[sdiy] "obsolete" 2N3906

[Rude 66]

hey paul,

 this is where the musicians have a say as well as the techs..;-)
i have always felt that one of the reasons old analogues sound better,
fatter, more alive, etc is because of their big parts, so to speak. most
seventies synths inside have big citcuit boards with thick traces, and
enormous size parts compared to today. now technically this may sound
rediculous, but i think there is a relationship between this and the sound
of a synth. so making everything smaller in my view alters the sound, and
generally not for the better.

ruud


----- Original Message -----
From: "Paul Maddox" <P.Maddox at signal.qinetiq.com>
To: <synth-diy at dropmix.xs4all.nl>
Sent: Friday, June 06, 2003 10:16 AM
Subject: Re: [sdiy] "obsolete" 2N3906


> Grant,
>
>
> > You will notice those are both TO-92 packages. This is just a
continuation
> > of the process of eliminating through hole parts and forcing everyone to
> > switch to surface mount. This was to be expected the day surface mount
was
> > announced.
>
> hehe, paranoia?
>
> > If you can sell 0.1 gram of plastic and 1 gram of plastic for the same
> > price, your going to phase out the 1 gram part. Surface mount is much
more
> > profitable to the parts manufacturers because of the reduction of raw
> > materials used while maintaining the same end selling price.
>
> agreed, it makes good business sense, but whats wrong with progress?
>
> Also from a DIY point of view with PCB costs based on area, does it not
make
> sense to switch to smaller parts?
> Soldering surface mount parts is NOT hard, especially
transistors/resistors
> (go for the 1206 stuff to start).
> Surface mount ICs can take a bit more effort, but with practice surface
> mount soldering is a *LOT* quicker.
> I can solder a 64pin TQFP in about an quarter of the time I can solder a
> 40pin DIL.
>
> Paul
>