AliExpress, worth it?

[nohar]

Hi,
I post here since I think my questions don’t belong anywhere else.

Are AliExpress components worth it?
I am currently beginning the build of my synth, and I am looking for cheap components.
I could find TL072/82/84/74, 7555, LM13700 there, for like : cheap.
But are they worth it?
Did anyone have tried buying from them?

Thx

[Sonosus]

Bitten by Fake TL074s

@fredrik has mentioned fake ICs a few times and my stash of TL074’s turns out to definitely be. The first sign should have been when I found a single LM324 mixed in, but I didn’t put it together at the time. I built a PM Foundation State Machine and it wasn’t working. The gate just stayed high. [image] I’m usually hesitant to contact support for anything, but after a lot of troubleshooting with no luck, I contacted the manufacturer and I got expert help testing and calibrating everything. O…

The general consensus seems to be hit and miss. If it looks too good to be true, it probably is. The issue with Ali is that half the sellers use the same photo for different items. I think that it’s not worth the troubleshooting effort if they end up being fake.

That said, products such as Arduino clones, Adafruit module clones and the like can be had very cheaply if you are willing to wait a month or 3.

Tayda is mostly cheap and in my experience, very reliable. The cheap shipping takes 3-4 weeks to the UK from Thailand, but I think they have a warehouse in Colorado so it might be a good deal faster in the States.

Cheap Component Search

if done right, these modules and format wont be that expensive at all. for instance im finishing off an envelope generator now that after panel/pcb the parts would be overall £6/7. stuff like the filter is under £10 and the vclfo is not far off! so please chat parts that relate to all of the modules on this topic!

There’s also some good regional ideas in that thread.

Hope that helps

[nohar]

I wanted to believe in the too good to be true.

I already ordered through Tayda, and was very satisfied (except the DHL racketeering). I think I will go on with them, and explore the Cheap Component Search thread.

Thanks!

[TimMJN]

As a passionate (oops) Aliexpress orderer, here’s my take on things:

• ICs:
  This is really a gamble. You might find good stuff, you might find low-grade stuff, you might find out-right fake stuff. Here the “if it seems too good to be true, it probably is” principle applies. I personally don’t order ICs from ali anymore, I get larger quantities from a big supplier (TME) for roughly the same rate.
• Passives:
  I’m talking resistors and caps. You might order a big assortment of values from China, it’s convenient to have on hand. Once you start building more, you’ll notice certain values being used a lot more (10kOhm 100kOhm, 100nF, etc.). At that point, just order those from a local supplier. If you buy 100 or more at a time, the price is the same.
• Potentiometers:
  Pots are one of the most vital parts of a synth, so you want them high quality. Alpha 9mm pots are the standard, so just get those. Yes they are more pricy, but they’re 100% worth it. I get mine from Thonk.

So what DO I buy from Aliexpress?

• Jack sockets:
  I’ve found the same quality on Aliexpress and TME, with a significant price difference (order 100s at a time).
• LEDs:
  Quality doesn’t really matter, I buy big bags of 100s at a time. Also those little metal fixtures to hold them in.
• Knobs:
  I like a consistent style on my synth, so I buy large quantities of the same knob styles.
• Switches and buttons
  Haven’t been able to spot quality differences in the basic 1P2T, 1P3T etc. Buy large quantities of those on Aliexpress. Whenever I need something specific (more poles, or momentary etc), I buy those locally.
• Arduinos:
  You can’t beat Chinese prices for these, a few schmeckles each. I might buy 30 or more at a time. Be prepared to (very) occasionally having to toss one, as they refuse to be programmed, or simply smoke out on first power-up.
• Box headers, ribbon cables and connectors:
  you’ll find the same stuff in China or local. I just order a big bag of them from Ali.

So in general, it’s big quantities of jellybean parts. Stuff I know I will need anyway, and whose quality doesn’t really matter to me. Nothing is more frustrating than waiting for Aliexpress, so whenever you need specific parts for a build, buy them locally.

Cheers!

[analogoutput]

@Sonosus

Tayda is mostly cheap and in my experience, very reliable. The cheap shipping takes 3-4 weeks to the UK from Thailand, but I think they have a warehouse in Colorado so it might be a good deal faster in the States.

I don’t know for a certainty, but I’m pretty sure there isn’t a warehouse in Colorado, and that if I order from the US with USPS shipping the order is filled in Thailand; these orders are bulk shipped to their Colorado office, and then Colorado hands the individual orders off to USPS. Which is why a USPS label is generated usually within a day after I order but the package doesn’t land in USPS’s hands until maybe a week later. From there it typically takes another four days or so to get to me in Syracuse. I more often go for DHL or FedEx, which is much faster but of course much more costly for small orders; worth it if I save up my Tayda orders until they’re big enough and then the shipping cost difference is not so big.

[nohar]

Do any of you have thoughts about the stripboards you can fin on AliExpress?

[analogoutput]

The one time I bought stripboards on AliExpress they were terrible. The copper would lift if you looked at it funny. But of course there are lots of vendors on AE and I would imagine different quality stripboards.

I’ve had better luck with the ones I’ve gotten from Tayda.

[TimMJN]

I personally don’t use stripboard at all (don’t like it), but I use these breadboard-layout protoboards. Those are very nice from Aliexpress, same quality as adafruit.

[analogoutput]

I use these, from JLCPCB

[nohar]

This seems very interesting. I tried using stripboards, and I am not sure it is the best for me.
What king of wire do you use?

[TimMJN]

24 awg solid core for on-board wiring, 24 awg stranded for panel wiring

[bymccoy]

Hi

Given how cheap components are from actual authorised distributors that deliver within 48 hours, there’s no benefit risking buying fakes on marketplaces, where delivery is measured in weeks.

Farnell (U.K. based but international) is first class for components, and their brand CPC is weirdly cheaper at smaller volumes than the parent company . Min order is £17.50, and you get free 2 day shipping.

RS Components is also first class (and the biggest in world, with U.K. head office and US brand Alliance).

Between RS and Farnell, you can source 99% of components you need. Luckily the hard to find stuff tends to be sold by Thonk etc.

Mouser is horrendously expensive. Like insanely so. An “Eagle” brand knob from mouser is circa £1.50 each at 100pc volumes - they’re actually an OEM knob sold under different brand names. Farnell also sells them for £1.25 at low volumes (1-5pcs), but CPC sells them for £0.25 at low volumes (1pc).

Jon

[bymccoy]

Prime example, ive just bought packs of resistors from Farnell, at 68p per 100 resistors (1/4w 1%).

[analogoutput]

@bymccoy

RS Components is also first class (and the biggest in world, with U.K. head office and US brand Alliance).

For “Alliance” I assume you mean Allied Electronics and Automation, linked from the RS Components International website. There, for instance, if I look for 0.25 W metal film 220k resistors I find them selling for $0.90 each! Of which they have a whole 111 in stock.

Then again if I look at https://uk.rs-online.com/web/c/passive-components/fixed-resistors/through-hole-fixed-resistors/?applied-dimensions=4294706602,4291151876 and select 0.25 W, metal film, they seem to have none at 220k, in fact none at all above 100k.

Am I missing something? Is there just something wonky in the way they organize both sites and there’s plentiful cheap resistors if you know where to look?

[bymccoy]

Yeah Allied. Autocorrect

Look at the break pricing. Unless you want 1x resistor. And check pack sizing.

I’m U.K. based so don’t use Allied, but use RS, Farnell/CPC.

RS and Farnell have pricing that’s best on the bulk end (though they’re still cheaper at low volumes compared to mouser and other suppliers).

Maplin was buying import junk and reselling and still charging more than RS & Farnell were

Rapid are okay, but nowhere near the range of RS/Farnell.

[analogoutput]

For 500+ metal film 0.25W 220k (not that they have 500 in stock) Allied charges $0.77 each.

For another check I tried looking for TL074, and Allied appears not to carry it at all.

RS may be good in the UK (though as I said they seem not to have the particular resistor I was checking at all) but Allied strikes me as pretty useless.

Farnell operates in the US as Newark and they do seem better, but their prices look comparable to Mouser and Digi-key.

[fredrik]

I sampled some things from my latest Mouser order (mostly ICs and caps) and Mouser was cheaper for everything I checked, so I guess it depends on what you’re looking for, and if you’re willing to buy more than you need. Or where you are, or something.

(Also the RS site is built by a bunch of idiots who think that nobody outside the UK speaks English, which is fucking annoying if you’re not in the UK.)

[analogoutput]

Also if you search “TL074” it shows you some results, but if you then try to go to the second page or to change the sort order or to add a filter it says “Your current combination of filters has returned 0 results. Please change your selection.” and you can’t do anything until you clear the search term.

[analogoutput]

@TimMJN

Knobs:
I like a consistent style on my synth, so I buy large quantities of the same knob styles.

One caveat is that there seem to be very few knobs on AE for 6.35 mm round shafts. Panel mount 6 mm shaft pots are pretty readily available from Tayda, so I use them a lot and get knobs for them from AE, but the 9 mm board mount pots and the rotary switches have the larger shafts, requiring knobs I get from Tayda and LoveMySwitches.

[TimMJN]

Yes you are right, that’s annoying. I use 6mm shaft pots as much as I can, include the 9mm alpha pots. On the occasion where I’m forced to use the 6.35mm shafts, I take a 6.5 mm drill to the knob. The knobs I use have grub screws, so they still sit pretty well.