Box film in place of MLCC

Billyhank

Active member
Building a Colorsound Powerboost and the build docs have a 470n MLCC in C18. Would a box film capacitor work as well (or at all) in its place?
Schematic included for reference
 

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MLCC would be better as it's filtering out high frequency CP hash. But the difference probably wouldn't be noticable to the human ear.
MLCC is best for power supply decoupling and high frequency shunting. Box or mylar is best for where audio is passing through.
 
Yup, as others said, bipolar caps are mostly interchangeable.
@
Certain types have characteristics that are more desirable in certain situations, though.

For instance, I'd never use an X7R dialectric
mlcc for any kind of audio purpose...they're inaccurate, sensitive to temperature, and just...I dunno, the rest is subjective.

But...for power supply decoupling? Especially directly on an IC? Ain't nothing better for that purpose than an X7R. Small form factor, minimally inductive, and the exact capacitance value is unimportant in that application.

Anything that directly passes audio...polypropylene is my go-to. But...they start getting big after about 15-20nF or so. If that doesn't fit, I'll typically go either C0G MLCC or PPS. If space is at an absolute premium and I'm up above 220nF, I'll use mylar/polyester.

Sample and hold circuits especially benefit from caps that don't maintain much of a residual charge after discharging. Polystyrene are excellent for this, iirc polypropylene are a close second.

I mean...from what I've read, these are the rules of thumb I use. Not that I have a super in-depth knowledge or anything. Meh.
 
Polyester for guitar stuff

Polypropylene for audiophile stuff

Polystyrene for super audiophile stuff

I don't use teflon because I'm not cool enough (I'm too cheap)
 
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