difference between ceramic/mylar/polypropylene/electrolytic caps

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Different capacitor types offer measurably and audibly different electrical performance. An important indicator of performance is what is termed the dielectric absorption (DA) of the capacitor insulating material, a quantum-electrical characteristic that roughly correlates with the fidelity with which a capacitor will transfer an AC signal. The lower the DA the better. DA, for its part, seems roughly a function of the dielectric constant (DC) of the insulating material. DC tables can be found on the internet. The DC of mylar > that of polypropylene > that of teflon. The DC of air is the lowest. Additional considerations apply to electrolytic capacitors. Hope this helps.
 
Depends on the ceramic.

If you're putting capacitors in the audio chain, avoid using ceramics - and if you absolutely must use one, use a NPO capacitor with a much higher voltage rating than the signal that goes through them.

With X7R/X5R capacitors, and *especially* Y5V/F dielectrics, their capacitance goes down when their stored voltage goes up. In the case of a filter, this can cause modulaton of the filter's frequency with the incoming signal - causing a nonlinearity and thus THD.

For decoupling capacitors, you can't beat MLCC ceramics.
 
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