pingosimon Posted February 16, 2011 Report Share Posted February 16, 2011 I've been reading up on building distortion pedals for guitar. Apparently the types of capacitors, transistors and diodes have a huge effect on how the pedal will sound. Even just using different components of the same value, but made of different materials (ie film capacitor vs ceramic capacitor) will change the sound. Is this true of any of the components in the MIDIbox SID? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nILS Posted February 16, 2011 Report Share Posted February 16, 2011 The only parts [noticeably] affecting the sound are [in the output buffer and] the two filter caps. Not directed at the OP but the general: Please people, do not go all tinfoil in here. It's bad enough in the guitar fx pedal forums... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sparx Posted February 17, 2011 Report Share Posted February 17, 2011 Guitarists are interested in *their* sound. If you think about the likes of the Edge, Brian May, Jimi Hendrix etc, all have a unique sound and it seems to be very important to them. Don't know why... Something else I notice about guitarists is that they seem to treat their instruments as one of the family, one guy I spoke to recently referred to his as as "my baby". You don't seem to get this with any other instrument. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nebula Posted February 17, 2011 Report Share Posted February 17, 2011 Something else I notice about guitarists is that they seem to treat their instruments as one of the family, one guy I spoke to recently referred to his as as "my baby". You don't seem to get this with any other instrument. You are quite mistaken. Most musicians I know have an emotional attachment to their instrument. I don't think I've ever had a bandmate who didn't, no matter what they play. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duggle Posted February 17, 2011 Report Share Posted February 17, 2011 It is conceivable, that in overdrive and distortion fx stages, where there is extreme gain involved, that non-linearity of semiconductors gets amplified to the point of audible differences. Especially where the said components are there to shape the sound in particular non subtle ways. Though I doubt that many have the patience to set up ABX trials that allow them to objectively compare. The DIY HiFi enthusiasts can be completely insane in what they think they hear and the differences they believe are there. Monster Cable anyone? How about a felt pen for your CDs? True double blind listening tests (e.g ABX methodology, etc.) are rarely, if ever, used to determine what is actually audible. Rather, with experimenters, it tends to be left to the imaginings in the ears of the beholder.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ilmenator Posted February 18, 2011 Report Share Posted February 18, 2011 We do audio, video, and audiovisual quality assessments on a regular basis, sometimes involving MIDIboxes as input controllers. There is a huge number of different experimental setups you can choose from, depending on what the research question is. One of the main principles in these experiments is that you never ever ask questions in a suggestive way, and of course that you keep all parameters controlled so that you really "measure" the one variable you are interested in. Consistently identifying small differences usually requires a lot of training for test subjects, and even then the notion of "better" or "worse" sound can be astonishing. MP3 generation anyone :D ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sparx Posted February 18, 2011 Report Share Posted February 18, 2011 re better or worse. Jim Marshall used to have his amplifier workshop close to where I now live. In those days his customers just wanted them louder! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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