MOTM

Isn't debate fun? ^_^

> It's very high density packaging, designed for modern production
> electronics. The parts are basically too small to be handled by hand,
> and must be placed and soldered by precision robotic machines.

SMT is considerably cheaper in higher volumes as well. The parts 
themselves tend to be cheaper, and the final assembly is much, much 
cheap. A robot places all the parts on top of tiny little bits of 
solder paste and it goes into an oven, 15 minutes later, presto! 
finished board. Contrast that with spending an hour of human time 
(+cost of feeding/clothing human, etc) and it's not hard to see why 
modern electronics use surface mount components.

> Aside from possible audio emasculation from shrunken down circuit
> paths,

Only if the circuit is designed poorly. Same goes for through-hole.

> many people on this list love the act of assembly, and are
> opposed to SMT on general principles for that reason. You will never
> be able to easily repair a module years down the road if it is SMT.

Actually, I disagree. At the current pace of technology, many years 
from now I may find it difficult to find through hole components to 
replace certain dead ones on my boards. Quick, who has easy access to a 
68000? Or a core memory winding? Or any sort of vacuum tube?

I agree, soldering a gnats ass to a pad is kinda annoying, but not 
impossible.  You need the right tools, and they're kind of expensive 
right now. You don't know soldering until you've soldered SMT!  Where's 
you sense of adventure! ^_^

That being said, there's still lots to solder on MOTM kits that can't 
be done by machine. I personally enjoy soldering but for me the reason 
I buy MOTM modules was to make music, and I find the current turn 
around times to be rather limiting. It's also hard to convince newbies 
to pony up for a system when it will take over a month for it to 
arrive, unassembled. That's a really hard sell, and limits the MOTM's 
appeal to the truly hard core (of pocket book, patience, or technical 
ability.) How long can Paul keep going appealing to such a limited 
group? I don't know.

I hope forever, the MOTM rules.

--mikes