# looking for an a/b or a/b/y switch that doesn't make an audible "pop"...



## david henman (Feb 3, 2006)

...when engaged. any suggestions?


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## david henman (Feb 3, 2006)

...little lehle II looks like a good bet - $159.


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## washburned (Oct 13, 2006)

Radial Big Shot ABY is doing it for me. Lots of bonus features like ground reverse, built in isolation xformer and can be used backwards as a two signal in one out pedal as well.


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## david henman (Feb 3, 2006)

washburned said:


> Radial Big Shot ABY is doing it for me. Lots of bonus features like ground reverse, built in isolation xformer and can be used backwards as a two signal in one out pedal as well.


...i sold mine because of the loud popping noise, although i give radial credit for acknowledging it in the instruction sheet.


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

The pop is not so much a function of the switch itself as what is being switched. Some commercial units will incorporate some means for compensating for what is lacking in the devices being switched. For guys like me, it becomes easier and cheaper to just mod the stuff to be switched so that it doesn't pop.

The solution may be easier than you think. What is it that you're trying to switch?


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## david henman (Feb 3, 2006)

...i am constantly switching from electric guitar, sending my signal from the tuner to my pedals and amp, to acoustic (godin acousticaster), routing my signal from the tuner to an acoustic preamp (zoom a2), which goes to the sound system.



mhammer said:


> The pop is not so much a function of the switch itself as what is being switched. Some commercial units will incorporate some means for compensating for what is lacking in the devices being switched. For guys like me, it becomes easier and cheaper to just mod the stuff to be switched so that it doesn't pop.
> 
> The solution may be easier than you think. What is it that you're trying to switch?


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

1) Makes me wonder if a pan pedal isn't a better solution.

2) Switch-popping is most often a product of input and/or output capacitors left "hanging". Caps store charge. The pop we hear is the cap discharging rapidly when a path to ground is suddenly provided. 
I liken it to going on a long drive. When you finally hit the can, you feel like your bladder is going to explode and the sensation of finally being able to let it out is the curious mixture of relief and pain (T.M.I.?). Had the drive been shorter, had you been wearing those adult undergarments some folks bring to casinos when working the slots, or had you not drunk so much beforehand, the sudden "release" would not be accompanied by so much discomfort.
If a cap is constantly charged up by signal, or some other source of current in the circuit, but is not being regularly drained off, when the switching action finally gives it a viable path to ground, all that stored current suddenly drains off and a popping sound is heard. In general, output caps tend to be larger in value than input ones, meaning that they can gather and store more charge than input caps, making them the most common culprit, though input caps can be the problem too.
If this is what's happening, then the user will note that repeatedly switching back and forth a few times in succession will result in pop-free switching. This is because not enough time had passed to accumulate enough current to produce a pop. Leave the switch in one position, and play for a bit, and the the pop will return, next time you switch.
The "cure" for this is to provide an ongoing path to ground for the offending cap, whether it be at the input or output. Consider connecting a 1M fixed resistor between the hot and groud lugs of the two outputs on your current A/B pedal, just to see if the source of pop is what you're plugging into.


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## washburned (Oct 13, 2006)

david henman said:


> ...i sold mine because of the loud popping noise, although i give radial credit for acknowledging it in the instruction sheet.


 I bought mine because of all the ones I tried it was the only one that didn't pop....go figure!


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