audio probe or multimeter for de-bugging

Started by soupbone, September 20, 2011, 03:03:45 AM

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soupbone

Which would be better to de-bug a circuit?A homemade audio probe,or a multimeter?Trying to de-bug a transistor and an ic.

ACS

Yes!

Seriously though - both have their place in debugging. Personally I start with the DMM as i find it easy to give a circuit a quick once over to check for anything obviously out of whack. Typically only head to the audio probe if the DMM doesn't tell me anything.

Good luck!

LucifersTrip

as above...both, but if you had to pick one, it'd be the DMM

If you use the audio probe and find a dead spot, you'll then use the DMM to find the specific bad part/joint, etc.

If you used DMM to start, you can also find the problem & never need the audio probe.



always think outside the box

R.G.

R.G.

In response to the questions in the forum - PCB Layout for Musical Effects is available from The Book Patch. Search "PCB Layout" and it ought to appear.

Paul Marossy

Quote from: R.G. on September 20, 2011, 09:10:08 PM
You need all the weapons you can carry.

Yes, I agree. Audio probing is often very useful, but you also need a DMM to see if the active components are getting power, what the voltages are on each one, etc. I find that I often need to use both when trying to repair something.

theundeadelvis

The audio probe is an amazing debugging tool. It has saved me on numerous occasion. That being said, for every problem I've discovered with the probe, I've probably found 10 using the DMM. If I had to choose only 1, I'd choose DMM. BUT, since I don't have to, I wouldn't go without either.
If it ain't broke...   ...it will be soon.