So many capacitor choices...lol

[zenhunter72]

I just had a general question about what everyone has the best luck with as far as cap choices. I see a lot of pics where MLCC's are used for everything, and then a mix of film and MLCC's, and then box film, greenies, NOS Panasonics ect... I was wondering what everyone preferred for the type of effect? I know when I researched Big Muff circuits they like using MLCC's for decoupling a lot, and sometimes even electrolytics and film. Is there a type of cap that works best in say fuzz vs overdrive vs distortion vs any types of modulation? I've been using a mix of those gray Tayda caps and Wima's, and also the white Kemet one's. When there is some space I'll try stuffing a larger Panasonic or greenie in spot. But I really don't know if it's it's best to stick with one type of cap throughout the whole circuit or if mixing different kinds in a circuit is OK?

Anyway, this is a new hobby for me and I'm enjoying the hell out of it! So far I've build the Photon Vibe, Mini Hetrodyne Receiver, Muffin Fuzz, Boogie Monster, Hydra delay, 2 of the Arachnids, Captain Bit, Corduroy Fuzz, CDLX Envelope filter, Obsidius Preamp, and the Circular.

The Photon Vibe, Mini Hetrodyne Receiver and Corduroy Fuzz are my 3 favorites so far. I can't seem to get the Hydra Delay to sound like the samples I've heard on Youtube. Not sure why. The one's I have in the works are the Emu Preamp, Vanquisher Fuzz, Hyped Fuzz and Blender!

 

[jubal81]

You see a wide variety because a far as sound goes, it doesn't really matter much. For fun, I built a Lunar Module using all $4 SOZO caps and polystyrene for the small values. It didn't sound any different than another one I made earlier with whatever I had laying around, but the gut shot looks a lot cooler.

Starting out, you want to be aware of cap sizes when ordering parts, though.
Key specs to look at are Lead Spacing and Width so they fit on the PCBs. For film and MLCC, you're looking for 5mm lead spacing. For width, you generally look for 2.5mm for values up to 220n. Starting at 220n, the footprint on the PCB generally widens to accommodate bigger caps.

Having built the Hyda and a few others on your list, I'd recommend stocking up on 1uF MLCCs because the footprints for the 1uF caps on a lot of those call for a smaller cap.

All that being said, I personally avoid ceramic caps whenever I can because their performance for audio isn't as good and their values can fluctuate more depending on the voltage difference across them.

 

[zenhunter72]

Cool thanks for the reply! Yeah I made that mistake when I ordered a bunch of the newer Panasonic caps from Mouser and forgot about looking at the dimensions LOL so I got a bunch of oversized caps. And I did the same thing with some of the Wima caps. But I was able to try out a couple vero builds that they worked on. I was actually thinking of doing a similar thing you tried with the SOZO caps - I have a bunch of axial caps that were obsolete from my work I bought. I think they are the Vishay PP bumblebee type of caps. Don't know how I'd use them, maybe a daughter board or something.

I did get an MLCC kit with a bunch of values including the 1uF for like 12 bucks on Amazon so all set for those. And also bought every value of greenies and gray box caps Tayda had to offer for CHEAP! Love Tayda! Have you tried their printing service for their enclosures?

I really do love how these PCB's are laid out with all the values screened on them, that's an awesome touch!! It makes stuffing them so much easier! They sound awesome and they just look cool how everything is organized!

 

[peccary]

Cool thanks for the reply! Yeah I made that mistake when I ordered a bunch of the newer Panasonic caps from Mouser and forgot about looking at the dimensions LOL so I got a bunch of oversized caps. And I did the same thing with some of the Wima caps. But I was able to try out a couple vero builds that they worked on. I was actually thinking of doing a similar thing you tried with the SOZO caps - I have a bunch of axial caps that were obsolete from my work I bought. I think they are the Vishay PP bumblebee type of caps. Don't know how I'd use them, maybe a daughter board or something.

I did get an MLCC kit with a bunch of values including the 1uF for like 12 bucks on Amazon so all set for those. And also bought every value of greenies and gray box caps Tayda had to offer for CHEAP! Love Tayda! Have you tried their printing service for their enclosures?

I really do love how these PCB's are laid out with all the values screened on them, that's an awesome touch!! It makes stuffing them so much easier! They sound awesome and they just look cool how everything is organized!

There's a really good thread on Tayda UV printing services here: https://forum.pedalpcb.com/threads/tayda-uv-printing.4245/