EEVblog #1220 - Siglent SDS5000X 1GHz Oscilloscope Review

Siglent have entered the 1GHz oscilloscope market with the SDS5000X, is it a worthy competitor?

#Oscilloscope #Review #Siglent

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[denny]

I like watching tests of the higher end gear, not because i could justify the expense for hobbyist purposes, but it gives me an idea of what the current price/performance ratio looks like, what the market has to offer and what could be in the used market in some time. So thanks for showing these real in-depth reviews.

[Gengh]

I really appreciate you taking the time to do a review of any type of testgear. And I would like to see a teardown.

[MaxWattage]

A good, thorough review. Thank you.
This is probably the most bit of kit that you will need to review though, as only a tiny percentage of your viewers will be in a position to specify anything more expensive than that.

I have found that SIGLENT products are physically of a perfectly acceptable quality for general use. Where they cut costs is in the overhead of the number of engineering hours they invest in software testing and refinement.
The bugs and UI quirks are irritating to be sure, but rarely are they complete show-stoppers. For the advanced hobbyist or SOHO business, SIGLENT provide a way to obtain test equipment at performance levels that would otherwise be unaffordable.

I myself have invested in their SDS2304X 300MHz 4-channel oscilloscope, and their SSA3032X spectrum analyser, and both have proven to be very useful and cost effective.
Do be aware though that they do charge a LOT for software licenses for features that you might have reasonably expected to get included in the main equipment price.

[Gengh]

It wouldn't be a review of a new product without Dave finding a couple of bugs just playing around.

[rasimbot]

56:37 I can see History button in the center of the front panel

[jonahansen]

Hoping this is the start of a series that will cover the Rhode & Schwarz RTM3000 scopes soon! Dave is so great at evaluating the utility of the features, the configuration, and the shortcomings...

[hdmalpas]

I use Siglent scopes because I can afford them, they do the job. Enjoyed the review, I would like to see a teardown.

[redeemed]

Was Getting my son into electronics. Had a plan so got him hooked on racing drones because I know we would break something real fast and would use that as the doorway to teach him and start getting him into arduino’s/bread boards. He’s homeschooled and was gonna treat it like a shop class which he would be starting this year if he was going to a public school. He needs to see things to learn. Hate how much anything decent costs but my wife grenaded my master plan anyway. Thanks for your reviews. You are my go to channel for everything electronic
And for what it’s worth I prefer the low end but best bang for your buck. Prob like most

[kissingfrogs]

There is a history button but its always easier for the person looking over your shoulder to see

[bitrot]

I'm always impressed by how much you can suss out about a scope by putting it through a familiar series of tests. Even if you can't cover every last bit of functionality, it gives a great idea of the overall performance, fit & finish and usability.
I hope you keep at least a few high-end reviews in the mix. It's helpful to know what the cheaper stuff wants to be when it grows up.

[proudsnowtiger]

Loving the chrome knobs. Giving your $3k 2019 scope that 1977 Cobra 19 CB rig vibe, good buddy.

[tractorboy]

I'm a big fan of any equipment review. The fact that I can / can't afford them isn't an issue. This was an hour well-spent for me. Thanks.

[shana_dmr]

The problem with external display looks more like a monitor upscaling the picture than the analog output issue - I used 1920x1080 display with VGA cable and it had zero issues as long as cable was of reasonable length.

[phil-sw]

Hi Dave, I love the higher-end stuff, really interesting to see how the industry advances and what‘s new in terms of features and usability. Personally, I even prefer these videos to the low-end gear. Cheers!

[xDevscom_EE]

My note on high-end gear reviews, they can be very useful. Often there are cases that manufacturers provide very little testing / UI information, and lots of marketing stuff on high end instruments. Of course as a business with high-end expensive gear you'd just call the support, and manufacturer FAE will be at your lab, ready to answer your questions (or not!), but having hands on experience review, like you do here for SDS5000X could save somebody thousands of $ not buying wrong equipment. And with modern trend to add shiny touchscreeny features instead of more focus on performance/usability such reviews would be even more important. Also unlike low-end gear, which released often/obsoleted fast, high-end 4GHz scope could be very well doing it's job on R&D team desk for decade. You can see live example of that on forum, where many engineers specifically buy old high-end scopes, and it's not always the cost factor alone. :) So I'm in the camp that need more real-life content on high-end gear (not talking about crazy stuff like multi-GHz UXR for serial analysis, customers for that already know what that is). But more like Tek 5-6/KS 6 and S-series, etc.
You may be surprised if you know how many questions I get about 10K$ multimeter (3458A) from people on forum and email :D.

[MasterAlexei]

Around 58:00. Dave, RTFM! :) when you press the buttons left or right, the sequences are "played" with the interval, that you can adjust. In a video the interval is at 1.00 us, that is why you didn't see the "playing" effect.

[gn_ghost]

Thanks a lot Dave~ Looking forward for the teardown :D

[mrnmrn]

5:02 The loss of sharpness and details/edges has nothing to do with the VGA standard, it is because the resolution differs from your monitor's native resolution. It would have been just as bad with DVI or HDMI. VGA can produce perfect picture up to 1080p or more - eg. 2048x1536 @100Hz. Though, being analog, a very good quality VGA cable with proper, low loss, well shielded 75 ohm coaxes inside is needed for these high resolutions.

[drdiesel]

I can't see a single reason anyone would buy this over the much better alternatives.

[JDW-]

Dave, I see the value in reviewing "high end bits of gear" like that because the Siglent 2000X series is basically the same scope, with the same UI, just at a lower price point that most people can afford, which is why your review of this higher end model is quite helpful indeed. And people who buy the lower end scopes aren't normally going to get a demo unit to try out first. Your reviews may be their main source of info prior to purchase! So keep it up!