[jacal01]

Can we say outsource, boys and girls?  21st century definition of sweatshop.  Somebody has to go blind... 

 

[jlangholzj]

 
LOL, especially these days.
 
I was looking at a cool new low noise, LDO regulator that outputs +/-12V at 150mA with virtually no external components...and it's only available as a 14-pin 3 x 4mm DFN with power pads underneath. So much for soldering that by hand!

 
These were the WORST. Some of the stuff I supported at my previous job started to go over to QFN.I can remember helping test/dev with multiple chips. Get the ole heatgun out and flow the damn heatsink pad before doing all the legs. In the end though it was cheaper to pay an eng in training to do that and save a couple cents when they're making thousands of the suckers....
 
Another package that made me shudder was the

LQFP ​

with something like

150 pins that some of the older legacy boards had. CRAP I BENT ONE. :|​

 

[Ableza]

 
LOL, especially these days.
 
I was looking at a cool new low noise, LDO regulator that outputs +/-12V at 150mA with virtually no external components...and it's only available as a 14-pin 3 x 4mm DFN with power pads underneath. So much for soldering that by hand!

What you do is solder a piece of 24 AWG wire about 5 inches long to each pad.  And throw away the three out of four that you fry trying to do it. 

 

[Jason Stoddard]

  Another package that made me shudder was the LQFP  with something like 150 pins that some of the older legacy boards had. CRAP I BENT ONE. :|

Yeah, our USB receiver is a 100 pin 0.5mm pitch LQFP. Dave can solder them with about a 90% success rate. I don't even try. 
 
(And yeah, if you bend a pin, you're pretty much screwed...)

 

[ScottFree]

 Another package that made me shudder was the LQFP  with something like 150 pins that some of the older legacy boards had. CRAP I BENT ONE. :|

Yeah, our USB receiver is a 100 pin 0.5mm pitch LQFP. Dave can solder them with about a 90% success rate. I don't even try. 
 
(And yeah, if you bend a pin, you're pretty much screwed...)

Go Dave Go

 

[US Blues]

Originally Posted by Jason Stoddard /img/forum/go_quote.gif
 
Yeah, it looks like we won't be at Newport. Nothing new to show, plus the debacle last year, means we are not exactly enthusiastic about it. Some of our guys are still trying to convince me that we should be there with Ragnarok, Yggdrasil, and speakers (in a room), since that's more congruent with the show audience. I'm OK with letting them do it, but I may pass on being there. 
 
I'd expect another SchiitShow sometime this summer. 

 
If the boys do head to Newport, have them bring a nice set of stand mount monitors, and a pair of good subs. A clean and simple system that will melt people's synapses.

 

[jsiegel14072]

we have had product where the leg was bent but enough solder was attached to pass test, then you ship it on a bumpy UPS truck and it breaks free.  try seeing that on a tight board!  the wonders of new technology!

 

[thekorsen]

Man, only on chapter nine but this is great! Having already attempted to start a small startup (low risk, college supported, nothing like the struggle most other startups have to go through) and failing miserably, reading this is really helping to highlight the silly mistakes that were made and point at what does (and doesn’t) need to be done next time. As a whole, your book is actually making me consider audio as a possible industry out of college. Or at the very least, making me want to start getting into more of the DIY side of the hobby.

Keep on keeping on, I love my vali and will probably grab one of Schiit’s higher end models somewhere down the line.

 

[artur9]

  2016, Chapter 7:
On Modding, Hubris and Reality
 
So the discussion has turned to modding, hmm?
 
Happy learning…building…and modding!

 
What's your opinion on the damping components people slather all around the inside of electronics?

 

[Ableza]

   
What's your opinion on the damping components people slather all around the inside of electronics?

I don't know Jason's opinion but in MINE it's an absolute waste of money and is potentially dangerous to the gear's lifetime if it changes the thermal performance of the system.

 

[jacal01]

I dunno.  I was convinced enough to add dampening rings on my tubes to reduce their potential microphonics at one point.  Couple of tube amps still have 'em (Cavalli Liquid Fire, EAR HP4).

 

[jacal01]

BTW, one time translation of my signature footer:  I spun, I heard, I came.

 

[45longcolt]

   
If you're not saying soldering station, that's the first fail.  And if you're not dusting off the ol' binocular microscope, that's the second...

 
Sure, I could say station, if I wanted to be pretentious - which no one on Head-Fi ever is...

 

[45longcolt]

 
Yeah, it looks like we won't be at Newport. Some of our guys are still trying to convince me that we should be there with Ragnarok, Yggdrasil, and speakers (in a room), since that's more congruent with the show audience. I'm OK with letting them do it, but I may pass on being there. 
 

 
Thanks, Jason. Still trying to decide myself whether to go. Judging by all the posts, the KEF 50-somethings (too lazy to look it up) seem to be the hot combo with Rag.

 

[sublime9]

  2015, Chapter 19:
The Most Difficult Design Brief
 
Okay, ...
 
...And in the end, I think Vali 2 is really a big step up for inexpensive tube amps. But hey, I’m biased.

I hate to echo a really old post, and I read a few pages forward, but did anyone ever get this pun?