3Leaf versus Robotalk2 Filter Showdown

Crabby · #1 05-18-2009, 07:00 PM

Thanks to TB members, V-Grooves and Nalapit13, I have one of each of these bad boys en route to me. I am very excited to compare the two. For now, I can see both being keepers as I have been a closet filter junkie for a long time but have been making due with my MXR Bass Auto Q as my only filter type effect for quite awhile.

I owned a Mini Q Tron that was really quite good sounding but the volume spike and huge size of the pedal were a pain. I tried a Micro Q tron and was completely disappointed. I have also recently passed on a killer deal on an XO Q-Tron+ as the 24v power requirement and so-so reviews left me wanting more.

I had considered the Grinder but the price was pretty insane, especially being in Canada. The Emma DiscomBobulator was also in the running but I like really wet filters and this one is known to be subtle as is the 442. The Maxon is also quite expensive and the sliders are kind of a turn off.

So after reading a bunch of info on TB and other locals, these two seem to be the front runners. Buying both was a fluke but I am gonna be on the edge of my seat until these babies arrive and I can put them through their paces.

There hasn't been a lot of choice in my neck of the woods for any other decent, bass friendly filter pedals lately. Once these two arrive and I can give them a good workout, I will post some thoughts and comments. I have heard nothing but praise for the 3Leaf but the Robotalk2 seems to be still very new. I cant wait!!!

FreaqyFrequency · #2 05-18-2009, 07:01 PM

Subscribed.

Chronicle · #3 05-18-2009, 07:03 PM

Oh crabby, you always know how to tease.

Jared Lash · #4 05-18-2009, 07:09 PM

Very interested in hearing your thoughts.

Subscribed.

fightthepower · #5 05-19-2009, 12:15 AM

Im interested as well. I was eyeballin that Robo2 in the classifieds for a while, but Im trying to limit future filter and modulation purchases to cv controllable pedals, and not buy anything I don't need in order to get something more substantial in the near future... that said, if the Robotalk2 trumps the Prometheus's envelope filter I could always switch it up..

**5stringwonder** · #6 05-19-2009, 07:39 AM

Interested to see how the Robotalk 2 compares to the Groove Regulator.

Joe Gress · #7 05-19-2009, 10:27 AM

Jerry J · #8 05-19-2009, 11:21 AM

subscribed

ThumbyAche · #9 05-19-2009, 06:34 PM

I played through the RT2 and it sounded good but IMO it wasn't really any better sounding to me than my MXR BAQ, atleast not enough for me to spend that kind of money on it. I have only heard the 3 leaf clips and seen the youtube vid but it sounded better to me than the RT2.

Crabby · #10 05-19-2009, 10:03 PM

I can't find much info on the Robotalk2 except for the video demos on the Xotic website which are actually pretty good. I have to admit, the MXR is a great unit and has been the only filter to remain on my board over the past few years. I may just have to keep all three!

Crabby · #11 05-25-2009, 11:06 PM

Well the 3 leaf arrived today and it certainly lives up to the hype. First impressions are that it is much warmer and richer sounding then the MXR Bass Auto Q in that it doesn't kill the original tone of my bass as much. I gave her a preliminary workout tonight alternating between a passive P bass and my SR5. Both sounded fantastic.

My Mini Q Tron used to drive me nuts in that the sensitivity had to be tweaked just perfectly to get the best tone from the pedal and then when I switched basses, it would be totally off and have to be tweaked.

The Groove Regulator has great control over settings but at the same time, you don't have to tweak it to perfection and then be scare to bump a knob and lose your settings. very cool. No volume spike, retains the instuments tone quite well and is super wet, squelchy and drippy. An overwhelming "10"

I will report back once the Robotalk2 arrives and I can compare. Should be here any day now.

Crabby · #12 05-30-2009, 10:29 AM

The Robotalk 2arrived yesterday. Initial impressions are favorable. very nicely made. The paint job is gorgeous, the build quality is really nice. Having 2 channels of funk is poretty neat. The A channel is more extreme then the B channel. I was able to mess around a bit and tried tweaking the internal dipp switches to ensure that the pedal was set up for bass as opposed to guitar. Nice to have these features.

In a direct initial comparison to the 3 Leaf, the Robotalk2 has a different personality and the two pedals do not sound alike. The 3 leaf retains the original tone amazingly well. it seems to be more of a "set in and forget it" pedal to me whereas the Robotalk2 seems to have a lot more tweakability for each channel.

This isnt much of a review yet but I will spend more time with these pedals over the weekend and update my findings. So far, I am thinking that they will both be staying on my very limited pedalboard space as they are both very high quality and sweet sounding filters. I don't have room on my PT jr to retain pedals that sound too similar but these two filters seem to have very different personalities and keeping them both would give me three different filter tones that seem to blend nicely together as well.

I will update with pics later on.

Chronicle · #13 05-30-2009, 11:45 AM

nice mate, I need to hear clips of that Robotalk2

Crabby · #14 05-31-2009, 02:10 PM

I have no way of posting clips but I spent quite a bit of time last night working through these two new pedals and have discovered some great things regarding the Xotic pedal.

The Robotalk2 has not received much attention here on TB but despite the high price, I think its going to be a popular pedal for many filter junkies. This thing sounds amazing! But there are are a few things I had to sort out and it has made a world of difference. i will share my findings here.

The owner's manual describes how there are two internal dip switches that can be tweaked to make the pedal perform better with active instruments and for bass versus guitar. When I received the pedal I took the cover off and found that all switches were set in the up position which is what is recommended for bass use and for a moderately hot signal.

I found the pedal a little dark and muddy and also found that the Sensitivity control had to be turned up almost all the way on each channel to get the filter to open. Playing with all settings, I discovered that even though I was using an active Stingray5, i was able to get a much better input signal when setting the pedal to the guitar input setting, rather then the bass setting.

Then I realized that there are 4 little switches on the dip swith that control the low end for each channel. You would think that these should be automatically set to the bass setting and thats how I received the pedal. However, this resulted in a dark and muddy filter sound that was not very funky to my ears. Putting all 4 switches back in the down position, made all the difference. The filter woke up and became an aggressive, squelchy, wet dripping funk machine that put a permanent grin on my face!

The genius of this is that, although there is a lot less low end when set to guitar mode, there is a master clean blend control on the pedal and setting it to the center detent brought back all the low end without washing out the filter tones at all.

My Barge Concepts blender pedal that I used to have did not work as well as this does. I was so impressed as my original bass tone is completely in tact and yet this incredible sounding filter is blended in and can be tweaked to perfection as each channel has its own effect volume as well.

This allows you to set each channel to perfect unity gain or a boost if desired. Its absolutely brilliant! I have channel B set up to a slower more syrupy sounding filter and the A channel (which is voiced to be more aggressive) is set to the most funky, squelchy fast sounding filter I have ever heard.

They both sound so good and I cant stop smiling!

Going back to the 3 Leaf, it has a more nasal tone that is also very pleasing. The 3 leaf is very simple and requires less tweaking then the Robotalk2 but after coming to understand the functions of the Robotalk2, its not hard at all to get what you want from it.

All in all, I likely don't need both on my pedalboard, and if I could only keep one, I thing the Robotalk2 has the edge at this point as it simply offers more as it has 2 full channels and the tone, is to die for.

My MXR Bass Auto Q is coming off the board and these two are going to stay. The MXR sounds kind of weak and lifeless compared to either the 3 Leaf or the Xotic. Still a very good pedal but just not in the same league.

I cant wait to hear some other opinions on the Robotalk2 once some other TB'ers have tried it out.

The secret is to ignore the Bass guitar settings and leave all the dip switches set to the factory default settings. The master blen is all you need to retain all the low end you could want.

Pics to follow:

Jared Lash · #15 05-31-2009, 03:52 PM

I was going to say thanks for the review, but then I realized you probably just cost me $250. So I'll still say thanks, but now it's sarcastic, like this: "thanks a lot jerk."

I know a lot of people dismissed this pedal out of hand when the new version didn't have the "random arpeggiator" (S&H filter) but I really liked the basic character of my old Robotalk.

And it looks like they really did all the right things to improve it. The DIP switches, the clean blend (a must for that filter on bass), more controls over the sound and of course the dual channel setup. I really went back and forth with the Robotalk 2 and the 00Funk and opted for the Chunk only because I knew it was capable of really synthy sounds with octave and fuzz.

But I'm thinking the Robotalk 2 will end up on my fretless board.

Crabby · #16 05-31-2009, 06:00 PM

Its funny how one filter is just not enough! I never tried the Agent Funk but probably should have. The Prometheus is next on my GAS list. Here is my updated Pedaltrain Junior. Gone is the MXR Bass Auto Q and the 105Q wah. I have added the Tech 21 XXLB, the Groove Regulator and the Robotalk2.

Jared Lash · #17 05-31-2009, 06:23 PM

The XXLB surprises me. I thought you were the one who said you tried it in store against a Rust Ride and didn't like the Tech 21 at all? What changed your mind?

I always had a love/hate relationship with that pedal. Not versatile at all, cuts a bit of lows and somewhat noisy but man what a great heavy distortion, especially when I ran it into a VT Bass or BDDI.

Back on topic, I can say that honestly the only thing that is keeping me from ordering a Robotalk 2 right now is the lack of clips on bass. I'll probably end up with one anyway but I wish you did have a way to make a few samples.

Crabby · #18 05-31-2009, 07:00 PM

Your spot on with the XXLB. I loved the organic tone of the Rust Ride but my Fulltone Bassdrive could pretty much nail the same tone and retained better lows. The XXLB is still a little fizzy to my ears, but it can be quite creamy when tweaked and seems to work well with my gear. \I only ever tried it in a store with the Rust Ride to compare with it and am actually quite impressed with it. However, the heavy overdrive tone of the Fulltone would likely cut through a band mix a lot better. The XXLB retains the lows quite nicely.

Honestly, the XXLB may not be a permanent resident on my pedal board but for now, I'm having fun with it.

SoonerMatt · #19 05-31-2009, 07:11 PM

Oh my god your 3leaf settings are the exact same as mine!

kevteop · #20 05-31-2009, 07:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Crabby

The 3 leaf ... seems to be more of a "set in and forget it" pedal to me

That is a weird thing to hear said about a Meatball clone...

The sheer variety of amazing and useful sounds I get out of my Meatwad, or did until I got my programmable Squeezer. But still, the Meatwad is easier to "play" I think.