So what's "wrong" with vias?

[Ethan]

I seem to get the impression, although it has never been blatantly stated, that vias in audio circuit boards are a no-no. Perhaps this is just a stubborn view I've held in trying to route boards, but it would seem to be the case that the more complex the circuits get (at the board level, with several DIL ICs and such) there are many instances where vias become much more practical than attempting to have traces run all around the board.

Any thoughts?

 

[tommytones]

I've been using via's without any issues although I do try to find alternatives before using them when it comes to actual signal path (which I really like to keep to one side of the board as much as possible). I've seen via's used in much top pro gear, recording and broadcast.

 

[owel]

I'm with you... after trying out all possibilities, if a via (or jumper) will solve the problem easily, I won't hesitate using it.

Also since I make my PCBs at home, I don't want to route copper in between IC pins.

Another trick you can use is using 0 ohm resistors... so it acts like a jumper, but looks like a resistor.

 

[CJ]

well, if you use vias, then you have to use a two sided board, which is a pain for diy etching as you have to have perfect allignment.
I hate them because if the holes are too small, the wave machine won't wick all the way thru and then i have to find which one of the 54 vias isn't continous.
cj

 

[Steffen]

I dont like those small vias...I rather use a 2mm pad w/0.8mm hole and solder in a piece of wire from both sides.

steff

 

[PRR]

> vias in audio circuit boards are a no-no.

No.

Though in a lot of audio work, if you can't lay out the audio path without a lot of crossovers, you have probably designed something too complicated. Graphic-EQs generally can't be laid-out strictly 2-D; but then, they ARE "too complicated for best sound", they are a hack to improve bad sound. Many mike preamps sit naturally on a 2-D plane.

OTOH, better a couple vias than running an audio path the long way all around the bushes and back to avoid a via.

> use a 2mm pad w/0.8mm hole and solder in a piece of wire from both sides.

Bob Pease, a man with some practical experience, stopped using soldered-in eyelets because thermal expansion sooner or later tore the foil off the board. Seems to me that wires have the same problem, only less. Maybe not enough to matter in shirt-sleeve environment. (Pease often had to test to extreme temperatures.)

Of course home-brew vias have problems. And I think a proper via is "plated-through", not expecting the wave-solder bath to wick-up into the hole.

 

[Dan Kennedy]

I try to design with minimal vias. But it can't always be done, especially if
the components are surface mount.

They used to be a reliability factor, but there aren't any reputable board
houses now that can't do them right.

A little Z wire through homemade boards ought to do the trick, and home
etched boards really don't allow the flexibility in using component pads as vias since you can't reliably solder the top side under capacitors for instance.

I wouldn't worry about dropping them in here or there too much.