Circuits on AliExpress that are worth it

Elijah-Baley

Elijah-Baley

Active member
Hello everyone,
I'm going to place my first order on AliExpress to buy a very cheap mini PCB compressor effect that I could use to make a pedal.

Are there any PCBs on AliExpress that are worth considering? I know there are some PT2399 PCBs, but I don't need that.
What else?

Thank you.
 
TaoBao is basically AliExpress for China itself.

Years back I bought a few TaoBao boards and pre-populated boards such as the Blue Box, Love Squeeze and an HPF, can't remember off the top of my head what the others were.

Some of the boards were clones of Fuzz Dog's stuff (probably from the same PCB-factory that supplies Fuzz Dog), others seemed to mirror some of the PCBs on Tayda, etc.

The PCBs were all good, no issues.
The pre-populated PCBs had caps and some other sundry components that were definitely... uhm... "lower quality" — however, all worked as expected and came pre-soldered with pots, jacks and everything ready to go — just add an enclosure!


For the price, couldn't beat the pre-pop to try out those circuits. For example I found I loved the Blue Box, and have PCBs now for it to build/populate my own with mods.


That said...
The only PCBs I'd consider getting from TaoBao now would be for circuits I want that aren't offered in PCB-form elsewhere (I'd rather take a shot at a dicey PCB than build vero or even perf)
 
Thank you, guys!
But I'm looking something rather something I can't build.
So, no pedal or pedal kit. For that I prefer select parts and build by myself.

I have some TDA2822, but I still never use. I have to. :rolleyes:
 
Elijah-Baley said:
Thank you, guys!
But I'm looking something rather something I can't build.
So, no pedal or pedal kit. For that I prefer select parts and build by myself.

I have some TDA2822, but I still never use. I have to. :rolleyes:
Click to expand...
I'm confused.

You said ...

Elijah-Baley said:
...

Are there any PCBs on AliExpress that are worth considering?
...
Click to expand...


You asked for PCBs.

I mentioned some PCBs (in addition to the pre-popped stuff).
 
Feral Feline said:
I'm confused.
[...]
I mentioned some PCBs (in addition to the pre-popped stuff).
Click to expand...
You're right. I'm asking not typical pedal PCB, rather something we don't build, usually.

To be more clear, I'm planning to order this:
Sb02910ff6768446199532a8fd45eb6e6d.jpg

Not a typical pedal PCB, just something I could never build from scratch.

I'm curious if there's something I don't know that could be used to build an effect pedal or some kind of utility, etc..."

Ale_jellybelly said:
Click to expand...

Ok, I didn't think about something so "big", but yes, that's cool. Thanks!
 
Fama said:
Oh wow, that was very cool. A comment mentioned maybe using an LFO for the clock too, but I'm not sure if that would just make it sound the same with every program. Maybe a momentary footswitch for the LFO would work even in that case, but then that's a lot of effort for just a momentary footswitch 🤔
Click to expand...

Would Robert's smart-switch work? Momentary when held down, latching when tapped.

Yeah, that demo made me want to build one, and HIA was kind enough to include the schematic in the vid.
Some really great sounds, but I'd need the printing of the algos list on the front face of the pedal to be much MUCH LARGER.
As in, it would dominate the "graphic" completely, so I can see what's what from a standing position while the pedal's on the floor.




@Elijah-Baley Cool! I believe I have one of those very same red boards. I believe mine is basically a clone/from-the-same-factory as the stuff for SparkFun Electronics.

I'll circle back round to this in a couple days and see what else I can dig up, if anything; it's been a few years since I bought anything from TaoBao, don't remember what — also, as I've discovered, not everything on TaoBao is also offered on AliExpress — most stuff, but not everything.
 
SparkFun cloneage

Proto Pedal
Mono Audio Amp Breakout — TPA2005D1
3.5mm Audio Jack Breakout board

Audio-Sound Breakout - WTV020SD — Maybe use it to make a sampler-trigger pedal — samples loaded via micro-SD card

LED Music Spectrum Electronic DIY LED Flash Kit 12*11FFT — kind of like Dr Scientist's LED pedalboard peak-meter

Better yet, there's a board that gives you an LED peak-meter w/ 8-bands, but it doubles as a clock, so you can keep an eye on the length of your sets/breaks.

Multifunctional Low-frequency Signal Generator Kit I
— combine this with a DIY Oscilloscope probe...
XR2206 High Precision Function Signal Generator DIY Kit Sine


Message Recorder kits... mock up your own Ditto-like looper.

Laser-harp — alas, the most "strings" I've seen is 7. I'd want a full octave, 12 notes.


LCD Transistor-tester kit


Things like that? 👆👆


Not music-related, but kind of fun ... a rotating LED display. While spinning, the LEDs turn on/off — Can look like planet Earth, or like the Death Star or a Globe with just latitudinal and longitudinal lines.
 
drew.spriggs said:
View attachment 116778

With a little bit of finagling (and some much needed safety features added) these are a very compact, shockingly quiet HV supply for running tube preamps (and even power amps up to about 5w).

I've been running them for a few years with zero failures
Click to expand...
Do you have an example schematic of the mods? I picked up a few of these myself on the recommendation of the DIYSB forum, but I'm not exactly sure what the safety circuit looks like
 
rossbalch said:
Do you have an example schematic of the mods? I picked up a few of these myself on the recommendation of the DIYSB forum, but I'm not exactly sure what the safety circuit looks like
Click to expand...
These are all from memory, so please consult the board/schematic before trusting anything I say.
  • Remove the cap connected to the AC output to isolate it (should be C2, 22nf ceramic)
  • Bridge B/C pads
  • Drill a small hole in the D pad
  • Connect C2 + 1/2w 470k resistor between B/D (massive noise reduction + bleeder preventing output rising to +400v with no load)
  • Drill holes or shift components around to fit a big electro right on the input (good quality +35v rated cap, at least 220uf as the current spikes through it are a couple of hundred mA)
Output noise isn't too bad as it's switching at 60khz, but still needs a decent quality electro for filtering. I'm making some carrier boards for them now that I can just slot into some preamps I've designed, but they also work great for small tube amps (here's a 1.5w PSET 12AU7 amp I built).

1778625098755.png

1778625122771.png
 
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