Keysight vs. Tek Function Generators

[Sal Ammoniac]

I'm in the market for a new arbitrary function generator in the USD$1500-2000 range. Which of these two brands has the best value and performance in this price range?

[graybeard]

Siglent

[tautech]

Siglent

A 2ch 200 MHz SDG6022X comes in at $1500 so what similar models are available from HPAK and Tek ?

[TheUnnamedNewbie]

I'm very happy with my older Tek low-speed arb, but the new keysight units at my work lab look fancy. Haven't used them yet though so can't comment on them. I think either way the performance should be excellent.

[2N3055]

I'm in the market for a new arbitrary function generator in the USD$1500-2000 range. Which of these two brands has the best value and performance in this price range?

I would start with :
What do you want to use it for? What spec?

For 1500-2000 you can buy 2-3 very good new gens for Rigol or Siglent, or one that is advanced from Siglent. Siglent ones can be synchronized.
With frequencies ranging up to 200MHz (without any hacking).

For that kind of money you cannot get anything new similar from Keysight or Tek.
EDU33212A (a very basic 20MHz 2 ch) starts at 830€ +VAT
Pro AWG from Keysight with 20 MHz and 1 channel start at 1500€ +VAT...

These two brands you mentioned have horrible price/performance in this price range..

You need to do the homework first....

[nctnico]

I'm in the market for a new arbitrary function generator in the USD$1500-2000 range. Which of these two brands has the best value and performance in this price range?

Maybe my Tektronix AFG31000 review / comparison is of any help: https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/tektronix-afg31022-review/

It is easy for some to say that getting a cheap generator is 'better' in terms of price / performance but in the end it depends highly on what you need it for and what your expectations are.

[Sal Ammoniac]

Regarding Siglent and Rigol--I'd rather not buy something from a Chicom company.

[bdunham7]

Regarding Siglent and Rigol--I'd rather not buy something from a Chicom company.

If you're shopping in that price range for an AWG, you may end up with a China-manufactured product anyway, rebadged or otherwise.  I don't know about AWGs specifically, but lower-end Tek stuff is often made in China for them if not outright rebadged.  If that bothers you, you'll have to spend more money or go on the used market.  The HPAK/Tek function generators a bit above your stated range will probably be high-quality products and likely will have isolated outputs, but you'll get much less bang-for-buck otherwise and you may only get one output.  So the question is what your performance requirements are and what it will cost to meet them. 

[jjoonathan]

Speaking of siglent signal generators, what ever happened to the two channel differental AWG? Delayed?

[tautech]

Speaking of siglent signal generators, what ever happened to the two channel differental AWG? Delayed?

SDG7000A is still with the beta testers. No idea just yet of a release date.

[tautech]

Regarding Siglent and Rigol--I'd rather not buy something from a Chicom company.

And yet you plan to stick with western corporate brands that send their production to Asia so to maximize profits. 

[Sal Ammoniac]

Regarding Siglent and Rigol--I'd rather not buy something from a Chicom company.

And yet you plan to stick with western corporate brands that send their production to Asia so to maximize profits. 

What other options do I have? Sure, I’d prefer to buy U.S. made test equipment, but, as you say, most western corporate brands build their stuff in China. I regard buying Tek/Keysight stuff made in Asia rather than Siglent/Rigol as the lesser of two evils.

[tautech]

Regarding Siglent and Rigol--I'd rather not buy something from a Chicom company.

And yet you plan to stick with western corporate brands that send their production to Asia so to maximize profits. 

What other options do I have?

Put your engineers hat on and study datasheets and realize what you get for the spend.  < Me 10+ years ago.

Sure, I’d prefer to buy U.S. made test equipment, but, as you say, most western corporate brands build their stuff in China.

That I did not say when in fact I said Asia and if you imagine everyone in Asia is Chinese you'll piss off of lot of Asians.

If you must buy Yank with your budget then it's overdue you pony up with your AWG must have specs so to properly utilize the members knowledge here on the forum.
You could also consider BK Precision or LeCroy however an AWG from them might just be a Siglent but more expensive than from the OEM.
Sal Ammoniac, are there better than Siglent bang for buck, probably but in nearly 9 years of dealing with them their stuff has been very reliable and they've totally stood behind their products in our experience.
Good luck with your hunt.

[MegaVolt]

Sal Ammoniac, are there better than Siglent bang for buck, probably but in nearly 9 years of dealing with them their stuff has been very reliable and they've totally stood behind their products in our experience.
Good luck with your hunt.

Any link?

[Sal Ammoniac]

Regarding Siglent and Rigol--I'd rather not buy something from a Chicom company.

And yet you plan to stick with western corporate brands that send their production to Asia so to maximize profits. 

What other options do I have?

Put your engineers hat on and study datasheets and realize what you get for the spend.  < Me 10+ years ago.

Sure, I’d prefer to buy U.S. made test equipment, but, as you say, most western corporate brands build their stuff in China.

That I did not say when in fact I said Asia and if you imagine everyone in Asia is Chinese you'll piss off of lot of Asians.

If you must buy Yank with your budget then it's overdue you pony up with your AWG must have specs so to properly utilize the members knowledge here on the forum.
You could also consider BK Precision or LeCroy however an AWG from them might just be a Siglent but more expensive than from the OEM.
Sal Ammoniac, are there better than Siglent bang for buck, probably but in nearly 9 years of dealing with them their stuff has been very reliable and they've totally stood behind their products in our experience.
Good luck with your hunt.

Here are my must-have specs for a function generator:

Max Frequency: 25 MHz
# Channels: 1 (2 would be nice, but not an absolute requirement)
Built-in Waveforms: Sine, Square, Triangle, Ramp, Pulse, Sinc, Gaussian Noise
Arbitrary: at least 1 MSa, 4-16 MSa
Modes: Frequency Sweep, Continuous
Modulation: AM, FM, PWM (others would be nice, but not an absolute requirement)
Amplitude: 1mV - 10V PP into 50 ohms
Sine Harmonic Output: in the -40 to -50 dBc range
Sine THD: <0.1%
Phase Noise: at least -125 dBc/Hz at 10 kHz
Rise/Fall Time (square & pulse): 10 ns - 1 us variable
Jitter: < 1 ns

I don't have anything against Asians in general, but I'd rather not support the CCP if I can avoid it.

[tautech]

I don't have anything against Asians in general, but I'd rather not support the CCP if I can avoid it.

Not even the US chaps that work for them in Ohio ?

Here are my must-have specs for a function generator:

Max Frequency: 25 MHz
# Channels: 1 (2 would be nice, but not an absolute requirement)
Built-in Waveforms: Sine, Square, Triangle, Ramp, Pulse, Sinc, Gaussian Noise
Arbitrary: at least 1 MSa, 4-16 MSa
Modes: Frequency Sweep, Continuous
Modulation: AM, FM, PWM (others would be nice, but not an absolute requirement)
Amplitude: 1mV - 10V PP into 50 ohms
Sine Harmonic Output: in the -40 to -50 dBc range
Sine THD: <0.1%
Phase Noise: at least -125 dBc/Hz at 10 kHz
Rise/Fall Time (square & pulse): 10 ns - 1 us variable
Jitter: < 1 ns

Great, thanks.

Apart from their unlisted Phase Noise spec the lowly $320 2ch 30 MHz 14 bit SDG1032X easily meets your requirements.
Note for later today is check Phase Noise in a few models...

[bdunham7]

Apart from their unlisted Phase Noise spec the lowly $320 2ch 30 MHz 14 bit SDG1032X easily meets your requirements.
Note for later today is check Phase Noise in a few models...

Actually if he wants 10V_p-p @ 50 ohms all the way to 25MHz, I think none of the Siglents work.  10MHz for the SDG1032X, 20MHz for the better ones.  I don't know offhand of any amplifiers that would fix that, but perhaps 20MHz is close enough.  I'll be interested to see your phase noise measurements.  I wonder if an external clock might help.

[rsjsouza]

I'm in the market for a new arbitrary function generator in the USD$1500-2000 range. Which of these two brands has the best value and performance in this price range?

For that price range you can get a LeCroy T3AFG120 (120 MHz, 2 ch) made in China by Siglent 
https://www.tequipment.net/Teledyne-Test-Tools/T3AFG120/Function-Generator/?b=y&v=7806

Or perhaps an AIM- TTI TGF4242 at 240MHz:
https://www.tequipment.net/TTi/TGF4242/Function-Generator/?v=7380

[tautech]

Apart from their unlisted Phase Noise spec the lowly $320 2ch 30 MHz 14 bit SDG1032X easily meets your requirements.
Note for later today is check Phase Noise in a few models...

Actually if he wants 10V_p-p @ 50 ohms all the way to 25MHz, I think none of the Siglents work.  10MHz for the SDG1032X, 20MHz for the better ones.

Thanks good catch. Correct, SDG1000X -10 MHz, SDG2000X -20 MHz but SDG6000X does 40 MHz.

[nctnico]

Or perhaps an AIM- TTI TGF4242 at 240MHz:
https://www.tequipment.net/TTi/TGF4242/Function-Generator/?v=7380

I strongly NOT recommend this one. Tried it but it fails the test to have coherent output frequencies.

[Sal Ammoniac]

I don't have anything against Asians in general, but I'd rather not support the CCP if I can avoid it.

Not even the US chaps that work for them in Ohio ?

I don't know who you're referring to here.

[bdunham7]

I strongly NOT recommend this one. Tried it but it fails the test to have coherent output frequencies.

I was thinking it looked good.  Could you elaborate on that problem?  Do you mean coherent between channels?

[nctnico]

I strongly NOT recommend this one. Tried it but it fails the test to have coherent output frequencies.

I was thinking it looked good.  Could you elaborate on that problem?  Do you mean coherent between channels?

Set 1 channel to 10MHz and the other to 1Hz and you'll see there is a frequency offset of a few milli-Hertz. It shows that the resolution of the DDS is quite low. These are the things that aren't very clear from the datasheet.

[Sal Ammoniac]

Or perhaps an AIM- TTI TGF4242 at 240MHz:
https://www.tequipment.net/TTi/TGF4242/Function-Generator/?v=7380

I strongly NOT recommend this one. Tried it but it fails the test to have coherent output frequencies.

I don't need 240 MHz. I'd rather have a 25 MHz generator with higher quality output waveforms.

[bdunham7]

Set 1 channel to 10MHz and the other to 1Hz and you'll see there is a frequency offset of a few milli-Hertz. It shows that the resolution of the DDS is quite low. These are the things that aren't very clear from the datasheet.

I know there was a previous discussion of something like this from a Shahriar video.  The Siglent SDG2042X can be made to behave something like this if you try. I don't know if it is the "phase accumulator bug" referred to elsewhere, but if I select a 10Hz pulse and a 10,000,010Hz sine, I get drift.  Sometimes if you twist the knob enough, you can get it back to exactly 10MHz and there's still a drift, although I can't reproduce this on demand.  With direct entry and round numbers, I never see a problem.  Not an issue for me yet, but yeah I'd like to really understand what is going on so it doesn't bite me when I'm not looking.