phrases annoy this American's ears, such levels of formal politeness are more often used insincerely/ironically/sarcastically here

worse for your chances of getting a technical response is the fact that many here will be just stealing a quick look at the forums between other tasks and if your post doesn't have a Subject in the First Sentence most rapid readers skimming your message will not move on to the body of your message, your first sentence is mentally marked "no content/no interest" if it is only polite noise – in a rapid communication internet forum context your courteous preambles are an impolite waste of the reader’s limited time and looses their attention

You may however put as much extraneous phraseology as your culture demands at the bottom of the message, if you hadn’t noticed it is obvious from many replies in this forum that even those motivated to reply by the Subject in the First Sentence don’t bother to read the entire post
 
B

beppe61

Member
Joined 2005
jcx said:

1) beppe, please loose the polite noise at the top of your messages your excessively polite phrases annoy this American's ears, such levels of formal politeness are more often used insincerely/ironically/sarcastically here
worse for your chances of getting a technical response is the fact that many here will be just stealing a quick look at the forums between other tasks and
2) if your post doesn't have a Subject in the First Sentence most rapid readers skimming your message will not move on to the body of your message, your first sentence is mentally marked "no content/no interest" if it is only polite noise – in a rapid communication internet forum context, your courteous preambles are an impolite waste of the reader’s limited time and looses their attention
3) You may however put as much extraneous phraseology as your culture demands at the bottom of the message,
4) if you hadn’t noticed it is obvious from many replies in this forum that even those motivated to reply by the Subject in the First Sentence don’t bother to read the entire post
Click to expand...

Hello Mr. Jcx,

1) I will check the national flag on the left side before thanking then. No offense intended of course.
I would be very silly as I am trying to "steal" knowledge after all.
2) I understand. Thank you for the advice.
3) OK.
4) Perfectly clear.

What is your opinion about simulation softwares and their validity?
Have you ever compared simulation results and experimental evidences?

Regards,

beppe
 
J

jcx

Member
Joined 2003
Simulations are only as good as your models, free spice models from device manufacturers are often poorly matched to the real devices – even for those parameters that the spice model accounts for

Scott Wurcer has suggested that good models of modern IC processes can predict distortion to ~ -60 dB level, but he has the process engineers, device modeler’s and chip designers all working together
 
B

beppe61

Member
Joined 2005
jcx said:
Simulations are only as good as your models, free spice models from device manufacturers are often poorly matched to the real devices – even for those parameters that the spice model accounts for
Scott Wurcer has suggested that good models of modern IC processes can predict distortion to ~ -60 dB level, but he has the process engineers, device modeler’s and chip designers all working together
Click to expand...

Thank you.
Regards,

beppe
 
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