I want to mix up to four AC signals, that may or may not be DC biased, but will always be between -5.6 and +5.6. For that I was going to use a summing amp. (If anyone wants to talk me out of that in a comment, feel free, but that's not the main focus of the question.) I also want to be able to connect/disconnect the signals to the mixer via a microcontroller. I'm not THAT concerned with a little distortion or delay, since the signals are monotone and mostly for testing purposes. I have read that a relay is probably my best bet, but I don't have any around at the moment. Therefore, I tried to design one using the discrete components I have, which are BJTs, MOSFETs, and the normal passives. I read [this post][1], but I'm not really sure how to apply SCRs or TRIACs. The TRIAC's wiki page lost me when it started talking about quadrants, haha. I just want to pass the signal, or block it. For instance, I drew up and simulated the following BJT schematic. Since it's my own creation, I of course don't trust it, but it seems to work, with only 10nA pulled from the control pin. Could anyone give me a reason why a relay is preferable? [![enter image description here][2]][2] [![Output is OFF when VCONT=5. Current leakage also shown.][3]][3] Output is OFF when VCONT=5. Current leakage also shown. [![Output is ON when VCONT=0][4]][4] Output is ON when VCONT=0 In reference to Russell's comment, I tried to simulate this circuit: [![enter image description here][5]][5] But the control (shown here as voltage source) cannot be grounded. In this pic it works, because the control is isolated. I tried adding a resistor between ground and sources, but that does not allow for full cutoff. [1]: http://electronics.stackexchange.com/questions/2010/using-a-transistor-with-ac [2]: https://i.sstatic.net/kgtq0.png [3]: https://i.sstatic.net/9b5o4.png [4]: https://i.sstatic.net/KGDYm.png [5]: https://i.sstatic.net/x1nrc.png