UPDATE - Results posted here (DON’T PEEK IF YOU HAVEN’T VOTED YET!)
One of the most-asked about topics in OSR building is - What is the best servo?
It’s a very difficult question to answer as servos all have different characteristics in terms of noise, speed, smoothness, and power.
I have brought together several different servos that I have used over time that I feel can be helpful in drawing some comparisons and reference points. This is by no means an exhaustive servo test, but I have really focused on establishing a testing methodology that is scientific and repeatable.
The first test that I will present is focused on un-loaded (no weight on servo) SOUND. This seems to be the #1 reason people look for alternative servos. This was important for the original OSR2 and even more so for the SR6 which has TRIPLE the amount of servos of the original OSR2. I will follow this test up with a loaded sound test and then provide other tests that will display smoothness of motion, and speed.
I have some background in speaker design and measurement (not a professional), and know when it comes to sound - subjectivity can play a huge role. As a result, many consumers become fixated on empirical measurements such as decibels, watts, ohms, etc. as the nuance between “noise” can be difficult to discern. Most commonly, the usage of decibel readings for sound is very flawed. They don’t take the quality of sound or perceived loudness into account at all. For example - white noise at 60db may be considered pleasant, but a 2000hz saw wave at 60db would be annoying as fuck. Moreover, decibel readings don’t cover how transmissible sounds are - lower frequencies are more likely to travel through boundaries, whereas high frequencies can be more easily mitigated by covering them up with a blanket, closed door, etc.
It is for these reasons that I have decided to conduct my comparison wholly via controlled recordings and not provide any decibel readings. I looked into LUF measurement (becoming the new standard for loudness measurement), but figured that live recordings would be the easiest and most relatable way to provide my data.
I recorded 90 degree sweeps of movement for these servos at a fixed speed and voltage (6.25v via a 150watt Meanwell power supply). Recording was done via a Yeti microphone from 6" away. There is no processing, normalization, compression, etc. done on the audio clip (other than what Youtube does). Recordings for all 4 of the servos were done in a single take. I trimmed out the “dead air” between each of the servo swaps just to make the clip shorter.
As I mentioned, since sound is so subjective, I will not be identifying the servos for 5 days. I would LOVE if you would provide feedback, thoughts, and vote on the poll before the servo brand/model reveal. Thank you all for participating and I hope that this will be helpful.
Select the FIRST most pleasant/quiet servo from the test:
- Servo #1
- Servo #2
- Servo #3
- Servo #4
Select the SECOND most pleasant/quiet servo from the test:
- Servo #1
- Servo #2
- Servo #3
- Servo #4