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Insanely cheap stepped attenuator? (Crazy Eddie style)

post #1 of 33
9/23/09 at 5:12pm
Thread Starter 
A new member named higo posted an ebay link to a new, $10 stepped attenuator. DACT Type 21 Stepped Attenuator Potentiometer 100K 2A3 - eBay (item 120471954152 end time Sep-27-09 14:56:18 PDT)

It is from the ebay seller gigawork who some here know to be very reputable. I've been looking for a good new pot for my frankenwereferatu zero and here pops up this thing for $10? For that price it can't be very good right?

Has anyone else seen these things and had a chance to test one out? If not I guess I'll have to test one out when it shows up.
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post #2 of 33
9/23/09 at 5:34pm
Interesting.

Looks like they scavenged some parts from your basic cheap pot (bushing, shaft, wipers), and then made some circuit boards with SMD resistors to replace the resistive element.

If nothing else, it's pretty clever.

k
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post #3 of 33
9/23/09 at 5:41pm
Oh, wait a minute.

They're $10 for just ONE!?

WHAT A RIP-OFF!



k
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post #4 of 33
9/23/09 at 6:13pm
I got another one off of e-bay that was recommended by others awhile back... $25 for a similar thing. I was a little pissed that it actually didn't work at first; I had to reflow all the solder joints on the thing to get it working. It also didn't have quite the same smooth action as a real one so I ended up getting a real stereo DACT attenuator for a great price from HeadAmp Audio Electronics. I may end up using the cheapie DACT imitation for when I revamp my PIMETA; it really sounded fine but it wasn't the real thing and you could tell.

Bottom line for me, if you can afford it by any stretch, a real DACT attenuator is a good investment.
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post #5 of 33
9/23/09 at 6:24pm
Thread Starter 
If I'm going to spend any more cash on a volume pot for a zero, it'll probably be on one of the stepped attenuators here. Audio Catalog

At some point in the future, well past Santa raping my bank account, I would like to build something like the beta22. I'll save the fancy professionally built stepped attenuator for a project like that.
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post #6 of 33
9/23/09 at 6:50pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by crapback View Post
If I'm going to spend any more cash on a volume pot for a zero, it'll probably be on one of the stepped attenuators here. Audio Catalog
Hey look! They sell the raw parts for making your own DACT Type 21 Stepped Attenuator!



k
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post #7 of 33
9/23/09 at 7:29pm
Oh gawd, I simply hate the (stock) volume pot on my zero -_-
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post #8 of 33
9/23/09 at 7:56pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Koyaan I. Sqatsi View Post
Hey look! They sell the raw parts for making your own DACT Type 21 Stepped Attenuator!



k
Are those switches of simply sliding controls? I have been fully convinced of the depths of your knowledge, congratulations.

why do you consistently stir up **** on this forum? This guy the OP finds this (cheap) stepper, which for all any of us really know could be a great bit of gear for $15 (including shipping): compared to the alternatives at this price point it cant possibly be any worse. Then you mock his budget friendly find because why?
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post #9 of 33
9/23/09 at 8:31pm
Thread Starter 
On the subject of budget finds, I decided to drop a few more bucks on this. mini USB converter board PCM2902 DAC w/ optical fiber - eBay (item 220483812212 end time Oct-01-09 08:24:37 PDT) Again, it'll probably end up as a complete waste of $28, but you never know. I could have saved myself the $28 though if I realized that the headphone out on my laptop is also an optical out.
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post #10 of 33
9/23/09 at 8:53pm
I think the pot on my Grado RA-1 is the same Alps pot they sell at Radio Shack.
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post #11 of 33
9/23/09 at 9:37pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by nikongod View Post
why do you consistently stir up **** on this forum? This guy the OP finds this (cheap) stepper, which for all any of us really know could be a great bit of gear for $15 (including shipping): compared to the alternatives at this price point it cant possibly be any worse. Then you mock his budget friendly find because why?
Dude, calm down! If there's any **** getting stirred it's by those who are wound up much too tight.

I wasn't mocking anything.

If you'll take a moment and go back and read my first post in this thread, you'll see that I said I thought it was interesting and clever.

I don't say I think something's interesting and clever and then turn right around and mock it.

And if you read my original post you'll also note that I said it looked like they scavenged the parts from some cheapie pots and made their own circuit boards with SMD resistors to replace the boards on the cheapie pot.

Then I clicked on the link by crapback to the vt4c website and saw essentially the very same pots used for making the $10 attenuators. So I thought I'd make a joking comment about it.

I'm sorry if you didn't see the humor, but I wasn't mocking anything. I stand by my original comment that I find them interesting and clever.

*sigh*

k
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post #12 of 33
9/23/09 at 11:05pm
I have one of those Gigawork attenuators - actually, three of 'em. Laugh at 'em if you want, but they're inexpensive and remarkably good, IMO. The physical quality is better than you'd think from looking at the pictures, and they seem to stand up to use pretty well - I've been using one (in a Soha Mk. I) literally daily for about a year now, and it's been trouble- and noise-free the whole time, which is more than can be said of some of the fake Alps attenuators.

I've done spot checks of the channel matching on all three I have, and they're all perfect, within the limits (+/-5%?) of my cheapo DMM.

My only complaint is that they're a bit difficult to solder to, but they're still my volume control of choice at the moment. Far better than those horrible RK097 pots, IMO, and almost certainly better made than most of the fake Alps stepped attenuators that were all the rage a couple years ago.

Go; buy. Unless you're the kind of irrational OCD audiophile that believes more expensive == better, wires "burn in", et cetera, et cetera ad nauseum, you won't find anything to complain about with these attenuators.
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post #13 of 33
9/23/09 at 11:27pm
Thread Starter 
Nice. Thanks Nemo de Monet. I just got the email from gigawork that he shipped the two I ordered earlier. It's good to hear from someone that has spent some time using them. I swear I've looked at everything gigawork had up for sale in his ebay store and I don't remember ever seeing his attenuators.

Oh well, I forget which zero thread I read it in, but it was said that replacing the volume pot with something of decent quality makes a huge improvement in the sound output. I doubt it'll ever sound as good as my new compass, but I'll enjoy seeing how close I can get it. After swapping the pot all that's left is to replace the petp bypass caps with my pio's that finally showed up today.
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post #14 of 33
9/24/09 at 3:06am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nemo de Monet View Post
I have one of those Gigawork attenuators - actually, three of 'em.
Are they detented or continuous rotation?

k
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post #15 of 33
9/24/09 at 4:08am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Koyaan I. Sqatsi View Post
Are they detented or continuous rotation?
Detented.
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