Are audio socket pins silver?

[mwaurelius]

Hey,

Been reading lots and absorbing like crazy but I bumped up against something today which I cannot find by searching: I was dismantling a mobo and I pulled the connections out of the audio sockets because I thought they'd be plated - they were. When I dropped the first one in my "medium grade" pin jar my ears pricked up because it sounded like silver.

Now, I'm still really green and I haven't gotten any chemicals yet so I don't have any way to test the validity of my guess. One post I found on topic was not exactly clear, a second one said all audio connections were Ni/Au.

So, are some computer audio socket pins made of silver? I'm inclined to think not but there was that sound and I compared the dropped item tone with that of another piece I'm pretty sure is silver. The motherboard in question was a KT3 Ultra2-C by MSI.

Once I get to the point of buying, synthesizing acids, etc, what would be the best testing agent(s) for differentiating nickel and silver when there is doubt?

 

[g_axelsson]

Brass or bronze with plating of tin in 99.999% of all cases. Solid silver 0.000000% or less cases.
Break it by bending it a couple of times and you will see the internal yellow color. If you cut it the tin plating will smear over the cut.

You can't "listen" and decide if an object is silver or not. Geometry, thickness, density, absorption effects and stiffness affects the sound.

For testing silver: Schwerter's solution

Göran

 

[Justincase]

You use to be able to tell the silver coin's from junk by taping them.
You would get a nice "Ping/Ring" that is why old cash registers use to have a slate top so you could test coins by giving them a quick tap.
But since forgers have started to use better alloys this no longer work's.And this never has worked for electronic scrap to my knowledge..
Most audio conections I have seen are Ferouse under the plating.

 

[g_axelsson]

You use to be able to tell the silver coin's from junk by taping them.
You would get a nice "Ping/Ring" that is why old cash registers use to have a slate top so you could test coins by giving them a quick tap.
But since forgers have started to use better alloys this no longer work's.And this never has worked for electronic scrap to my knowledge..
Most audio conections I have seen are Ferouse under the plating.

Yes, but now you have the same geometry so different alloys will give different sound. And with the right alloy you could fool the tapping test. The idea that a general object would have a unique "silver sound" that no other alloy or object could have is what I'm talking about and I think we agrees on that.

As a curiosity, there is a rock close to where I live (200 km is close, isn't it? 8) ) that sounds like a cast church bell when you strike it with a hammer or another rock.

Göran

 

[Lou]

Is the rock magnetic or what? Maybe it's just a giant meteorite

 

[mwaurelius]

Thanks guys.

Magnetic, yeah. I have a tiny rare earth magnet from a micro-relay and it does stick so that question is answered.

 

[g_axelsson]

Is the rock magnetic or what? Maybe it's just a giant meteorite

A bit magnetic but that's from magnetite in the matrix. It's a 38 tons block of gabbro.

I don't know if any of my meteorites have the same sound, I wouldn't let any one starting to whack them with a hammer. :lol:

Göran

Edit : spelling

 

[Geo]

I have never heard of silver plating on any component on a mother board.