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Topic starter
To state the obvious, everything is getting more expensive--especially over here in America. This means that it's getting really hard to find affordable parts to build things anymore: case in point, I wanted to build the USB-C microphone. Deciding to start with the electronics for the circuit board, I popped over to eBay to find how much they would cost. Shipping included, the total cost came to $70. I couldn't believe my eyes. Seventy bloody dollars for some capacitors and resistors? I'm new to the electrical engineering field, but even I know that's too much.
So I went looking for some other websites to purchase parts from. I went to Tayda first, and was pleasantly surprised by their very low prices. They had almost everything I needed, but I had to go to Digikey to get the other few pieces. The cost of the Tayda parts came to roughly $12. Then I checked the shipping: $20! Combined with the parts and shipping cost from Digikey (about $20), it came out to over $50. Ridiculous! I was getting desperate then, so I trawled the internet for parts stores until I found Mouser. Exactly the same thing happened: low parts prices (though not as low as Tayda), and I even found everything I needed there. The total cost, however, was $60.
I ended up not building the microphone, which made me kind of sad. So my question is, where are people getting their project parts from? Raw materials like lumber, sheet metal, and acrylic aren't too hard to find, but what about the more complicated components, like circuit boards and other electronics? Online stores, local suppliers? How are you all still managing to build things with these ridiculous prices? Surely there's a way around this that isn't just living with it. I don't care if the shipping takes so long that I forget what I ordered, I just want to be able to build things.
Thank you for listening to my rant,
-A Sad Imp Inventor
My worktable is a site of frequent detonations. Please knock so I don't start a Lithium fire when you startle me.
Posted : 10/01/2026 3:50 pm
how are the duties from China? The assembled V2 is less than 40 bucks per board (quite a bit less depending on configuration).
I can send you some early pre-production files for that.
I have made some minor improvements but nothing deal breaking. Mostly added some taps for the LDO outputs and a 24V supply.
Take everything I say with a pinch of salt, I might be wrong and it's a very *expensive* way to learn!
Posted : 10/01/2026 4:00 pm
Topic starter
@marcdraco It varies. On Mouser, for example, I've seen anything from a 10% tariff to a 47% tariff if shipping to the US. And $40 per board still seems like a lot to me, considering that Matt says he built his whole microphone for around $30. I get that prices have been raised since then, but still...*gripe gripe* Anyway, I'm less interested in that particular project, and more interested in where I can get cheaper parts.
My worktable is a site of frequent detonations. Please knock so I don't start a Lithium fire when you startle me.
Posted : 10/01/2026 4:21 pm
I get mine from JLC. Don’t have a project? No worries. Just put footprints down on some copper and get them soldered to a board. Crazy as that sounds it’s worked out cheaper than Mouser, RS (who are always expensive) and the other big guns.
ebay for small numbers of common parts. I rarely buy “expensive” ICs or parts from China unless I can guarantee provenance.
JLC swap out NE5532 with 5532 compatible chips (same number but not necessarily the same performance).
sometimes it matters, most of the time it doesn’t.
Take everything I say with a pinch of salt, I might be wrong and it's a very *expensive* way to learn!
Posted : 10/01/2026 4:27 pm
Topic starter
Just put footprints down on some copper and get them soldered to a board.
I'm not quite sure what you mean--like I said, I'm pretty new to this field.
My worktable is a site of frequent detonations. Please knock so I don't start a Lithium fire when you startle me.
Posted : 10/01/2026 5:43 pm
Sorry man. When people mention Digikey, Mouser, etc. I make assumptions and you know what "assume" did, right?
Well it make one out of me anyway. <-- Idiot at work, ya see.
A footprint (which I think we used to call "land patterns") is the shape of the little pads on modern surface-mounted (SMD) component parts. I still work with both THT and SMD but I've been lulled over to the dark side of SMD.
In this 3D render of a piece of board I've place a typical through-hole resistor next to an SMD one. These aren't identical in power but the little one can handle as much power as we usually need for stuff like this and takes up a fraction of the space.
The little copper rings are where the component is soldered (usually both sides) and the SMD resistor, that's just plonked on the top and baked until it's nicely done; soldered into place that is, not browned like the Christmas turkey.
So when I'm ordering PCBs, I've started getting a few annoying parts that are hard to source here (for reasonable money) from China and buying a bunch more than I need since I'm already paying to have the board assembled.
Take everything I say with a pinch of salt, I might be wrong and it's a very *expensive* way to learn!
Posted : 10/01/2026 6:37 pm
Topic starter
@marcdraco So are you saying I should just tell them to manufacture the board for me, switching out the through-hole components with the tiny surface ones of the same specifications? That would certainly save a lot of space.
My worktable is a site of frequent detonations. Please knock so I don't start a Lithium fire when you startle me.
Posted : 11/01/2026 2:34 pm
The V2 is better, quieter and more expandable than v1.
Have it made in China and save the pain of the V1 boards, including Alpha
Take everything I say with a pinch of salt, I might be wrong and it's a very *expensive* way to learn!
Posted : 11/01/2026 3:00 pm
Topic starter
@marcdraco And the V2 is the one you designed? (I'm just guessing, from looking around the forum). And do you have the schematics and whatnot?
My worktable is a site of frequent detonations. Please knock so I don't start a Lithium fire when you startle me.
Posted : 11/01/2026 3:02 pm