Favorite Russian D9# diodes

[bluedmc777]

What’s your guys experience with the Russian D9 diodes? Do you have a favorite and why?

 

[owlexifry]

D9E always gives me the specs i want but they're getting pricier and harder to get hold of.

since then ive been looking to try alternatives.

 

[zeropluszero]

Yeh d9e is my go to as well.

 

[swelchy]

In my experience across the whole range they seem to all measure very close to each other... I'd buy whatever you can in quantity at the best price...

 

[CheapSuitG]

Earlier this year I came across a bushel of NOS D9E for cheap. 300 for $30 to my door. Having the ability to closely match them has been the biggest improvement to me.

 

[bluedmc777]

Earlier this year I came across a bushel of NOS D9E for cheap. 300 for $30 to my door. Having the ability to closely match them has been the biggest improvement to me.

Wanna sell some closely matched ones for a really cheap price?

 

[bluedmc777]

I believe I have D9K…with the white band.

 

[Putrid Electronics]

I use them all

 

[bluedmc777]

I use them all

Me too…but I can only afford like 2 at a time

 

[CheapSuitG]

Wanna sell some closely matched ones for a really cheap price?

Can I sell them cheap? Yeah, probably.

Will I…?

 

[bluedmc777]

Can I sell them cheap? Yeah, probably.

Will I…?

I was just kidding my friend. I only do transactions when both parties are happy b

 

[CheapSuitG]

I was just kidding my friend. I only do transactions when both parties are happy b

Shoot! I was 100% joking! Hope that didn't come across cruel!

 

[OkBoomer]

Shoot! I was 100% joking! Hope that didn't come across cruel!

You could, you know, just offer to send him a few, which is very much in the spirit of this forum. What happened to this place?

 

[CheapSuitG]

You could, you know, just offer to send him a few, which is very much in the spirit of this forum. What happened to this place?

Offer to send him a few, you say? Curious. Very curious. Because I did offer to send him a few germanium diodes, which means the offer was offered before the suggestion that I offer. So the question isn’t whether I should offer, is it? It’s why we’re discussing an offer that’s already been offered, in a place still full of spirited banter, generous diode donations, and good-natured ribbing, where a man can offer germanium freely and still be told he ought to offer germanium freely. Perhaps the trouble isn’t with the forum, but with the navigator. Savvy?

 

[jessenator]

I like the D9E, but don't discount the D9D. It's performed just as well in some circuits for me, e.g. univox super-fuzz.

Truth be told, I've tricked/played myself enough times with blind/ignorant population that in the end I'll use whichever diode (Si or Ge) that sounds the best. In most cases I've had better and consistent success with Schottky diodes (even though those are starting to get the axe now). I'd take out a breadboard and experiment over socketing, too.

edit: just remember that clipping type will determine where is best to spend your unicorn tears. Hard clipping you really can't go wrong. If you're looking at soft clipping applications, I would steer clear, unless you can accurately measure the leakage. You're better off homebrewing that kind of solution.

 

[jessenator]

The chart



It can be very confusing, since there are 2- and 3-band versions. For those who don't read cyrillic and just have a bag marked in latin characters, from top to bottom D9…:
B
V
G
D
E
Z/Zh
I/Y
K
L
M

 

[bluedmc777]

Shoot! I was 100% joking! Hope that didn't come across cruel!

Not at all my friend! No need to send anything free man…I was just joking with ya as I have some D9K’s that I haven’t even tried yet.

 

[owlexifry]

I like the D9E, but don't discount the D9D. It's performed just as well in some circuits for me, e.g. univox super-fuzz.

how do yours measure?

i bought a bag of like ?20-30 D9D from somewhere a while ago and all of them measured up around 0.6-0.7
..not the best for octave blocks, but goes alright for hard clipping i guess

Truth be told, I've tricked/played myself enough times with blind/ignorant population that in the end I'll use whichever diode (Si or Ge) that sounds the best.

this is the way

 

[jessenator]

how do yours measure?

So you'll have to take these with a grain (or more) of salt. I did a stupid and dumped my pre-sorted D9Ds into the same ESD bag


Compared with some D9Es where I had separate ranges of bags:


And then an overlay of both:


edit: oh, and I had put the larger group of a Vf range of the D9Ds in a PIF a few years back, so that will also make that D9D graph messy

edit 2: Also this was measured at 3V instead of the default 12V, as well as 96 data points each, which explains the wobbles and the lower Vf