[sdiy] Relays or reed switches for routing?

[Michael E Caloroso]

The distortion comes from the relay contacts as they oxidize and/or
become intermittent, which no longer give a reliable conductive path.
The distortion is unpredictable and not something that fits a uniform
transfer function.

Relays have a limited life of switching cycles.  Either the contacts
fail or the coil pulling the switch lever loses its magnetism.

MC

On 5/31/21, cheater cheater via Synth-diy <synth-diy at synth-diy.org> wrote:
> Why would relays introduce distortion? Aren't they just a conductor
> that gets mechanically moved back and forth. What's the nonlinearity?
>
> On Mon, May 31, 2021 at 2:10 PM Gordonjcp <gordonjcp at gjcp.net> wrote:
>>
>> On Sun, May 30, 2021 at 11:22:38AM +0200, cheater cheater wrote:
>> > Why can I not use relays to switch audio? What's wrong with relays?
>> >
>> > BTW, I was thinking of acoustically dampening relays. EG use sound
>> > proofing foam.
>>
>> They're electrically noisy as well as mechanically noisy.  They're
>> unreliable when you use them for switching tiny currents.  They introduce
>> a lot of distortion.
>>
>> Literally nothing sane uses relays in the audio path.
>>
>> --
>> Gordonjcp
>>
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