More Experiments - Envelope Generators this time...

[johns at oei.com]

     (- Gene of gstopp at fibermux.com outlined his test of a relay in an ADSR 
     ...)
     
     Regarding the near 0 ohms relay approach to switching ADSRs, I have 
     always just wondered about doing this myself.  Under ideal conditions 
     I would think this is foolproof and in this age of minituarization, 
     I'll bet there are really fast relays with an IC type footprint.
     
     Have you considered what the discharge current would be on a large 
     fully charged cap?  I would intuitively think that a fast relay would 
     have to be tiny and likewise have a small current carrying capacity.  
     Eventually as current demands increase (or repeatedly stress the 
     relay) the relay will look more like a blown fuse than a switch.
     
     I never had access to sensitive transient current measurement 
     equipment to verfiy this.  Nor have I had access to these newer relays 
     to test it.  But all in all, I'd say that if getting zero ohms is a 
     problem, a fast relay switch would be a pretty effective and robust 
     way of solving the problem.  Quite often the most elegent solutions 
     are the simplest.  Good luck!
     
     JJS