Oookay, I reflowed everything and the short is gone. And then L12 glowed red hot, melted part of the silkmask and desoldered itself after carbonizing everything in a 5mm radius. L12 is a ferrite! What caused it to do this? Nevermind, apparently Vbus got shorted with GND on IC1, and L12 was...

Finally built one of my boards, but I'm having the opposite problem of everyone else: my 5V checks out fine, but there's a short from 3.3V to ground. What are the most likely culprits for this? I checked the DAC chip for bridges, and found none. IC2 is aligned correctly.

I doubt he could have burnt through the silkscreen and destroyed a trace... rather you can notice a rather large solder blob between the bottom left pins on the 2702 chip in this picture: http://img508.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dac6rd2.jpg

Quote: Originally Posted by seanohue Hmm I'm having a real tough time with this. I think proper heat levels may make this easier. I'm trying to solder 30ga wires to the pins on a chip and I keep making bridges between the pins. I don't want to kill the chip on the board that I am...

Hakko 936.

Also, quick question: is it OK if I replace REG101 with REG103, and use a 12V PSU?

Quote: Originally Posted by amb "Sound better" by virtue of carbon resistors' high noise and instability? LOL. This sounds suspiciously like the vinyl/CD/tube/IC debate ;P

Quote: Originally Posted by AndrewFischer I use generic 1% metal film resistors for just about everything else. In qty. 200 there just isn't any reason to use 5% or carbon resistors anymore. Was there ever? XD

Gah, I still have two boards waiting to be built >_< Quick question, what happens if Vin is below Vout for the regulator? Does it work in pass through mode, shut down completely, or actually add noise?

Even for channel matching, could anyone REALLY detect the difference of 0.1% between the channels? The human ears are not exactly perfectly matched either, and I doubt your sound equipment is matched to 0.1% between the channels. Personally I think 1% resistors are fine for most audio applications.

Personally, I don't like the flood and suck method because it's too easy to screw up and leave the entire row of pins bridged, or have pins with too much solder sucked away. I like the paste and draw method much better, since it guarantees a solid connection and is super easy with some flux. For...

Yes, they are the same thing.

Quote: Originally Posted by cetoole Exactly. It stems from there being so little of the item in question (in this case current) that there is all but a bug's worth present, and we all know how small insects can be. >.> I... don't think that's quite accurate.

Quote: Originally Posted by SoundGoon bugger all? Psst, that's the technical term we professionals use for just about nothing.

Quote: Originally Posted by mb3k Usually it's a somewhat thick liquid made of 99.999% silver. Where could I procure some of this 99.999% silver paste?! Anyway, silver loaded compounds are a complete waste for these kind of applications, since the chips produce nowhere...