Bring out yer Diptrace

finebyfine said:
Does anyone have tips for laying out IC heavy designs? I feel so much more challenged by them than transistor based ones.
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I am by no means tenured, but I have found the following useful:
  • Use dual opamps over quad. Just easier to place stuff.
  • Place your non-movable components first (IO/pots).
  • Follow the schematic and group components in logical modules before placing movable components. Treat the module as a single unit for placement, then optimise. For example, in your schematic above, C1/R1/C2 would be a module (In -> opamp), R2/R3/C3/C4 would be the next, C5/R4, D2/R6, D1/R5/C6.. and so on.
  • I like to place my opamps PPCB style, tab high, so I place them (usually in the center so I get a nice channel in the middle for vertical traces) and then see which modules can go on which sides, and which need the center (because they span sides).
  • Once I have a rough placement, then I decide whether components are better vertically or horizontally. I try to get traces going into ICs/transistors as short as possible. Vertical placement can be nice when there's a lot going in the feedback loop (like the Wise Sheep above).
  • Then optimise for shortest traces and practicality (can't solder a pot when you can't get the iron to the pads because it's got e-caps all round it..
 
szukalski said:
Happy to pay it forward. Only got into DipTrace because you shared your handy little pot template. Still use that on every build and can’t find a realistic improvement!
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If you think of anything please lemme know - the only thing I've changed on mine is making it bigger so that the corner standoffs are less likely to bump into pots.

Also here's a rough attempt of the schem I posted! Not super satisfying of a layout but might reach the threshold of tolerable enough to get fabbed

1687278937521.png
 
finebyfine said:
If you think of anything please lemme know - the only thing I've changed on mine is making it bigger so that the corner standoffs are less likely to bump into pots.

Also here's a rough attempt of the schem I posted! Not super satisfying of a layout but might reach the threshold of tolerable enough to get fabbed
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I like the diode footprint :)

Nice layout, only things I could mention:
  • The 1u film cap footprint is only 2.5mm, maybe want 4.5mm unless you have tiny 1u caps.
  • You could look at moving the charge pump into it's own corner. I didn't mention it earlier, but I "try" to keep all the power supply stuff isolated from the rest of the circuit where possible. That goes double for charge pumps.
 
szukalski said:
I like the diode footprint :)

Nice layout, only things I could mention:
  • The 1u film cap footprint is only 2.5mm, maybe want 4.5mm unless you have tiny 1u caps.
  • You could look at moving the charge pump into it's own corner. I didn't mention it earlier, but I "try" to keep all the power supply stuff isolated from the rest of the circuit where possible. That goes double for charge pumps.
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Thank you! Good idea about the charge pump and good catch on the film cap, wish I had caught it before I sent it off! Guess I'm using MLCC or gonna make a film cap look like its on stilts!
 
Big Monk said:
Got boards in yesterday and did some dry fits and pattern edits for the next batch:
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I love how the footswitch fits. Would you be willing to share the DipTrace component/footprint? I prefer the "other" way, but that's just damn hot.

By the way, if the price of the relay is painful (I see them around €2.50-€3 each and end of life), then the FTR-B3CA4.5Z is $0.71 from LCSC. Different footprint though.. but profit margins..
 
Did this layout for a friend, it's a clone of the REDDI tube D.I. squeezed into a 125B. Obviously using 9-12VDC input with a SMPS instead of the power transformer, and using a different transformer for the D.I. He wants a through-hole version, but I told him that will probably have to go into a 1590BBS. So this is mostly to verify the circuit and make sure it still sounds the way he wants it to.

steddigo.jpg
 
Paradox916 said:
And in normal DIY fashion just working off what others have already done.
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That's the best way to start. You don't need to reinvent the wheel, and your very first design doesn't need to be a brand new novel idea. It's a natural progression:
  1. copy what others have done
  2. start understanding what others have done
  3. modify what others have done
  4. start doing your own thing based on your new knowledge of what works and what doesn't
  5. repeat as many times as necessary
This is the way.
 
szukalski said:
Good luck soldering that middle pot!
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Thank you! I really really want to say i got this but in the past thats only messed me up 🫡 :ROFLMAO:

Lets see how it goes. I need to get your Wise Sheep built before i even attempt this anyway so itll be a bit before i get to it. Im thinking solder the pit first then that big ole Cap last! The things we do for Mojo :ROFLMAO:
 
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