[sdiy] Pots vs Encoders, was Re: [sdiy] dave smith *instruments*

[Cary Roberts]

>- you can't directly use presets when mixing. They can only be an
>entry point, but they will never work exactly the way you want with
>the sounds you have, unless you're a 'loop musician' and are using the
>same loops over and over. Every sound and every recording session are
>different and require different compressor settings and reverb decays
>and what ever else. Even when getting from an 'entry point' provided
>by presets, to the exact sound you want, it's much easier to use pots.

Funny is the instinctive reflex that one develops for adjusting controls on
Oberheim or other preset synth gear that requires you to move the pot past
the existing setting to get the sound to change.  When I want a longer
attack or higher filter cutoff I know which way to turn the knob.  I may not
know the exact value to turn it to but I know I want up or down.  I'm not
sure how having a hard limit of a pot helps my ability to change a sound.
Sure, I may prefer gear with pots over encoders but I can use either equally
well.

Not to feed the trolls but I got a good chuckle out of this discussion.  The
vast majority of my studio gear uses switches.  There are some places where
pots are used, things like threshold on compressors, output gain, etc.  My
Focusrite, Neve, and Daking gear have pots for eq amount.  The other
controls (eq freqs, lo/hi pass filters, ratios, etc) are all switches.  My
Quad Eight, API, Electrodyne, Sphere gear - all rotary switches.  I don't
see lack of a continuously variable pot affecting my ability to do a good
mix.  The controls could all be encoders and it wouldn't affect usability,
maybe sound quality, but not usability.

All mechanical elements of an instruments UI are going to wear and need
replacement.  Doesn't matter if it's an encoder, pot, switch, string, reed,
or valve.  Instrument builders should do a better job of evaluating
components to ensure we're not saddled with a $500 repair mere months or
years into ownership.  But $500 for maintenance every 10-15 years?  Doesn't
seem out of line to me.

-Cary