Trace routing...shortest distance between two points or keep it straight?

[skiraly017]

When laying out PCB traces, is it better to keep them as short as possible or does it not matter? For example, do I run diagonal traces wherever posssible or straight lines with 45 degree right and left angles?

[QSQCaito]

I was told that it should be straight line.. but all like "rounded" no corners, 90º turns.. or things like that.. keep it running smooth.. but there are also times in which two traces, for whatever reason, can travel together.. i ussualy try to make them as thick as possible, with no right angles and/or corners.. and it has been working fine.. but let the experienced ones tell

Bye bye

hope it helps

Diego Andrés Cao

[Unbeliever]

Do whatever looks good visually, 99.9% of the time it won't matter, and the other 0.1% of the time you'll be pulling your hair out over some weird interference issue or something....

[R.G.]

The correct answer is: the faster the signal or signal edge on the trace, the more important that it be direct from point to point. For audio, it almost does not matter as long as the trace does not get too close to sometthing that can couple to it capacitively or loop around something that couples to it magnetically. So whatever looks good (and simple - no writing your name in traces! ) is usually fine. As frequency and edge sharpness (which is the same thing) go up, it matters more and more until you have to make the PCB into an honest-to-gosh transmission line with controlled impedance. Call me when you get into controlled-impedance designs and we can talk.

Sharp corners were once bad for etching, but modern practice makes that matter less. Although rounding and obtuse angles are still good practice.

[skiraly017]

Call me when you get into controlled-impedance designs and we can talk.

Can I call you so you can explain controlled impedance to me? 

Thanks for the info.

[markm]

Sharp corners were once bad for etching, but modern practice makes that matter less. Although rounding and obtuse angles are still good practice.

Hey RG,
Is this why some of the older effects PCBs have more of a swirly or flowing type of trace design?