My most recent score :: tons of Tropical Fish caps in a lot of different values.
Haven't counted them, but there are probably a few hundred all sorted and in labeled bags:
(http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/ee255/BubbaKahuna/MVC-587F.jpg)
(http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/ee255/BubbaKahuna/MVC-588F.jpg)
There seems to be a lot of Voodoo about these things and I'd like to see how much is truth and how much is true BS.
I'd like to build a couple identical effects to do a side by side comparison between Fishies and normal caps to see if there really is a difference in how they sound.
Plug my guitar into an A/B box with one on each side going into the same amp. Run them off the same power supply too.
That should be about as true a test as any you can do.
Any suggestions for what kind of effect would be most influenced by cap selection that isn't a nightmare to build?
I'd prefer it not be a wah, too variable with the rocker pot, inductor Voodoo and all that and besides - that seems too cliche and done to death with no real consensus.
Something with just knobs and a switch to minimize variables.
Once done, I'd post clips with the effects side by side with various guitars and amps (I have plenty of each).
Cheers,
- JJ
Maybe you could just make up a few very simple passive eq filters on a breadboard and give them a go. That would be keeping things to a minimum.
I suppose you could try just running the signal straight through a cap and nothing else. That would really be a direct test.
Have fun! :D
Wahs are really the only thing people hype them up for but I guess you could build a fuzz with them and see what happens.
Maybe a really simple booster like a Rangemaster or a SHO. I figure with something simple like that, it would be fairly easy to hear any differences in coloration.
A Fuzz Face is another one that comes to mind.... I don't know if you have any fishies that are big enough for the FF input cap, but maybe you could just do the comparison for the output cap? You could just build a single FF and have the output cap in a socket or on a switch to swap between the fishy and the "normal" one.
OR, you could put a fish, a greenie, a ceramic, an orange drop, a 150, and ??? all on a rotary switch! That's how I'd do it.
One thing to keep in mind is the variance in all components. Even if you build 2 identical circuits save the caps, they might sound different for other reasons. In fact, if you build 2 identical fx with all the same exact components, they may sound different anyway.
Quote from: mars_bringer_of_war on November 10, 2007, 04:18:58 PM
One thing to keep in mind is the variance in all components. Even if you build 2 identical circuits save the caps, they might sound different for other reasons. In fact, if you build 2 identical fx with all the same exact components, they may sound different anyway.
That's what I was thinking... it'd be difficult to determine whether the difference you're hearing is from the different caps or component tolerances. Unless you matched each component (resistors and caps, mainly) to within 1% of the same value the experiment would most likely yield misleading results. The passive EQ filters sound like a good idea to keep this simple enough.
i wouldnt do a fuzz, too much dependence on the transistor. i like the rotary switch idea, then you could do anything
QuoteThere seems to be a lot of Voodoo about these things and I'd like to see how much is truth and how much is true BS.
I'd like to build a couple identical effects to do a side by side comparison between Fishies and normal caps to see if there really is a difference in how they sound.
Plug my guitar into an A/B box with one on each side going into the same amp. Run them off the same power supply too.
That should be about as true a test as any you can do.
Good for you. Nailing down the real facts instead of believing the hoopla is always good.
However, you have a problem. Your experimental method is deeply flawed. For the reasons you've heard in the other posts, you simply can't build two "identical" circuits to listen to the caps through and get a true reading. First, the circuits are not likely to be identical, and second not knowing what the capacitor is doing in the circuit means your results may be completely wrong.
It gets worse.
It's impossible for humans to do a test like you propose - A-B selecting one then the other - and not imposing their biases on the test. For a fair test, someone else, not you, must do the switching between A and B so you don't know which is which.
It gets worse.
Not even A-B testing can be trusted. The person doing the switching between A and B for you can and probably will send out slight cues about the selection. This is how the famous horse that could do arithmetic worked. His owner, quite unintentionally, was giving the horse cues about what answers were correct. So you have to to blind testing, and probably blind A-B-X testing. This is set up so the person changing the "channel" doesn't know which it is. And one of the choices is "neither".
What people who do this kind of experimentation have found is that a lot of times it's hard to prove that a person even hears a difference at all, and so one of the results is whether you can even tell by listening that one cap is a tropical fish and the other not.
If you don't do the experiment well, you not only waste your time, you contribute to the fog of slush and misinformation around the issue.
Nice catch - I use them mostly because they look really cool in a wah or fuzzface, and because they are easy to work with in a PTP-build. They are mostly of good quality as well, metal film and all. Use them for their mojo-effect, there's nothing wrong with that. They aren't magic, but they are of high quality and make people feel better about themselves. ;D
Kind regards, Jake
beautiful caps!!!
nice tubes in the background too, those black metal cased ones
Here's an approach that might work:
1. Choose something with a relatively low parts count, but something where the caps really count. Some of the ROG circuits would do nicely. Only build 1. Socket the caps in the tonestack.
2. Play two bars (or whatever) of notes, then chords, clean, recorded into your PC.
3. Play the clips through the circuit with standard caps, recording this back into your PC.
4. Socket the mojo caps and record it back into your PC.
5. Post each clip without identifying which is which to the forum.
6. Let the forum users decide! Maybe create a list of qualities about the tone -- I'm no expert here, others can do better at describing sounds, so I'll leave it to them.
I would be really interested to see the results. You'd be like a mythbuster :) maybe a mojobuster!
I think it's important that you not label the clips (obviously you know which is which, so when everyone is done voting you can let people know which one wins!) n-blind sample test :)
Don't build a test circuit with a 3080 in it!
And, match the transistors in the 2 circuits for gain.
Or, just build ONE circuit, with switched caps!
Hi
QuoteWhat people who do this kind of experimentation have found is that a lot of times it's hard to prove that a person even hears a difference at all, and so one of the results is whether you can even tell by listening that one cap is a tropical fish and the other not.
All of the things that RG mentions can be used to help develop a "real" test. Most "tests" are completely, utterly, and laughably useless. For example, reports of listening to expensive NOS tubes someone has bought isn't a test. Any decision about the quality of such tubes is made BEFORE the purchase. And the decision is always in the positive.
What I think you'll want, if you plan to continue, is a multi-method, multi-observer matrix (MMMOM). Multi-method means that you'd build 5 different circuits, not just one. As RG said, it you built only one, it might be a type that doesn't suit the caps, or it might have slightly different transistors or something. But if you test across five (or ten, if you've got the time), that'll "average out" the other effects and you'll be able to tell whether it's the caps. The multi-observer part is easy enough. You'll need ten to thirty observer-testers because any one person might be half deaf (like me), or have grown up listening to electrolytic caps and will dislike tropical fish just because they're "different", etc.
However, you might also want to consider this: whatever the results, such a test develops a fact, which is most helpful, and most convincing, for people who *aren't* much interested in tropical fish caps. Conversely, for those who are highly involved with caps, your fact is just one new element added (or rejected) to a rich, pre-existing view based on personal experience and beliefs. Such "rich views" are almost unshakable. In many fields of science, the evidence and facts gain acceptance only after a generation of "true believers", and parties with special interests, die off.
cheers
QuoteIt's impossible for humans to do a test like you propose - A-B selecting one then the other - and not imposing their biases on the test. For a fair test, someone else, not you, must do the switching between A and B so you don't know which is which.
Yep. And as I have maintained all along, I don't think 99% of people can truly hear the difference between a tropical fish cap and ye old film cap. Or a JRC4558 vs some other opamp. Or this brand 12AX7 vs. that brand 12AX7. And on and on, ad infinitum.
People should stick to the stuff that really does make a difference - like guitar pickups, different types of tonestacks and amps, etc. That's the stuff that makes a difference, not the imperceptable differences between this kind of cap vs. that one. The only exception I will make is for low voltage ceramic caps because the hysteresis is so bad on them.
That being said, I think the tropical fish caps are cool because of how they look. :icon_wink:
Yep. And as I have maintained all along, I don't think 99% of people can truly hear the difference between a tropical fish cap and ye old film cap. Or a JRC4558 vs some other opamp. Or this brand 12AX7 vs. that brand 12AX7. And on and on, ad infinitum.
I agree that the differences in opamps in say a tubescreamer is really pretty tiny, but I couldn't disagree more about different 12ax7 (especially in V1). Not that it will sound like a different amp, but different tubes sound noticeably, um, different.
Another solution would be to use a looper, like the Boss RC2 or whatever brand/model. You could record a passage, and then play it through a simple effect with the caps on a rotary switch or whatnot. You could record all the different caps with the same passage and then A/B/C them. See if you or your friends can tell a difference.
QuoteI agree that the differences in opamps in say a tubescreamer is really pretty tiny, but I couldn't disagree more about different 12ax7 (especially in V1). Not that it will sound like a different amp, but different tubes sound noticeably, um, different.
I think it depends on the amp. I could never really hear anything definitive. Now if you used a 12AT7 or a 12AU7 instead, yes, that's a perceptible difference in the sound because of the difference in gain. If all 12AX7s had the exact same mu, I suppose my statement might be closer to the truth. I know they vary some, though.
no matter what, someone is always going to say they can hear a difference in opamps, caps, resistors, whatever...people all have different hearing - certain frequencies jump out at them, differences in volume make eq, depth of effect, etc. seem different, even the simple act of trying to hear differences can play tricks on your ears. many people want to hear a difference because i think in general it makes them feel like their hearing or "taste" is superior or more advanced. that being said, i think some people DO hear that stuff, it's just way to objective a subject in my opinion.
even if things are scientifically proven, people often try to find a way to contradict the results... :D
it would be interesting to do a blind poll on this forum, though. if i were to do this i would:
build a rangemaster with caps on a rotary switch.
record a loop into a looper or computer so it is played with the same nuance every time.
send that through the rangemaster and record multiple clips, each one with a different cap type.
be sure to include some duplicate clips to trick people... ;)
maybe ceramic, poly film, paper/oil, mica, electo np, electro +/-, tantalum?
8-10 clips total. no labels. leave the poll up for a week, then give the results. hopefully more than 30 or 40 people will chime in.
Quotemany people want to hear a difference because i think in general it makes them feel like their hearing or "taste" is superior or more advanced. that being said, i think some people DO hear that stuff, it's just way to objective a subject in my opinion.
Most of the time, I see a concrete difference between two different devices when looking at it on the scope. But I sure can't hear any big difference most of the time.
personally i wouldn't bother with a test, i'd just use them in whatever i was building,just like any other cap.
i dont buy mojo anything and use what parts i have.
i hear a difference between mkt,ceramic and greenie caps but thats about it and i use ceramics in certain fuzz as i like the texture it gives, no mojo involved as far as i'm concerned folks, what sounds good sounds good.
Jeff, I think its a great idea and I'm 100% behind it.
Quote from: Pumpkin on November 10, 2007, 10:50:31 PM
i dont buy mojo anything.....
i use ceramics in certain fuzz as i like the texture it gives....
If you hear a difference in one type of part compared to another different type of the same value, and you think it's enough of a difference to prefer one kind over another, that means you can hear the mojo!
Don't deny the mojo! :icon_lol:
You're a closet mojo-believer!
:icon_lol: :icon_lol: :icon_lol:
LoL
:icon_lol:
Nice score JJ.
They're getting hard to find... how did you score all those at once ?
I'll be interested in your experiment.
Those tropical fish caps are just the same as those orange Philips polyester caps that you can still buy. I've done A/B tests and there is no difference.
I can however hear the difference between polyester, polypropylene, mylar, ceramic disc and PIO caps - I rigged each of those types up on a rotary switch (0.022uF value) and you can hear a difference very clearly, and it's not just tolerence either. I'm talking about the 'quality' of the sound - fuzzy versus tight bass, fat versus hollow mids, harsh/fizzy versus smooth/clear highs.
After the tests I did I pretty much prefer Mylar caps for almost anything and silver mica caps for pF values.
Next on the list is testing 'lytics... non-polarised, tantlum, polyester caps in 1uF+ values etc...
8)
I don't expect I'll really make world history with this little experiment of mine, maybe just a little more sense of all the buzz over these caps.
Will it be completely definitive? Nah. Fun? Yeah, I think so.
Like other have said, these are very high quality so maybe just that is a good reason to search these out sometimes.
Quote from: Greg_G on November 11, 2007, 05:01:27 AM
Nice score JJ.
They're getting hard to find... how did you score all those at once ?
I'll be interested in your experiment.
I saw the post here by Pedal Love who said he was getting out of the Tropical Fish Cap business and right before he closed up shop for good, I put in a generic order for "whatever you want to put in the bag" with a spending limit. I didn't ask for any particular values or anything else besides total price. Terrance literally stuffed a bag with a great selection of caps for his last order after everyone else's orders were filled. I don't know if I cleaned him out (I doubt it), but I'm pretty much set for life with vintage quality caps.
Cheers,
- JJ
QuoteI can however hear the difference between polyester, polypropylene, mylar, ceramic disc and PIO caps - I rigged each of those types up on a rotary switch (0.022uF value) and you can hear a difference very clearly, and it's not just tolerence either. I'm talking about the 'quality' of the sound - fuzzy versus tight bass, fat versus hollow mids, harsh/fizzy versus smooth/clear highs.
Sensational. Legendary. Hero. :icon_cool: :icon_cool: :icon_cool:
My best friend can hear the differences, too. (Because he's a werewolf.)
I wonder if the ultra-high-fidelity of the sound cards and computer speakers used to reproduce sound clips will have any bearing on the perceived tone at the listeners' computers?
Nah, probably not. :icon_biggrin:
QuoteI can however hear the difference between polyester, polypropylene, mylar, ceramic disc and PIO caps - I rigged each of those types up on a rotary switch (0.022uF value) and you can hear a difference very clearly, and it's not just tolerence either. I'm talking about the 'quality' of the sound - fuzzy versus tight bass, fat versus hollow mids, harsh/fizzy versus smooth/clear highs.
Where in the signal path are these caps?
Quote from: ambulancevoice on November 10, 2007, 05:52:20 PM
beautiful caps!!!
nice tubes in the background too, those black metal cased ones
Thanks, I found a pile of them and another box full when I was walking down the street a couple weeks ago. The garbage truck was a couple blocks away and I spotted an old radio someone had put out with their trash and when I looked in the back, it was an old Sparton hi-fi made in 1947. I had a multi-tool in my pocket, so before the truck could come and throw the whole thing in the crusher I yanked the chassis out and took it home. There was also a box marked 'spares' that I grabbed and stuck in my pocket. When I got home and looked in it, I saw it was full of late 40s to early 50s date code tubes. I couldn't grab the whole thing because it was a stand up floor hi-fi and I was on foot.
The radio chassis had several RCA, CBS & Sylvania 6SJ7, 6SK7 & 6SG7 metal preamps, 12ax7, 12at7, 12au7, a 5Y3GT rectifier tube, 6V6GT tube and a bunch of receiver tubes. Inside the chassis are a ton of mica caps and CC resistors as well as a bunch of very nice looking transformers. After inventorying everything in it, I'm making a Tweed Princeton clone. Just from this chassis I already have about 85% of everything I need. I'm testing all the resistors on my DMM and all the caps with a capacitance tester I built. I'm not sure how many of the old components I'll reuse, but it's kind of nice to have the option of I want to try them out. If nothing else, I have access to a bunch of mint vintage caps. ;)
I think I'll make it a head/chassis style amp like an old Macintosh with a chrome chassis and a big screen cage over the guts with chrome handles. I think that sitting on top of a finished hardwood cabinet would be kinda cool.
On top of that, I just grabbed a 1959 Motorola 3-channel all-tube hi-fi amp with all 5 of the original Jensen Special speakers it was built with for $30 off CraigsList. It's been a good month for scoring goodies around here. ;D
Cheers,
- JJ
Quote from: BubbaKahuna on November 11, 2007, 04:24:27 PM
I saw the post here by Pedal Love who said he was getting out of the Tropical Fish Cap business and right before he closed up shop for good, I put in a generic order for "whatever you want to put in the bag" with a spending limit. I didn't ask for any particular values or anything else besides total price. Terrance literally stuffed a bag with a great selection of caps for his last order after everyone else's orders were filled. I don't know if I cleaned him out (I doubt it), but I'm pretty much set for life with vintage quality caps.
Cheers,
- JJ
Thanks Jeff. I can talk freely now that the site is down. I got into this with best intentions. I wanted to make this site for mainly Americans, as we seem to have the greatest need for these vintage parts and few were making them accessible in the US. If that sounds too ethnic, sorry. I wanted to include brands from many countries, but everyone was telling me the more desirable ones, were the vintage capacitors, mainly English and Italian. I saw a need and I responded. I went through pain and insanity for the next four years, trying to locate these rare capacitors. Growing increasingly negative this past year, I decided to end Tropical Fish Capacitors, (which saved my marriage and blood pressure.) I don't have anymore on hand really, just a few stray ones. Not in good condition. I might buy more down the road and start selling again on Ebay. I don't know. I don't really know if theres any mojo to these. They sound good, but so do many capacitors. In short, probably not worth the price it takes, but I spent a lot of my free time, finding them and they
COST. Thanks for your interest in the product. It was great seeing everyone get excited, like kids on christmas morning. Believe me, I enjoyed that part as much as the customers did. Terence.
Quote from: caress on November 10, 2007, 09:37:00 PM
no matter what, someone is always going to say they can hear a difference in opamps, caps, resistors, whatever...people all have different hearing - certain frequencies jump out at them, differences in volume make eq, depth of effect, etc. seem different, even the simple act of trying to hear differences can play tricks on your ears. many people want to hear a difference because i think in general it makes them feel like their hearing or "taste" is superior or more advanced. that being said, i think some people DO hear that stuff, it's just way to objective a subject in my opinion.
even if things are scientifically proven, people often try to find a way to contradict the results... :D
it would be interesting to do a blind poll on this forum, though. if i were to do this i would:
build a rangemaster with caps on a rotary switch.
record a loop into a looper or computer so it is played with the same nuance every time.
send that through the rangemaster and record multiple clips, each one with a different cap type.
be sure to include some duplicate clips to trick people... ;)
maybe ceramic, poly film, paper/oil, mica, electo np, electro +/-, tantalum?
8-10 clips total. no labels. leave the poll up for a week, then give the results. hopefully more than 30 or 40 people will chime in.
This sounds like great advice. Last night I recorded a bunch of small sound clips to compare 1) different cables in my rig and 2) the bypass in various pedals. Despite the fact that I played something as simple as an open E chord, and attempted to play with roughly the same attack the differences in my playing made it really difficult to say if differences in sound were because of the cables or the playing.
I say go for it with the testing, it will be awesome to do a total blind test and "see" if there are any hearable differences.
/M
Well look at electrolytic caps, I've got a bunch I got for free along with the variety I've bought over the last few years.
Side by side on a capacitance switch, there is a rather distinct difference in the sound when I've compared a lot of the same values.
Ceramic compared to a poly? The ceramic are sharper, more bite or as some call it, harsh and brittle but I feel that depends on your amp and circuit. Brown polypropylene vs green polyester? Again, same values but the propylenes are clearly smoother and fatter, the polyester punchier and thin.
Cocacola classic vs new coke?
Sugar vs brown sugar vs honey vs cane juice vs nutrasweet?
Come on, I can't be the only one that notices distinct tonal/performance differences....
At the end of the day, does it even matter if these caps sound better than another cap if we just believe they do? I mean here are the options: replace one cap with another cap for a dollar or so and your brain tricks you into thinking you like the pedal again or spend another $100 on a new pedal or parts for one because you refuse to believe that this "mojo" part actually makes a difference.
Caps are a matter of taste, different materials will produce different nuances in the sound.
A AVX metal film cap will give a clearer sound than a WIMA metal film or a Mylar cap.
Often old caps have a poor quality due to aging.
A small FET or trannie boost with I/O caps is a good testing circuit but always remember that 10-20% tolerance can alter the sound much more. For comparing caps it is neccesary to measure the capacity first and to test caps with nearly equal values.
JHS
Quote from: Electric_Death on November 14, 2007, 11:24:34 PM
Well look at electrolytic caps, I've got a bunch I got for free along with the variety I've bought over the last few years.
Side by side on a capacitance switch, there is a rather distinct difference in the sound when I've compared a lot of the same values.
Ceramic compared to a poly? The ceramic are sharper, more bite or as some call it, harsh and brittle but I feel that depends on your amp and circuit. Brown polypropylene vs green polyester? Again, same values but the propylenes are clearly smoother and fatter, the polyester punchier and thin.
Cocacola classic vs new coke?
Sugar vs brown sugar vs honey vs cane juice vs nutrasweet?
Come on, I can't be the only one that notices distinct tonal/performance differences....
no, your not the only one.
i hear a distinct difference between ceramic and greenies, i really dont care what anyone says i know its real.
i do have really good hearing tho, i can tune a guitar more precise by ear than a tuner and i often hear things way before others if a sound is in the distance, im also very sensitive to sub frequencies, my whole family cant hear a thing but i do clear as day.
i put ceramics in a fuzz circuit of mine and the sound is so noticable youd have to be deaf to not hear it imo,ive done it so many times and the result is always the same.
i went into it with skepticism but i was proved wrong,there is a difference.
anyways, if people cant hear it well they cant hear it so then they shouldnt have a preference about caps really as they're all the same to em. in the end it dont matter as people use what they use, no big deal!
QuoteAt the end of the day, does it even matter if these caps sound better than another cap if we just believe they do? I mean here are the options: replace one cap with another cap for a dollar or so and your brain tricks you into thinking you like the pedal again or spend another $100 on a new pedal or parts for one because you refuse to believe that this "mojo" part actually makes a difference.
Yeah. Enter physcoacoustics.
Quotealways remember that 10-20% tolerance can alter the sound much more. For comparing caps it is neccesary to measure the capacity first and to test caps with nearly equal values.
Yep, right on. Tolerance will make a big difference in the electros since they are typically +/-20%!
Quotemy whole family cant hear a thing but i do clear as day
Maybe you have just learned to hear certain things better than they? Or it's all in your mind. :icon_wink:
like i said, its real.
i do have the ability to define real and imaginary and its definitely not imaginary.
just cause some people dont believe it doesnt mean its not real,dont mean it is either, i dont blame people who cant hear it that say its not real as i dont believe things i cant hear either.
i been playing guitar 14 years and i noticed my hearing started getting better a few years into it, real sensitive to the smallest things.
there is a very defined texture change in the fuzz ive experimented with, with ceramics.funny tho,my favorite caps a box caps cause they're small,easy to work with and look nice,but, i feel they sometimes give the sound a "too hi-fi feel",they make the fuzz brighter and slightly undesirable imo.not all fuzz but some.
meh,dont matter anyways.
Quotei do have the ability to define real and imaginary and its definitely not imaginary.
Reality only exists for us via perceptions, which can easily be fooled. Magicians (and a lot of salespeople !) make a living out of this.
Only God can tell the difference between real and imaginary. But she's imaginary ! :icon_wink:
QuoteReality only exists for us via perceptions, which can easily be fooled. Magicians (and a lot of salespeople !) make a living out of this.
Yep, that's basically the bottom line AFAIAC. In my experience, the differences are generally so subtle that I second guess myself if I am really hearing any difference at all.
I will say that when I replaced the coupling caps in my '74 Twin Reverb with Sprague Orange Drops, the amp did brighten up and sound a little less "numb" than when the "chocolate drop caps" were in it. But we are also talking about voltages in the 350-400V range. And it was still a subtle change afterwards.
I am not convinced about capacitor magic happening in a 9V circuit, just like carbon comp resistors.
meh,cc resistors...i cant hear anything with them, although i havent experimented as much as with caps.
Alot of times I like to use mojo parts just because they're better made and higher quality. I don't like using junky cheap parts! If I'm going to go through the trouble building something myself, I want it to be nice! That's the #1 reason to use mojo parts in my opinion - I really don't care if it sounds any better, just as long as it doesn't sound worse, and I really love nice parts that are beautiful and made to last forever.
Quote from: soulsonic on November 16, 2007, 12:28:42 AM
Alot of times I like to use mojo parts just because they're better made and higher quality. I don't like using junky cheap parts! If I'm going to go through the trouble building something myself, I want it to be nice! That's the #1 reason to use mojo parts in my opinion - I really don't care if it sounds any better, just as long as it doesn't sound worse, and I really love nice parts that are beautiful and made to last forever.
Wow, with testimonials like this, I'm sorry I gave up my site.:icon_lol:
Nice call Soulsonic. It is like going on a first date with your best pair of underpants on, or going to a stupid dinner and having the knot in one's tie "just so" - it doesn't matter that no-one will ever see the underpants, or that no-one will ever notice that the tie is "just so", because I know, and thus dig it. And DIY is about building stuff you dig, if anything! However, if I was selling something than I would want to be able to justify to the customer why something exists and what it does that is better than the alternative.
That said...
I still really hope that BubbaKahuna goes through with the test, under the conditions described by Brian H, namely
"build a rangemaster with caps on a rotary switch.
record a loop into a looper or computer so it is played with the same nuance every time.
send that through the rangemaster and record multiple clips, each one with a different cap type.
be sure to include some duplicate clips to trick people... Wink
maybe ceramic, poly film, paper/oil, mica, electo np, electro +/-, tantalum?
8-10 clips total. no labels. leave the poll up for a week, then give the results. hopefully more than 30 or 40 people will chime in."
It would be awesome and a great way to settle the argument soundwise (given that I think soulsonic's justification is as good as any on a personal level).
Quote from: soulsonic on November 16, 2007, 12:28:42 AM
Alot of times I like to use mojo parts just because they're better made and higher quality. I don't like using junky cheap parts! If I'm going to go through the trouble building something myself, I want it to be nice! That's the #1 reason to use mojo parts in my opinion - I really don't care if it sounds any better, just as long as it doesn't sound worse, and I really love nice parts that are beautiful and made to last forever.
+1
I would realy like to get a few fishcaps just because they look nice!
Can't find any though. ::)
what about resistors?
1/4 vs 1/2 watt
Carbon vs metallic
One of the easiest ways to compare is just get a 12 pos. single pole switch and solder a bunch on there. This is how I noticed a difference in my electrolytic caps of the same values and voltages which led me to favor the high temp neon green Xicons, they're more defined compared to the others I posed them against and also brought out pinch harmonics noticeably better. In some cases, the 1/2 watt carbon resistors sound fatter to me, particularly in filters. Just like those brown polypropylene caps, they sound rounder and fatter when I switch between those and the green polyester which are boldly cruder sounding in high pass filters.
As for those that don't hear the difference, I say just compare a ceramic to a poly cap or better yet, tantalum to a poly.
It's like comparing sandpaper to silk.
Quote from: soulsonic on November 16, 2007, 12:28:42 AM
Alot of times I like to use mojo parts just because they're better made and higher quality. I don't like using junky cheap parts! If I'm going to go through the trouble building something myself, I want it to be nice! That's the #1 reason to use mojo parts in my opinion - I really don't care if it sounds any better, just as long as it doesn't sound worse, and I really love nice parts that are beautiful and made to last forever.
very good reason!