# Parentheses 2020



## ThinAir (Jun 17, 2020)

Big props to Chuck D Bones for helping educate me on the importance of verifying transistor pinouts.  At any rate, I used a pre-finished Hammond enclosure and am running an OP07 in here.  The thing sounds huge and is doom in a box.  Definitely the most unique of all of my fuzz and dirt pedals.


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## Barry (Jun 17, 2020)

Nice!


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## twebb6778 (Jun 17, 2020)

Nice work! The finish on that enclosure looks fantastic, where did you get it from?


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## jspake (Jun 17, 2020)

i'm gearing up for one of these myself. can you share your reasons for using tantalum caps instead of electrolytics in most places?


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## Chuck D. Bones (Jun 17, 2020)

Great job!  Very clean build.  

Tantalum electrolytic caps are simply better.  More reliable, longer life, tighter tolerance, more transparent compared to aluminum electrolytics.


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## jspake (Jun 18, 2020)

Chuck D. Bones said:


> Great job!  Very clean build.
> 
> Tantalum electrolytic caps are simply better.  More reliable, longer life, tighter tolerance, more transparent compared to aluminum electrolytics.


oh yeah? like across the board better?


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## Chuck D. Bones (Jun 18, 2020)

Kinda depends on your definition of better.  There are places where electrical performance doesn't matter as much, like power supply filtering.  In some circuits you won't hear any difference between tantalum and aluminum.  In other places there will be an audible difference. The biggest sonic flaw in aluminum electrolytics is a phenomenon known as dielectric absorption.  This is where the capacitor has a kind of memory and smears the transients.  The net effect is loss of sonic definition. In a clean boost or a compressor, it can be apparent.  In a thick doomy fuzz pedal, not so much.  You'll really hear the difference in 10 or 15 years when the aluminum electrolytics start failing.


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## jspake (Jun 18, 2020)

Chuck D. Bones said:


> Kinda depends on your definition of better.  There are places where electrical performance doesn't matter as much, like power supply filtering.  In some circuits you won't hear any difference between tantalum and aluminum.  In other places there will be an audible difference. The biggest sonic flaw in aluminum electrolytics is a phenomenon known as dielectric absorption.  This is where the capacitor has a kind of memory and smears the transients.  The net effect is loss of sonic definition. In a clean boost or a compressor, it can be apparent.  In a thick doomy fuzz pedal, not so much.  You'll really hear the difference in 10 or 15 years when the aluminum electrolytics start failing.



wow, that’s super informative. thanks for going over it in that much detail. maybe i’ll swap out s few of the caps i’ve got in some of these boards i’m preparing.


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## Betty Wont (Jun 18, 2020)

At ambient operating temperature in an infrequently used low voltage dc circuit such as a pedal it is unlikely that you will see/hear any differences in an electrolytic's performance in your lifetime. Tantalum is a conflict resource.


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## jspake (Jun 18, 2020)

the plot thickens!


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## ThinAir (Jun 18, 2020)

jspake said:


> i'm gearing up for one of these myself. can you share your reasons for using tantalum caps instead of electrolytics in most places?


I prefer to use tantalum for the polarized values below 47 uf, but in the specific case of this build, I used a lot of tantalum because that's what EQD was using in the Life Pedal photos I was able to find.


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## ThinAir (Jun 18, 2020)

Chuck D. Bones said:


> Great job!  Very clean build.
> 
> Tantalum electrolytic caps are simply better.  More reliable, longer life, tighter tolerance, more transparent compared to aluminum electrolytics.


Many thanks!!


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