Octaver tracking through headphones.?

[bubinga5]

I have an MXR Octave Deluxe. I haven't yet put it through my amp because of noise reasons. I have played it through some headphones and there is some wavering of the octave below way above low A. Should I expect this because of the frequency capabilities of the headphones.? I know these MXR's can go down to low E before struggling to track. .

 

 

Edited August 3, 2018 by bubinga5

[Al Krow]

I wouldn't have thought that using headphones should make any difference at all to glitching of the pedal.

Octavers often do glitch around the 5th fret for some reason (which I'm sure someone else will be better able to explain!). Try playing the same notes higher up the fretboard on a lower string to see if that deals with the glitch?

[songofthewind]

Or the headphones not being able to reproduce that low frequency? Which ones are you using?

[dannybuoy]

All analog octavers can struggle on lower notes especially on the open strings (even an open A). Saying “you know these can go down to low E” does not mean much. Most octavers I’ve played can go to low E with no trouble, but give that same pedal to someone else and they might struggle with anything below A. The bass, strings and technique all have an influence on tracking!

Try favouring the neck pickup, playing fingerstyle directly over the pickup, and roll off the tone / treble to see if that helps?

Edited August 4, 2018 by dannybuoy

[fretmeister]

The MXR is glitchy. That’s part of the charm. I have one too. Pickup choice makes a huge difference. It’s less glitchy when getting  a signal from only 1 location on the bass. But it’s still glitchy. 

 

But if I want perfect tracking I’ll use a MicroPog or the BSW. 

[Al Krow]

1 hour ago, fretmeister said:

But if I want perfect tracking I’ll use a MicroPog or the BSW. 

Or, possibly even better, the Markbass Supersynth

[Al Krow]

1 hour ago, fretmeister said:

The MXR is glitchy. That’s part of the charm. I have one too. Pickup choice makes a huge difference. It’s less glitchy when getting  a signal from only 1 location on the bass. But it’s still glitchy. 

I just found the MXR very noisy (apparently it has a 'sensitivite' circuit), even when in by-pass. So it lasted all of 5 minutes on my board. If I had realised it was also glitchy, I guess that might have been only 2 mins! 😄 😄 😄 

Glitchy octavers aren't charming, certainly not in a live set. They're painful. 

[bubinga5]

There £20 Sony cans. The strings are DR high beams, The pickups are Bartolini Jazz pickups. I was under the impression that the MXR was the best for tracking.  .. I think its the headphones mostly. Playing and open G it wavers in not a nice way as does the D. But the A string is fine all the way through the sustain. The E struggles also, but that is suppose is to be expected. 

Edited August 6, 2018 by bubinga5

[dannybuoy]

When it wavers, do you mean it jumps up and down an octave? This is the most common form of glitching, as it can't work out which octave range you are playing in. I find it highly unlikely that your headphones are the cause, have you tried it through an amp yet?

If the sound you describe is more of a pulsing sound then that might be the octaver faithfully producing a really low note that's below the audio range.

The MXR might well be the best for tracking for some people. But if you read around you will see that for every octaver out there, there are a bunch of people saying it's the best tracking one they've ever used, whilst simultaneously there are another lot saying it's the worst!

[bubinga5]

34 minutes ago, dannybuoy said:

When it wavers, do you mean it jumps up and down an octave? This is the most common form of glitching, as it can't work out which octave range you are playing in. I find it highly unlikely that your headphones are the cause, have you tried it through an amp yet?

If the sound you describe is more of a pulsing sound then that might be the octaver faithfully producing a really low note that's below the audio range.

The MXR might well be the best for tracking for some people. But if you read around you will see that for every octaver out there, there are a bunch of people saying it's the best tracking one they've ever used, whilst simultaneously there are another lot saying it's the worst!

Its a sound that very quickly jumps from normal note to octave very quickly up and down. Ive just put on a fresh set of DR's and it seems a lot better. Although one note which is the B on the G string immediately jumps from B to lower octave and back again, but not as bad with the old set of strings. 

Edited August 6, 2018 by bubinga5

[songofthewind]

I’ve only tried digital octavers, and I find to my ears they warble, rather than jump an octave. But, I am pretty deaf (reformed guitar player), and have tinnitus.

[dannybuoy]

2 hours ago, bubinga5 said:

Its a sound that very quickly jumps from normal note to octave very quickly up and down. Ive just put on a fresh set of DR's and it seems a lot better. Although one note which is the B on the G string immediately jumps from B to lower octave and back again, but not as bad with the old set of strings. 

Sounds like regular analog octave glitching then, so you’d experience the same through an amp. Most octavers are a bit dodgy below the 7th fret on the G string, that’s the kind of thing you get used to working around and simply play higher up on the neck on the lower strings to compensate!

I can get pretty stable tracking on most notes all the way down to low C on the B string, it’s usually just the open notes and the G string I try to avoid!

[Quatschmacher]

Open string tracking can be iffy anyway as there are more harmonics present which can confuse the tracking.

Octavers are sensitive to dead spots on the neck. These are things you may not notice when playing with effects. The best way to hear if that’s the issue is to play into a fuzz/distortion pedal and you’ll soon hear if the fuzz dies out quicker on certain notes.

Are you soloing the neck pickup? That always yields best results for me. Also, active basses can cause glitching. My octavers all worked noticeably better with passive basses. (My Sterling and Octo Nøjs just wouldn’t work together at all!)

The “girth” dial on the MXR is really fat and will probably overpower your headphone drivers. It even made my Beyerdynamic cans rattle (though they’re only the 32 Ohm ones).

Given that this is my old pedal, I know the issue will be with the bass/strings and not the pedal. This pedal even overcame a couple of dead spots on one of my basses that my other octavers can’t cope with. 

Edited August 12, 2018 by Quatschmacher