Component Selection for "sound quality"??

[mjh36]

So I'm wondering if there are general rules for "sound quality" in components. I mean what's worth putting the money into for a pedal for best sound results. Resisitors? Capacitors? Pots? Etc... i recently did my first build with all Tayda components, and I made sure to get the more expensive capacitors (WIMA or something?). Sounds great, but just curious for improvements in future pedals. Where does spending extra make the most difference?

 

[BurntFingers]

I wouldn't worry about it too much. Clean durable correct soldering will make much more difference than slightly more expensive components.

Metal film resistors, box caps and you're pretty much good. I stopped worrying about wima when I couldn't tell any difference apart from the colour.

 

[Barry]

Just be careful where you source IC's and Transistors, lot of fakes and low quality out there.

 

[steelplayer]

I've often wondered about that too, so earlier in the year, I built a test project and socketed a bunch of the parts. I was mainly interested in how some of the oddball mojo parts I've collected over the years might work.

The end result -- not a whole lot of perceivable difference between Tayda garden variety parts and premium parts like Wima. Throwing in some mojo parts, like tropical fish caps, etc., for the most part, introduced noise and/or degraded the sound quality.

 

[Nostradoomus]

Yeah most differences you’ll hear are because mojo components have pretty loose tolerances. I buy decent quality components for my builds work from the get go and last as long as they can, nothing beyond that.

 

[Elktronics]

In my experimentation part tolerance had a much bigger impact on the sound. So much so, that sometimes I’d change values based on what the parts tested at.

 

[mjh36]

In my experimentation part tolerance had a much bigger impact on the sound. So much so, that sometimes I’d change values based on what the parts tested at.

Yeah most differences you’ll hear are because mojo components have pretty loose tolerances. I buy decent quality components for my builds work from the get go and last as long as they can, nothing beyond that.

I've often wondered about that too, so earlier in the year, I built a test project and socketed a bunch of the parts. I was mainly interested in how some of the oddball mojo parts I've collected over the years might work.

The end result -- not a whole lot of perceivable difference between Tayda garden variety parts and premium parts like Wima. Throwing in some mojo parts, like tropical fish caps, etc., for the most part, introduced noise and/or degraded the sound quality.

Thanks a bunch. I've been wondering why "this" costs more than "that", ya name brand and all, and I figured you get what you pay for "sound" wise. Seems more about tolerance/reliability for the higher cost, with some exceptions I'm sure. Luckily I'm a cheap date so I'm going to try some less expensive capacitors.

 

[Nostradoomus]

Don’t cheap out on electrolytics. Don’t go crazy but don’t get the cheapest ones you can find.