ruckus328
Well-known member
So I'm taking the plunge into smt (at least for ceramic cap & resistor duties), it's simply taking way to long to build thru hole by hand. I know there's quite a few people on here using smt so I'm curious what you guys are using brand/technology wise. I've been doing a ton of research lately, but I'm still very torn on what to go with for audio applications. SMT isn't anything new for me, but most of what I deal with design wise is digital applications, so commodity thick film is the typical choice there.
Size isn't really a restriction, so going with 1206/1210 (1/2W) is fine for me, and in fact I don't want to go any smaller than 0805 (1/4W). I understand that when switching over to smt technologies (thick/thin film) from their thru hole metal film counterparts, temp co / thermal / noise / thd all can suddenly become much more of an issue. Most of what I'm looking to do is sidechain applications, but whataver I go with I'd like to be acceptable for direct audio path as well so that I don't have to be ordering 2 of the same value component. I'm wondering how concerned I should be with sidechain applications though, where it's not the direct audio path I'm dealing with. My initial though would be that noise and thd would be of little concern here, but then again, noise on say the control port of a VCA will be modulated into the audio path, so I'm inclined to say that noise in the sidechain is just as critical as the direct audio path.
Seems to be unanamous agreement that the thin film susumu resistors are the superior way to go, but really expensive buggers. Also from my research seems most of the noise/thd issues are nonexistant with the larger 1206/1210 package sizes (here bigger is better), and with higher resistances and/or lower voltages these issues are also non-trivial and thick film would be fine. Basically, anywhere where the actual wattage seen is low in regards to the actual rated wattage of the resistor, noise and thd readings will be no issue.
Seems the Panasonic ERJ and Vishay CRCW series are also commonly used. I was leaning towards the Vishay CRCW thick film since they are available in alot of values, and using the susumi where I know I need precision or there are low resistances where noise could dominate.
Any input would be greatly appreciated.
Size isn't really a restriction, so going with 1206/1210 (1/2W) is fine for me, and in fact I don't want to go any smaller than 0805 (1/4W). I understand that when switching over to smt technologies (thick/thin film) from their thru hole metal film counterparts, temp co / thermal / noise / thd all can suddenly become much more of an issue. Most of what I'm looking to do is sidechain applications, but whataver I go with I'd like to be acceptable for direct audio path as well so that I don't have to be ordering 2 of the same value component. I'm wondering how concerned I should be with sidechain applications though, where it's not the direct audio path I'm dealing with. My initial though would be that noise and thd would be of little concern here, but then again, noise on say the control port of a VCA will be modulated into the audio path, so I'm inclined to say that noise in the sidechain is just as critical as the direct audio path.
Seems to be unanamous agreement that the thin film susumu resistors are the superior way to go, but really expensive buggers. Also from my research seems most of the noise/thd issues are nonexistant with the larger 1206/1210 package sizes (here bigger is better), and with higher resistances and/or lower voltages these issues are also non-trivial and thick film would be fine. Basically, anywhere where the actual wattage seen is low in regards to the actual rated wattage of the resistor, noise and thd readings will be no issue.
Seems the Panasonic ERJ and Vishay CRCW series are also commonly used. I was leaning towards the Vishay CRCW thick film since they are available in alot of values, and using the susumi where I know I need precision or there are low resistances where noise could dominate.
Any input would be greatly appreciated.
