Quote:
Originally Posted by paulsherwin
I can't believe the original builders selected (nkt275) this type for any reason other than it being cheap.
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It really is the old subjectivity vs objectivity dilemma that faces humanity.
The cult status of some electronic technology, especially that associated with music & good times, is a subjective phenomenon.
Often there is a sentimental or emotional attachment to it. All about the feelings & memories it invokes. No scientific or controlled data is required for the appreciation of it. If anything, trying to apply objectivity and scientific principles to it detracts from the experience. Paralysis by analysis if you like .
On the other hand, from a scientific & engineering perspective, where science is king, it all makes little sense and it all seems nonsensical & lacking any real meaning.
Since I fall more into a scientific than artistic camp myself, I sometimes struggle with the emotive notions attached to some technologies. Yet, since I was born very prematurely and spent my early life in an incubator, I think this explains why I was always attracted to the humming sounds of machinery and instrument panels with lights, meters & switches. I'm sure I bonded with the incubator.
I could submit that practically everyone on this forum is attracted to vintage radios and TV's because of early childhood experiences interacting with them in some way or another.
So while I'm convinced from the scientific perspective that it is much better to make FX pedals from low noise high gain silicon transistors, I can sort of understand, perhaps even sympathize, why there is this cult following for germanium FX pedals and things like NKT275's, when really they are just AC125's and definitely technically inferior (especially noise wise) to a silicon transistor.