Silent Fly

[quote name='silverfoxnik' post='341841' date='Dec 1 2008, 01:10 PM']I was actually looking for it to provide some valve colourtion in the signal chain before my solid state amp, so on that basis, it would fit the bill for me I think. I use the amp to send a signal to the mixing desk..[/quote] The ART V3 add some colouration but I wouldn't call it a valve colouration in the sense of added warmth and “subtle saturation if pushed”. To my ears the V3 sounds more a clean DI with some tonal variations (not necessarily tube-oriented). Having said that, it doesn't cost a fortune and if you don't like it you can always eBay it...

I have the TUBE MP STUDIO V3. For the price it is a good mic preamp but I am not overwhelmed by the sound as a DI. It is not bad but if you look for a transparent DI that transfers the sound of your bass to the console without coloration, I would look elsewhere.

[quote name='xgsjx' post='340932' date='Nov 30 2008, 09:46 AM']Who's pedals do you find most reliable & who's is not?[/quote] I found that my pedals are the most reliable ...but they are not available on the market (yet). [quote name='xgsjx' post='340932' date='Nov 30 2008, 09:46 AM']I was set on getting some EHX pedals, but after reading some reviews, it appears there's a 50/50 on good & bad reliability with them so it's left me looking elsewhere. Should I go with the EHX? Was thinking of a Black Finger & a QTron & a flanger or phaser.[/quote] I never had problems with EHX pedals and in general the build construction is ok. The only thing I would like to see are EHX pedals that are a little bit smaller, with a power supply that can be shared with other pedals and that do not run at 24V (or any other unusual voltage). I cannot say the same thing about MXR. Their pedals have a good sound but sometimes they are a total mess (I speak about my personal experience, of course). I had so many problems with the Blow Torch that I could write a book about it. [quote name='xgsjx' post='340932' date='Nov 30 2008, 09:46 AM']Is the MXR Phase 90 worth the money & what's the difference between versions?[/quote] The MXR Phase 90 is a great pedal. I like the script version slightly more but I can't hear a massive difference between script and block. They both sound good. Either way, it relatively easy convert a script to block and vice versa. If you plan to use it with bass I strongly recommend you mod the pedal to improve the low frequency response. Send me a PM if you need any help about it.

[quote name='bubinga5' post='337137' date='Nov 26 2008, 12:10 PM']Any suggestions on a good Reverb pedal..? Thanks.[/quote] I have a Boss RV-5 and I am happy with it but I heard very good things about the Line6 Verbzilla.

[quote name='OutToPlayJazz' post='335904' date='Nov 24 2008, 10:37 PM']Did all my research into looprers today & ordered the Digitech so I should have it on Wednesday. I was very taken by the new Line 6 model, apart from the fact that it is blatantly aimed at guitarists with all the same sounds and controls as my Line 6 spider III guitar amp. That and of course the price of the L6! So all you people out there with the stolid DigiTech, what do you think of them? I was thinking it'd be a great recording device with the 2GB flash card added. Rich.[/quote] The Jamman is a great looper. The possibility of editing the loops off-line is one of the more interesting things about it. I have a Boss RC-2 that I really like but if you look for a more advanced lopper the Jamman is the way to go. Jamman: things I like - off line editing of the loops - 100 memory locations - external footswitch for up/down - mic in Jamman: things I don't like - Dedicated AC power supply - Weight Things I would like to see in the Jamman: - A progress indicator for the active loop. - Multiple loops dub (a new copy of the loop is added at the end if the dub is longer than the loop). I was seriously considering a Jamman when I wanted to buy a looper but I ended up buying the RC-2 because I can power it at 9V and it doesn't take too much space on the pedalboard. Moreover, I use it only for Jamming with myself (how sad is that!?) and try new ideas – I don’t need any advanced functionality. Potentially, the Jamman could be a digital recorder but it is mono, it weights a ton and it needs an external power supply. I think an old minidisc (I guess very cheap on eBay in these days) might be a better solution. Enjoy the Jamman it is a great device!

I want the voice-box!

[quote name='rmorris' post='327213' date='Nov 12 2008, 12:14 AM'][quote] Polarity protection and overvoltage protection is an expected part of any pedal design. I think we all agree.[/quote] Yes - but I think I'd go further and argue that reverse polarity protection should be regarded as necessary for an effects pedal to be regarded as fit for purpose. Also overvoltage protection to a reasonable degree. A pedal running on a typical unregulated supply is likely running well above 9V anyway. I know Behringer specify use of their regulated 9V supply but let's look at what will happen in reality. There don't seem to be Behringer pedals popping all over the place so I'll assume they are okay with typical unreg' psus. And there is little electronics which is okay with 9V and not , say, 12V. ICs etc may need 5V or 3.3V etc. so this needs regulation in the pedal anyway. A higher input voltage may result in more heat dissipation but even if this is a problem it's unlikely to result in instant destruction. Looking under the desk right now I can see supplies of nominal 9Vac . 9V DC unregulated, 12V - all on similar DC jacks which I could probably plug in interchangeably even though they should be segregated with regard to size / voltage. I really don't want to find myself with a broken pedal due to a simple mistake and I don't want to check with a multimeter everytime I plug in power. [/quote] We are all entitled to our opinion and I think you made yours perfectly clear. As I see it, we know Behringer pedals limitations and design oversimplifications. It is up to us as customers decide if we want to buy them or not. Considering how much they cost, I can live with the risk of frying the pedal. For you this is obviously something more important than it is for me or for other people. [quote post='327213' date='Nov 12 2008, 12:14 AM']Shouldn't that be 'semantics' rather than 'semantic' ? ie the noun rather than the verb ?[/quote] English is not my first language so comments to my errors are more then welcome. [quote name='rmorris' post='327213' date='Nov 12 2008, 12:14 AM']fair enough - but my core point is that this needn't be sophisticated design or expensive to implement.[/quote] I think I get your point. On the subject, you may find these pages interesting. [url="http://www.geofex.com/article_folders/mosswitch/mosswitch.htm"]http://www.geofex.com/article_folders/moss...h/mosswitch.htm[/url] [url="http://www.geofex.com/Article_Folders/cheapgoodprot.htm"]http://www.geofex.com/Article_Folders/cheapgoodprot.htm[/url] [url="http://electronicdesign.com/Articles/Index.cfm?AD=1&ArticleID=9945"]http://electronicdesign.com/Articles/Index...;ArticleID=9945[/url]

[quote name='rmorris' post='322975' date='Nov 5 2008, 09:11 PM']It's still rubbish design if 9V polarity reversal causes permanent damage. It's fairly well accepted that the environment in which a product ( any product ) is likely to be used is relevant with regard to malfunction / damage etc. And it's obvious that the inadvertent use of a different supply or polarity reversal is a likely event given the same / similar and unidentified connectors commonly used, dark stages etc... Since 9V is arguably the most common nominal dc voltage then it seems wholly reasonable to expect protection against polarity reversal of a 9V supply or use of an unregulated supply here. I'm not necessarily expecting it to survive, for example, being fed with 230V ( nominal ) ac mains voltage - it's not a reasonable scenario. And given that the protection can be simple and low cost ( very very low cost ) then I can't see an excuse even for low cost product. I have to say that I don't think the analogies given are particularly valid - under what circumstances would you take it into your head to pour kerosene into your Lamborghini ? And where is this source of 320Vac ? It's worth noteing that a product running from European ac mains should be able to able to run at significantly above and under the nominal voltage as there is an allowed tolerance on the mains voltage supplied ( +10% / -6% around 230 Vac ? - but I might be incorrect on the actual figures ). Plus should be able to survive various surge transient conditions as defined in emc standards ( there is a sort of opt out for manufacturers but I'll stop now before it gets very nuanced and legalistic :-)[/quote] [size=1][i](I would like to reiterate that I have no personal interests in Behringer. If anything they are my competitors.)[/i][/size] Regarding what you say, I think we may have to agree to disagree. Polarity protection and overvoltage protection is an expected part of any pedal design. I think we all agree. I am not sure about the definition of "rubbish design" though. Without going in the semantic of the English language, personally, the level of design sophistication I expect depends on the amount of money I spend. If I pay a relative high sum of money for a pedal, I expect it performs above the minimum specifications. How above it depends on the company that produces it and its interest in its reputation. If I pay the very minimum that I can find, I am happy to compromise on the design and spend a little bit of extra-time checking the connections before powering on the pedalboard. (Fortunately) Nobody forces us to buy Behringer. We all know that their pedals are not as good as the originals. They don’t sound as good the originals and, yes, they fry if the power supply is not correct. But they are dirty cheap… Are they rubbish? Maybe... but for the money they cost I think they are good enough.

[quote name='Finbar' post='319593' date='Nov 1 2008, 01:22 PM'][...] Silent Fly - That is pasted directly from Aguilar's email. I have no reason to doubt them on that. [...][/quote] No probs Finbar I was only a little bit surprised - I thought the unit needed more current. SF

[quote name='Finbar' post='319399' date='Oct 31 2008, 11:20 PM']Yes, I'd rather not spend £50 when I can spend £10 either, but if it does prove to be a more effective solution, I'd go with it. If you can measure the current though, that would be awfully swell! EDIT: After Diago's lengthy disclaimer about using non-Aguilar power supplies, I got told this at the bottom of the email reply: Electrical: 18V 20 mA So there we have it Diago's voltage pump is supposed to provide 30 mA at 18V, so I think we have a winner![/quote] The Tone Hammer uses only 20mA? Are you 100% positive about that? It looks a very small amount of current.

[quote name='Finbar' post='319274' date='Oct 31 2008, 06:42 PM']Diago have been emailed, however I really need to find out the mA draw of the pedal :/[/quote] If anybody lives in the SW18 I'd be happy to measure the current used by the unit - the real value not the declared value I also have a Diago Voltage Pump that we can try. [quote name='Finbar' post='319274' date='Oct 31 2008, 06:42 PM']Anyway - what about this? [url="http://www.thegigrig.com/acatalog/TheGigRig_Virtual_Battery.html"]http://www.thegigrig.com/acatalog/TheGigRi...al_Battery.html[/url][/quote] It is a cool idea but more expensive than the Diago Voltage Pump.

I am not a big fan of Behringer and I don't have any commercial relationship with them apart from being a customer. I am slightly surprised by the comments of this thread. As we all know, Behringer produces pedals that are inexpensive. They cost far less than the originals and usually they don’t sound too bad (especially considering the price). A Behringer pedal I have comes with instructions that contain the following specifications: [i]Power supply: 9V 100mA regulated. Behringer PSU-SB Power connector: 2mm DC jack, negative center Battery: 9V type 6LR61[/i] These are the conditions under which the pedal has been design and should be used. Nobody stops me to use other types of power supply but if I do it, I do it at my own risk. I agree that some protection on the power supply should be part of the design of a pedal (I include it in all the pedals I design and produce) but equally I don’t see it as fundamental requirement of an as-cheap-as-it-gets pedal. If I connect a 300W cabinet to a 400W amp and after I played a full volume for one hour one of the cone breaks I don’t complain about the poorly designed cabinet. I would prefer not to try but I am pretty confident that if I connect my Avalon U5 to a 320V supply instead of the recommended 240V I will damage it. I think that nobody has any doubt that Avalon devices are among the best audio devices on the market. Last but not least, if any of you has a [url="http://www.lamborghini.co.uk/?section=models&sub_section=5&model=murcielago_lp640"]Lamborghini Murciélago LP640[/url] we can try to use kerosene as fuel and see if the engine is happy after a few miles. Are Lamborghini poorly designed?

[quote name='dannybuoy' post='313758' date='Oct 24 2008, 01:14 PM']Silent Fly, one thing that pishes me off about the Humphrey version is that it's way too loud and even with the level and gain controls set to 9 o'clock it's above unity volume. Is it the same with the stock one, or has Mr Humphrey added mega gain to it? How easy would it be to change a pot or resistor to alter the range of the level control (i.ie reduce the max volume anf give me more useable range)?[/quote] I cannot comment Humphrey’s version as I never tried it and I don't know the mods he designed. From what you say, I have the feeling that it is a mod designed for guitar. I never experienced any problem like the one you described in my version though. Regarding modding the mods (i.e. changing the Humphrey version) it [i]should[/i] be feasible but I cannot be sure without examining the pedal. My guess is that changing the pot might be difficult because Digitech uses small pots that are not easy to find. Moreover, it is also possible that changing the value of the pot will not result in a more balanced volume control. I would recommend you to contact Humphrey to find out if there is a simple solution to this. Alternatively, you can sell the Humphrey-BM and buy a stock one. Silent Fly

[quote name='bobbass4k' post='313055' date='Oct 23 2008, 04:02 PM']I know, all i seem to do is make posts asking for advice on pedals, bear with me I'm considering wandering in to the minefield that is midprice boutique Overdrive pedals I've got my cherry pop fuzz, which i adore, but its a very full on synthy angry fuzz, with insane gain in the membrane, so i'm conisdering balancing it out with a low gain, more subtle overdrive, with very very good low end response. My first thought was a cream pie (very unfortunate name), but i got very confused looking into them, no-one seems to sell them new or second hand, and they're made by 2 different companies, any cream pie experts (i'm looking at you tayste) care to clarify where i can get one, how much they generally go for etc.? I'm also looking at a barber ltd special recipe or a humphrey audio modded bad monkey, any advice on any of these? cheers[/quote] If you look for a low gain, subtle overdrive, the Bad Monkey is an excellent choice. It overdrives very nicely without losing any low freq. It can go wild if you like but at lower gain settings is great. I modified mine for extended bass response and I also added a switch for midrange control. If you need a BM with mods send me a PM. I can make one for you. Silent Fly

Please write here feedbacks. Thanks, Silent Fly

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