Trying to find high-end audio components -- any of you used vishay resistors?

[almondcity]

I totally get where OP is coming from. It's understandable to want the best parts

That said I've bought 95% of my parts from Tayda because it's so damn convenient, considering I'm ordering enclosures from there anyway. I wish I could order from smallbear again...

 

[fig]

See? That's gorgeous @jubal81 !

Do these NOS 1983 LM308s sound any better than the others? No...but knowing they are in there is priceless.

 

[Big Monk]

I totally get where OP is coming from. It's understandable to want the best parts

That said I've bought 95% of my parts from Tayda because it's so damn convenient, considering I'm ordering enclosures from there anyway. I wish I could order from smallbear again...

Keep in mind, those "cheap" (as in quality) grey Arcotronics caps from Tayda have a 5% tolerance. I'll take that all day for $0.10.

Quality to me means I pull that value from my bins and it's close to that value.

 

[andare]

I make no apologies -to me, it really ties the pedal together.

Breadboarding is not exempt from mojo either....

What are those fast and bulbous black thingies near the IC? They look very juicy.

 

[andare]

So what brands do you gurus recommend for electrolytic capacitors?

 

[fig]

What are those fast and bulbous black thingies near the IC? They look very juicy.

Silver mica capacitors. Real good for the pF range, but package size is a consideration.

 

[vigilante398]

So what brands do you gurus recommend for electrolytic capacitors?

In my experience Panasonic and Nichicon are hard to beat without getting weird and expensive.

 

[Username123]

Hi, all. From what I am reading on this forum, the capacitors of choice are wima. Well, we have a ton of resistors on these boards, so I started to search for the best types of resistors for our purposes. The brand that I first found is vpg/vishay, who seem to specialize in foil resistors with low TCR, and they have an AUR series that is specialized for audio applications. I didn't see any vendors for them, and they have a form to request quotes. Instead of doing that, I sent their North American contact an email, so we'll see if it's even practical (quantity-wise) for hobbyists to purchase from them. I don't know if the forum does group buys, but I will post their response, if any of you are interested. I searched the forums for any info on these resistors, and there were a few mentions of vishay, but I didn't see anything related to the resistors. Have any of you looked into them before, or even used them? Is this a worthwhile pursuit?

Have you built a pedal yet? You may not even have a working build the first time so keep that in mind. I would personally make getting a high quality soldering iron my first priority, and getting good soldering skills by practicing. You don't need the best spec parts. I personally think the audio grade thing is a gimmick when it comes to pedals. Everything guitar related is "lo-fi". We like vacuum tubes which have been obsolete for decades, we use woofers to reproduce all the frequencies, we use crappy and obsolete opamps to produce distortion, we like to use analog delays, Etc. I'm honestly not trying to be negative and I have ADD as well so I understand completely.

 

[Stickman393]

I think the best way is to settle this in your mind is to conduct a scientific experiment: build a compressor with both cheapo tayda components, and one with high-end parts, then have a blind sound test.

I'd certainly be interested in hearing the results.

I appreciate the impulse, but I gotta point out cause I'm a stickler and not particularly neurotypical myself...

This is not a scientific experiment. The same test, conducted multiple times by different individuals attempting to account for all variables while using a shared vocabulary to document results in as close to objectively as is humanly possible: well, that would be SCIENCE!!!!!!

But...if one is interested in what difference is noticeable to an individual on a specific day in a specific environment (including at a specific temperature)...honestly that gives me an idea...

So...MLCCs are something that I've been curious about for a while here. From my understanding, C0G/NP0s appear, on paper, to perform similarly to polypropylene film capacitors, so I don't have *any* qualms about using those in the signal path.

But...let's say...if one was to use a Z5U MLCC. Those have a horrific temperature coefficient.

So...even if one was to measure capacitance outside of the circuit, the actual capacitance in operation could shift to, like, half...say, if one was to leave a pedal out in the sun on a stage during a hot day...

Even an X7R can shift to a lesser extent in different temperatures. Not a big deal for something like power supply decoupling, where the absolute value isn't super important, but enough that I can't help but wonder if differing environmental conditions could, say, shift the effective frequency range of the tone controls on a drive pedal in an unexpected and unwelcome way.

Too many unknown variables for me to say with certainty: I think it's fair to say that resistors do not particularly matter as long as they arent carbon comps. Caps are complicated though: for pedal building, I don't think you can go wrong with C0G in the 1000nf and below range, Polypropylene below the 10nf-ish range, Polyester in the 10-1000 nanofarad range, and electrolytic from there on up. Just in terms of ease of cramming everything in there.