Hi,
Anyone used this? The negative resistance area of the characteristic curve promises quite a unique clipping waveform.
Juanro
Tunnel-effect diodes for clipping?
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teemuk
- Breadboard Brother
There was one guy who built one. Turned out to be a quite complex circuit for the job of simply clipping signal and he never commented how it ended up sounding. Likely not all too great or jaw-dropping.
I might consider trying that for novelty but...
- They are ludicrously expensive, $50 a pop. The back-to-back format they'd likely need would end up costing $100 just for the diodes alone.
- They start oscillating pretty much automatically once connected to power supply and plenty of stuff has to be added into the circuit to avoid that - not to mention the layout must be top notch.
- They die quickly. Now, did I mention a dual costs about $100. Ludicrously expensive components dying in "normal" operation... thanks, but no thanks. Needless to say, more complexity added because you need to add stuff to protect the diodes.
- Normal clipping limiting would still have to be added to limit the range of operation to that negative resistance area, otherwise I think you'd be getting funky octaver effects instead of tradional clipping. Now, considering that you can build a stage with curvy transfer characteristics using common parts that cost only about $2 then I don't see why I should use a complex, expensive part that does does the same thing. For example, you can connect two ordinary JFETs back to back (lambda diode) and get an IV curve with a negative resistance region.
I'm naturally interested to see other people's ventures (and results of them) on this field but personally I see no reason to start one.
I might consider trying that for novelty but...
- They are ludicrously expensive, $50 a pop. The back-to-back format they'd likely need would end up costing $100 just for the diodes alone.
- They start oscillating pretty much automatically once connected to power supply and plenty of stuff has to be added into the circuit to avoid that - not to mention the layout must be top notch.
- They die quickly. Now, did I mention a dual costs about $100. Ludicrously expensive components dying in "normal" operation... thanks, but no thanks. Needless to say, more complexity added because you need to add stuff to protect the diodes.
- Normal clipping limiting would still have to be added to limit the range of operation to that negative resistance area, otherwise I think you'd be getting funky octaver effects instead of tradional clipping. Now, considering that you can build a stage with curvy transfer characteristics using common parts that cost only about $2 then I don't see why I should use a complex, expensive part that does does the same thing. For example, you can connect two ordinary JFETs back to back (lambda diode) and get an IV curve with a negative resistance region.
I'm naturally interested to see other people's ventures (and results of them) on this field but personally I see no reason to start one.
-
juanro
- Cap Cooler
Hey, that's exactly the kind of answer I was expecting.
Since you don't see tunnel clipping everyday, there must be a reason... and indeed there is.
I had no idea about pricing (in fact, I was even unable to find at least a part number for them) and about them dying that easy. The funky octave effect was something I was looking for, altough.
Thanks Teemuk for your comments, I'll take a look at the lambda diode.
Regards,
Juanro
Since you don't see tunnel clipping everyday, there must be a reason... and indeed there is.
I had no idea about pricing (in fact, I was even unable to find at least a part number for them) and about them dying that easy. The funky octave effect was something I was looking for, altough.
Thanks Teemuk for your comments, I'll take a look at the lambda diode.
Regards,
Juanro
La única verdad es la realidad.