Bit Crush Pedal Recomendations?

[behndy]

hey all.

so, i have a CoPilot Android that i like some, but doesn't get much use lately so i'm thinking about replacing it. i LOVE bit crushing... and have gone through a couple pedals, but not found one i love how it runs with my bass.


ones i've used....

WMD Geiger Counter - beast. cuts the low end a bit, which sucks, and is almost useless for keeping a tone you like set on a pedalboard. WAY too finicky. and i went through 2 that both had the same problem where they would change waveforms at random times during power on.

Alesis BitRman - i actually like this the most for the tones it makes, but it's not a giggable pedal IMO. always powers on in a default setting so you have to dial in the tone each time.

Devi Ever Legend of Bit Fuzz - love it, but the fact that it's a fuzz that bit crushes some makes it not really the sound i'm going for. i have one on my board and it's going to stay there... but it's more a gnarly fuzz thing then a true bit crusher. LOVE me some Devi Ever. she rokks. like birds.

ones i'm interested in......

Catalinbread Heliotrope - they make some neat'uns. but i can never find anybody that stocks their stuff so i can't sit down with one unless i actually buy it. and returning stuff purchased online SUCKS.

CoPilot FX Antenna - i have the Android, super good ring mod. i like their build quality and how CoPilot FX is down to do the wacky stuff.

any thoughts? suggestions?

thanks much!

-0behn desu0-

[bigchiefbc]

There's the Bugbrand Bugcrusher if you can find one for sale.

There's also another one you probably haven't heard of yet, because it was just announced over on ilovefuzz.com. It's called the Red Panda, and it's one of those Tonecore development modules that snaps into the Line 6 docks. I've heard clips, and its absolutely fantastic. Just another idea ...

http://redpandalab.com/tc-bitcrusher/overview.html

[Jared Lash]

John Davis' clip using the Bug Crusher has always made me want one badly but I can't seem to find one used and I don't believe they are made anymore. The Heliotrope is a neat pedal, but it's actually a simplified ring mod (subtractive only rather than subtractive and additive) with a fuzz. Some bit crusher type sounds but still an analog representation of a digital process.

Josh from Malekko has mentioned that the Holley Erectus (if it ends up coming to market) would be a true digital bit crushing pedal. The only other one I can think of is the Frostwave which would probably also be hard to find at this point.

[RCCollins]

Originally Posted by bigchiefbc

There's the Bugbrand Bugcrusher if you can find one for sale.

There's also another one you probably haven't heard of yet, because it was just announced over on ilovefuzz.com. It's called the Red Panda, and it's one of those Tonecore development modules that snaps into the Line 6 docks. I've heard clips, and its absolutely fantastic. Just another idea ...

http://redpandalab.com/tc-bitcrusher/overview.html

hmmm..... envelope or LFO modulation of wet/dry amount. hmmmmmm.... 15 day return policy

[CrispyDelicious]

I can only chime on the Heliotrope and the Bit, as I own both.

The two are completely different animals, as I'm sure you know. The Helio is great in that it completely retains low end (compared to the bit which makes it vanish), and has a sound much more akin to old 8-bit games. Smooth, but can get crunchy with the gain turned up. The ring mod side of it is just icing on the cake. It's great as a 'less agressive' bitcrusher, and while it has its own voice, it's still rather tweakable in terms of the tones you can get from it. And used they are a great price.

Originally Posted by RCCollins

hmmm..... envelope or LFO modulation of wet/dry amount. hmmmmmm.... 15 day return policy

LOL

[eti]

Hi, I'm one of the guys who designed the Red Panda Bitcrusher. I'd be happy to answer any questions you might have about it.

Originally Posted by RCCollins

hmmm..... envelope or LFO modulation of wet/dry amount. hmmmmmm.... 15 day return policy

The envelope can modulate both the wet/dry amount and sample frequency. The LFO modulates the sample frequency.

Works well with bass, of course.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HnbZb6rSgp0

[RCCollins]

watching that video, youtube alrted me to the HEXE Bitcrusher, which is apparently feature rich (expression control of multiple params, multiple crush models) edit: oh look, a fairly recent talkbass review!

i also remember the alesis bitrman being pretty cool, though it is not a stompbox, but a tabletop effect unit

[jucas]

edit... beaten to the punch.


I love my HEXE bitcrusher.

I can't compare it to any of the others, but the site has some videos, and there's a link to a thread on here with some clips and a review. Evennow after the new pedal glow wore off I still really like it, and am surprised by the range of sounds it covers from normal to rediculous... and how easy it is to dial in what you want.

Its not cheap after exchange rates, but well built and sounds great. The only possible downside is that when I ordered it the builder only took a few payment methods (wire transfer). Otherwise, the customer service was phenomenal.

[frozilla]

Catalinbread's demo: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7FprybzCJtc

Don't know if you've seen it already but it has me hankerin' for one.

[Nyarlathotep]

Originally Posted by bigchiefbc

http://redpandalab.com/tc-bitcrusher/overview.html

Neat idea

[behndy]

yeah.... the Hexe is pretty sick looking.

JUCAS - where did you get one? i just emailed the contact addy at Hexe's site 'cause i don't see any way to purchase one through them. how much did it run you?

RC Collins / Eti - the Red Panda looks very interesting too. do you know of any stores that stock it? is it only available thru Red Panda's website? i'm not a huge fan of Line6 stuff, but since it's actually just their dock i'd be into trying it out.

RC Collins - yeah.... i DO like the BitRman, but it's kinda a pain to have on a pedal board. you have to re-set it every time it powers up. it defaults to the first selection (i think the Comb filter).... which would be fine if that's the one i WANTED to run. kinda a silly design. they were going for a half desktop/studio half performance pedal.

i do like the Alesis Ineko. it's the rackmount version of the matrix multi efx Akira, but i have my setup where it's all pedals. i don't really want to get into any rackmount stuff right now. i have one on my desktop computer, and it has pretty much the same bit crushing as the BitRman, but you kind of need a midi controller to use it live. and again, trying to stay in just the pedalboard into a power amp realm. don't..... want to carry.... any more stuff.......

thanks for all the info everybody! good stuff!

-0behn desu0-

[jucas]

I did the same and emailed about the HEXE. I don't remember how much it cost... and the wire transfer added to that a bit.

I always got a prompt reply about any questions I had, so after the time change to europe you'll probly get a better answer than I could give you. One thing you might want to ask about: apparantly the low frequency cutoff on the blend is about 35Hz. when I ordered Piotr said that he could swap a cap to bring it lower for a five string if I wanted. If you're really concerned about lows you might ask, but I've never noticed much of a difference with the five string I use mine with.

[eti]

Behndy, you can get the bitcrusher module with a dock or a module alone via redpandalab.com.


Update: more bass & bitcrusher videos;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mi1vlZuw020
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wTV6Ss45Nak

[Gashaponcito]

If you want you can actually build your own bugcrusher I remember seing the schematics and it isn´t a hard build