Multilayer Monolithic Ceramic Capacitor ?

[davepedals]

Lately I have been reading up on capacitors . Read quite a bit about the Multilayer Monolithic Ceramic Capacitor but not really finding anything definitive that tells me whether or not it is better suited for audio or not. My simple question:  is there actually a sound quality advantage using the multilayer monolithic ceramic capacitor over the regular ceramic capacitor?  I'm guessing not.

[antonis]

And what exactly is "sound quality".. 

[bluebunny]

Oooh, good question...      

[bloxstompboxes]

Lately I have been reading up on capacitors . Read quite a bit about the Multilayer Monolithic Ceramic Capacitor but not really finding anything definitive that tells me whether or not it is better suited for audio or not. My simple question:  is there actually a sound quality advantage using the multilayer monolithic ceramic capacitor over the regular ceramic capacitor?  I'm guessing not.

Their are pages on forum after forum, including this one, about which capacitor is better. They all have their place but for our pedals, the monolithics should be more than ok. Stick with them for your picos and use films for your nanos, and electros for your micros. Monolythics also work well in 1590 size builds. Experiment and use what you like. If it sounds good to you, then it is good and screw anyone who says otherwise.

[Phoenix]

Ok, sound quality is a fairly subjective topic, so I'll not dwell too much on that.

But what I can tell you is that MLCC's are not really significantly different from disk capacitors for our purposes, with one minor caveat: they are slightly more prone to microphonics than the disk type.

All the usual considerations that apply to ceramic caps apply to disk or MLCC types equally. The dielectric is important regarding temperature stability, with C0G and NP0 types being the best (and more commonly available in disk than MLCC). The common cheap types like Y5U or X5R are useless for things like oscillators and are probably best avoided for RC filters (if you want any sort of consistency).
There's also the issue of voltage coefficient - most ceramic dielectrics change their capacitance value with voltage changes, with the value dropping to 10% of nominal at full rated voltage being common. This means that any DC bias will permanently make the cap look smaller, and even an AC signal will change the way the cap behaves, higher amplitude signals will make the cap look smaller, so a high-pass filter may start dynamically cutting more bass as you strum harder. This may seem like a cool property that you'd like to take advantage of, but results are inconsistent, I'd recommend skipping that one.

What all this boils down to is that ceramic caps really aren't best suited for signal paths - be that audio, digital, radio, etc. They're much more suited to local decoupling duty.

[davepedals]

Thanks for the replies.  The cap will be used in parallel to a pair of clipping diodes as a highpass filter to remove unwanted sizzle.

Sound Quality: Typically an assessment of the accuracy, enjoyability, or intelligibility of audio output from an electronic device. Quality can be measured objectively, such as when tools are used to gauge the accuracy with which the device reproduces an original sound; or it can be measured subjectively, such as when human listeners respond to the sound or gauge its perceived similarity to another sound.

Sizzle:  That sound bacon makes in hot frying pan.