I don’t know if this has been discussed, but I couldn’t find it by searching.
What’s the consensus, if any, on sockets to use for the VCA/Filter chips? Some people say that single inline sockets develop contact issues over time and should be avoided. Some recommend the cheap sockets like these:
I agree that soldering the chips to the board is absolutely the best as far as reliability. However, I do want the flexibility of being able to swap out chips without removing the board and desoldering the chips. I’m pretty good at desoldering, but don’t want to stress these boards too much down the line.
One thing to keep in mind is that the original Roland chips have round pins, and the replacement Analogue Renaissance chips have larger square pins. So the Roland chip would work best in the top socket you show, while the AR chips will not fit into it - they need the second socket.
Another consideration is that if you are installing the AR chips, you likely won’t ever need to remove them, so I would just solder them in directly.
We have a Juno that we used for testing Roland chips, and it has a SIP socket similar to your top one. And the chips can definitely get loose enough to lose contact. (Admittedly, we did a fair amount of putting-in and pulling-out of chips, so the socket got a lot of miles on it…) So if you are going the Roland-chip-in-a-socket route, I would definitely get a high-quality SIP socket.
And just a bit of a sidebar: If you are considering socketing the DCO chips also, they have a different pitch (the pins are closer together). So the same socket does not work for voice chips and DCO chips.
Thanks! That’s good to know about the AR chips legs. My Juno’s chips have square and flat legs, maybe because it’s an early serial?
I did think about socketing the dco chips and noticed the narrower pitch (I believe it’s 2mm) but couldn’t sockets with that pitch that have enough pins.
You are right, the original voice chips do have flat pins - I mis-spoke. Or mis-typed. And mis-remembered. And without the black epoxy coating on the chip, they can easily get loose and break free… Those original pins fit into a normal SIP socket, but the AR pins are fatter and will not fit - you need that second type of socket for those.
