Capacitor types - does it matter? Opinnions?

[MK]

Hello,

What is your opinnion: does type / brand of cap matter in effect pedals? I mean polyester, polyprop. etc On pf range silver mics/ceramic/plastic... Do they sound different to your ears or is the difference so small that it is wise to use cheapest there is...?

On the tube amp word some peoples seems to heard quite big differencies between different type or brand of capacitors but I have saw very little conversation about caps in effects forums.

Thanks!

Best regards,
MK

[niftydog]

I have saw very little conversation about caps in effects forums.

So you haven't searched this forum then...

can of worms alert.

[MK]

So you haven't searched this forum then...

Yes I have, but did not found any topics about this. Maybe I just did not use right words...

MK

[niftydog]

well, the search doesn't work like google does, you have to frig around a bit to get what you're after.

Patience is a virtue. I searched "capacitor and sound" and got a few hits... but that's a fairly general search. Make it "capacitor and sound and tantalum and polyester" or something...

[petemoore]

I think it's at GEO or AMZ, theres a cap myth buster endeavor involving fancy scpoing of the caps.
 The biggest difference is between carbon and all the other types, that difference being something like .01% [don't quote me] distortion, some extremely small order when compared to other things.
 I'm pretty certain I heard a distortion [very slight if ANY] when testing out carbons.
 Carbons have looser tolerances 20% I think most of them are, so if you have a circuit with alot of caps in it, using 'better tolerance matched components might be a good Idea, for finding the right value in A FF with socketted input cap, you could tune it easy enough by ear testing it.
 I use films most of the time.
 Mica or or other ;fancy' caps seem to have popularity and in certain applications are said to be better to use them, I believe they have tight value tolerances.
 As long as the voltage of the cap exceeds whatever voltage potential it will see, it will work. I use 16V or better.
 I've bought and used 'fancy caps' like silver mica, but I never really noticed much if any difference.
 Some say using very tight tolerance components throughout a build may improve function, lower noise etc. ...I've never tried any comparisons, but don't seem to have problems with circuit performance and noise [much].
 If I were to try it, I'd probly do an LPB or something small both ways...'regular' and premium resistors and caps, because the parts count is small.

[gez]

If you can get hold of the back-issues, Electronics World did a whole series on 'Capacitor Sound' a year or two ago.  Rather dry, but interesting reading.

Small value ceramics came out of it surprisingly well (low distortion).  Just as well, because I use them by the shed-load! Also NP electrolytic had low distortion.

They didn’t even bother to measure Tantalum, they just fell off their chairs laughing after initial testing.  Probably why I like them, they actually do make some difference! (in a bad way)  :twisted:

[RobB]

I was sceptical at first, primarily because I wanted to keep things simple.  I didn’t really want to take into account extra factors which I didn’t completely understand.  

The following story is what makes me think capacitor types should be chosen carefully.  
To keep it as short as possible, I built a Blue Magic with the recommended silver micas and polystyrenes.  A friend asked if I could make him one so I gave it to him and made another for myself.  This happened again with another friend but this time I deliberately built my replacement with those monolithic MKT caps, partly because I decided to make a more compact PCB and partly because I wanted to listen for the difference.  
I thought it sounded the same until I took it around to their places for a direct A/B comparison.  They both immediately said my new BM didn’t sound as good as theirs.  The difference is so subtle that it is difficult to hear while listening to another player but when I picked up the guitar and made the comparison, it was quite obvious.  The BMs with the silver micas and polystyrenes sounded clearer and sweeter on all settings.  
There is another variable which shouldn’t be ignored.  I built BM#3 on a more compact PCB.  Did this also influence the sound?  I doubt it, but I’ll know for sure when I substitute in the recommended capacitor types for the MKTs and do some more A/B testing.  This is a low priority job at the moment but I’ll report back when I’ve finished this experiment.  

To be continued…..

[MK]

Thanks for answers! Looks like have to make A/B test myself...

To keep it as short as possible, I built a Blue Magic with the recommended silver micas and polystyrenes.
To be continued…..

hmm. What brand / type of polystyrenes you did use? I search couple catalogs and did not found any of those.

MK

[Mark F]

I'm pretty sure Mouser carries Polystyrene caps

[petemoore]

Dell [lol]
 Panasonic Double Lol...I scavenge most of them...
   I do however prefer buying new ones...something HAD to mess up for the VCR to be discarded and verified broken didn't it?
 I;ve got a board down there and many of the caps are blistered, or at least double what I'd estimate their original size as being...  
 For instance when I did a Small Stone, I used all new caps, FF's I just stick it in there and see if I like it.

[Sic]

do a search for "greenie" and the like... quite a few long long posts about different caps and their sounds

[Paul Marossy]

Read this page for an overview of cap types:
http://www.diyguitarist.com/Misc/CapacitorFieldGuide.htm

Then read this page for how they perform:
http://members.aol.com/sbench102/caps.html
This page will show you the obvious non-linearity of low voltage ceramic caps, which seems to be the topic of the hottest debate. In practice, I really can't tell much of a difference between the different caps in a 9V guitar effect, except for low voltage ceramics and electrolytics which can make things sound a little bit muffled.

FWIW.

[aron]

Try the FAQ  

http://www.diystompboxes.com/cnews/FAQ.html