resistor wattage/size help

[1dallek1]

I've noticed some resistor manufacturers make resistors in different package size meaning that say for instance you have a 1/2watt resistor it can be either larger or smaller. does the choice of physical size affect the sound in any way? additionally if your project needs 1/4 watt resistors and you use 1/2 watt does this affect the sound in any way. its my understanding that the larger package will have better heat dissipation, and have less negatives impact on the signal. which is better or is it all the same?

[Govmnt_Lacky]

Effect on sound = NO

Effect heat dissipation = YES

[thegnu]

concur.  for most pedals, you can do fine with 1/8 watt, but they're so tiny it's not worth it.  1/4 watt is the way to go.  supposedly, in noisy circuits, using larger resistors can lower the noise floor, but i think the effect is so marginal that it's hardly worth mentioning.  you're better off buying metal film resistors than getting a bigger size.  i do think that as components heat up, their properties drift a tiny bit.  but if you've got 1% tolerance metal films instead of 5% carbon films, you're already way ahead of the game.

EDIT:  though i built a dead silent tube screamer that used a bunch of 1/8W resistors where 1/4 were called for.  so again, in 99.99% of the cases, the wattage won't change the sound.