Potentiometers and Input Signal Simulation

[skennedyXTYKA]

Hello!  I am a complete newbie to Fusion, but am very excited about the possibilities.  My interest is in guitar pedal design and I have two big questions:  How would I integrate a potentiometer into my schematic and Is there a way to have a .wav file or other recorded audio input to "run through" the schematic in a simulation so I can hear/tweak the sound from output?

Thanks in advance!

Steve

[jorge_garcia]

Hi @skennedyXTYKA,

Welcome to Fusion!! You are speaking my language, I enjoy building pedals and have built a few. So the first question is pretty simple in Electronics design you can often represent a potentiometer as a resistance or a couple of resistances. 

Now I hate to be a buzz kill but SPICE simulation in Fusion can't currently (at least not easily) take a wave file and then run in to the circuit and get an output. With that said even if it could, the resulting output would be a poor simile of what the actual circuit would sound like.

That's not to say circuit simulation isn't useful, but if you are expecting a digital twin of the analog circuit we are not quite there yet. What you would typically do with the circuit simulation is feed simpler signals to the circuit (sine, waves, square waves, etc.) and you can get a waveform of the output to see if the design is what you are expecting. The other part of this is the quality of the models, if the models are generic then you won't get a good reflection of reality.

All of this to say, your breadboard will still be your friend but the sims can help you get to your final design faster.

Let me know if there's anything I can do for you.

Best Regards,

[skennedyXTYKA]

Hey Jorge,

I actually watched one of your vids before I posted.  Do you have any other videos on audio circuits in Fusion?  I tried to look for more but couldn't find an easy way to search.

So, as far as the potentiometer goes, what's the easiest way to add one?  I know I can just add a resistor, but I'm wondering if there is a way to have it sweep through a range and have a simulation of that. Also, I'm not terribly worried about the audio signal.  I'd be happy to just use the sine to hear the processing.  Again, I am super-new to Fusion and any other CAD type program.  I normally breadboard and build kits.  Are there any pedal/audio specific tutorials you can point me to?  Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Steve

[jorge_garcia]

Hi @skennedyXTYKA,

I hope you're doing well. This whole series will take you from nothing to a finished design.
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLmA_xUT-8UlL80Xm8Gxz98YNum3I9GInr

You'll probably recognize it as a Fuzz Face derivative. It sounds awesome and the circuit is simple and a good choice for a tutorial. 

These are good tutorials
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R7xnpgygKwY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BLJa_XCwWR4&t=20s

Also check out Madbean pedals website, you'll find lots of schematics there that might be a good source of inspiration for you.

Sorry to burst the bubble again, you won't be able to hear the output waveform but you'll see a graph of it. So you'll be able to see clipping in overdrives for example.

Let me know if there's anything else I can do for you.

Best Regards,