nf replacement up or down?

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nf replacement up or down?

lucas abela
hi im building the echobender

http://tagboardeffects.blogspot.com/2013/03/casper-electronics-echobender.html?showComment=1433033240264#c7865860209438813306

i dont have a 27nf cap and as ive read you can use close values as replacements am wondering if its better to go up a value or down a value and what effect (if any) these decisions will have on the effect.

i have 22nf and a 47nf in stock

im guessing from what i read on another post that going higher usually adds more bass which is desirable for me as its for use with a drum machine but 22nf is closer to the original mark

what do you guys suggest?
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Re: nf replacement up or down?

lucas abela
one other question concerning the echobender veroi

on the left there is a 82nf marked as red

then besides on the right of the lower IC there are two more 82nf but orange?

is there some kind of difference im missing here?
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Re: nf replacement up or down?

rocket88
Administrator
no difference. remember, typically the color used to denote specific type of cap, ie electrolytic, ceramic, poly. sometimes the colors don't match the color of the cap itself, and what's important is the value of the cap, or if it's polarized or not. a lot of times you'll see poly caps in red, because a bunch of us use the panasonic poly's which are red, and ceramics as yellow because you'll find them mostly that color.
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Re: nf replacement up or down?

induction
In reply to this post by lucas abela
lucas abela wrote
hi im building the echobender

http://tagboardeffects.blogspot.com/2013/03/casper-electronics-echobender.html?showComment=1433033240264#c7865860209438813306

i dont have a 27nf cap and as ive read you can use close values as replacements am wondering if its better to go up a value or down a value and what effect (if any) these decisions will have on the effect.

i have 22nf and a 47nf in stock

im guessing from what i read on another post that going higher usually adds more bass which is desirable for me as its for use with a drum machine but 22nf is closer to the original mark

what do you guys suggest?
The effect of changing a capacitor value depends on the function of the capacitor in the circuit, so you can't generalize 'going higher adds more bass'. In this case the 27n is part of a low-pass filter on the delayed signal. The point is that the PT2399 adds some high-frequency digital noise and hiss to the signal, so the low-pass filter sends that noise to ground, which removes it from the signal before it reaches the output. Increasing the cap size decreases the corner frequency, which essentially cuts more treble. It shouldn't have any effect on the original signal, just the delayed signal.

The rule of thumb in pedal circuits is '10% or less doesn't matter'. It's not universal but it's a good starting point. 10% of 27n is 2n7. So if you follow the rule, you can use anything from 24n3 to 29n7. Your 22n is off by 18%, which is much closer than your 47n, off by 74%. You probably won't hear much difference between 27n and 22n, but your repeats will probably be noticeably dark if you use 47n. If you have a 5n in stock, you can put it in parallel with your 22n to get 27n, but it's probably just fine with 22n.
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Re: nf replacement up or down?

Beaker
In reply to this post by lucas abela
Hi Lucas, I have built the Echobender myself, so I can help you.

The 27nF cap is helping to set the decay. Changing it from a 27 to a 22 should not make much of a difference. If it concerns you though, there is loads of room available to fit two caps in parallel - if you have a 15nF and 12nF, and fit them side by side it gives you 27nF.

Rocket is correct in his description, and covers the general guidelines. In the case of THIS circuit, you will want to use ceramic disc caps for the "orange" ones, as there is simply not enough room for anything bigger!

EDIT: Hah! Induction beat me to it!