Upstream of circuits?

[comradehoser]

Here's something I've been wondering about since starting PTP.

I understand circuits to be loops in which one end is dissipated, but if we think about a circuit as we tend to, linearly, in>component A>B>C>out, can component C affect what is going on earlier in the circuit?

Like if I dam a river, it changes what happens upstream because the water backs up and meanders or rushes forward and goes straighter.

I was thinking about this in the context of the corroder overdrive, whose cap switch is at the very end of the circuit right before the out. Seems like selecting a higher capacitor value cuts the highs and makes it more muffled, but also seems to provide some compression and additional harmonic richness. But that could be completely a self delusion/illusion and it's just cutting highs, not really changing the signal profile beyond that of what's already there coming downstream.

Can you tell I don't have access to an oscilloscope?

 

[jwin615]

An output cap switch shouldn't be adding compression, but cutting highs does cut some transient frequencies and that I suppose could be perceived as compression.
Compressors themselves can't have similar tonal behavior so, again, perception.
The two biggest effects of something later in the circuit impacting the earlier circuit I can think of, this early, are
Impedance, reactance and current.
Devices like to drive certain loads.
Caps have a reactance, particularly impactful for "blocking" caps and devices can only draw/amplify so much current. The current aspect isn't a huge consideration in most 9v circuits though.

 

[comradehoser]

So, in a regular old pedal circuit, unless a loop is inserted, components "downstream" generally don't have a backwash/ripple effect or alter the properties of the signal coming earlier--besides impedance, reactance, and current. Would current be a consideration in say guitar amp circuits?

Still don't totally get impedance, but I'll google it.

 

[BuddytheReow]

Chuck has a decent writeup about impedance. Google will also translate to layman's terms.

 

[comradehoser]

After looking up some discussions on impedence here, I think I will be very happy to stay a "color-by-numbers" with crayons guy.

The math is something else.