By "upgrade the stepper drivers" I'm going to assume that you mean switching to one of the Trinamic/Maxim devices? I'm not sure where folks got the idea that they are somehow "better". Sure, they have an ultrasonic PWM chopper frequency, so they are quiet (unless you're a dog), and they have all kinds of nifty bells and whistles (on the fly coil current adjustment, bus communications, stall detection) none of which are of any interest to me. Nor, I would venture to guess, of they of much use to the vast majority of printer users.
As an electrical engineer, the Trinamic step functions are identical to those of the A4988 (as they should be, as they are determined by the physics of the motor). The decay functions for the internal H-bridges are also identical, with the same potential for "glitches" as with the A4988. It's just that the glitches happen faster, so you can't hear them.
A quick perusal of the manufacturer's data sheets shows that Trinamic drivers have the same slow decay issue as the A4988. You can see it on their switching function graphs. At least on the A4988, the decay function can be forced to avoid that glitch by reducing the oscillator pin impedance to zero. Not so on the Trinamic drivers. You're stuck with the waveform they give you, with no chance of modifying it.
Sometimes the latest and greatest isn't necessarily the best, especially in electronics. Functions get added "because they can". My iPhone is a pretty decent camera and GPS navigator. It certainly is not the worlds best telephone. Just food for thought.
By "upgrade the stepper drivers" I'm going to assume that you mean switching to one of the Trinamic/Maxim devices? I'm not sure where folks got the idea that they are somehow "better". Sure, they have an ultrasonic PWM chopper frequency, so they are quiet (unless you're a dog), and they have all kinds of nifty bells and whistles (on the fly coil current adjustment, bus communications, stall detection) none of which are of any interest to me. Nor, I would venture to guess, of they of much use to the vast majority of printer users.
As an electrical engineer, the Trinamic step functions are identical to those of the A4988 (as they should be, as they are determined by the physics of the motor). The decay functions for the internal H-bridges are also identical, with the same potential for "glitches" as with the A4988. It's just that the glitches happen faster, so you can't hear them.
A quick perusal of the manufacturer's data sheets shows that Trinamic drivers have the same slow decay issue as the A4988. You can see it on their switching function graphs. At least on the A4988, the decay function can be forced to avoid that glitch by reducing the oscillator pin impedance to zero. Not so on the Trinamic drivers. You're stuck with the waveform they give you, with no chance of modifying it.
Sometimes the latest and greatest isn't necessarily the best, especially in electronics. Functions get added "because they can". My iPhone is a pretty decent camera and GPS navigator. It certainly is not the worlds best telephone. Just food for thought.