Boss PS-3 Review of INSANITY.

Chronicle · #1 03-27-2009, 10:13 PM

So I got my little blue box today that i grabbed off of eBay for 130$, not a bad deal. I must say, it's what digital is all about....A prime example of how digital sounds. It's got some cool tricks up its sleeve and proves to me I love the sound of Digital chorus.

So let's get to it. I did not intend on buying this for a whammy substitute! I do not intend to sell my Bass Whammy nor do I think the PS-3 sounds good as a Whammy. I bought it for the detune and mode 7 features.

I must say the detune features sound quite nice and if you need a famous bassist to show you how it sounds, check out ISIS's new album Wavering Radiant. His bass sounds awesome through this PS-3. You can have two detune voicings going at the same time for a nice lush chorus effect. Or have a detune for one voice and then an octave up/down voice.

The Mode 7 is pretty cool...you can actually hear this mode in one of the ISIS's endings on the new album. A bunch of knob twiddling they did

The pedal also trails the delay when you turn it off, a nice feature I must say.

So here's the soundclips...yeah.. 10 of them! One for each mode!

Mode 1 DELAY 32-125ms (Really cold Digital delays in this box..doesn't sound bad though.)
http://soundclick.com/share?songid=7466657

Mode 2 DELAY 125-500ms
http://soundclick.com/share?songid=7466659

Mode 3 DELAY 500-2000ms
http://soundclick.com/share?songid=7466663

Mode 4 SINGLE PITCH SHIFT: Detune (A nice harmony of pitch shifting and chorus)
http://soundclick.com/share?songid=7466668

Mode 5 SINGLE PITCH SHIFT: +/- 2 Octaves (Fast) (I don't find the actual pitch shifting on the pedal that useful yet..)
http://soundclick.com/share?songid=7466670

Mode 6 SINGLE PITCH SHIFT: +/- 2 Octaves (Slow)
http://soundclick.com/share?songid=7466672

Mode 7 SINGLE PITCH SHIFT: Inverse (The mode everyone loves

)
http://soundclick.com/share?songid=7466677

Mode 8 DUAL PITCH SHIFT: Detune and Detune (A really nice sounding chorus effect, I guess it can be lost in the mix thus why Jeff from ISIS uses it only in solos? Maybe he uses mode 4?)
http://soundclick.com/share?songid=7466682

Mode 9 DUAL PITCH SHIFT: Detune and +/-2 Octaves (meh)
http://soundclick.com/share?songid=7466686

Mode 10 DUAL PITCH SHIFT: +/- 2 Octaves and +/- 2 Octaves (ehhh)
http://soundclick.com/share?songid=7466687

tomhanzo · #2 03-27-2009, 11:49 PM

They are sweet little pedals arent they. I have had mine for almost a year now.

I have a question for you Chronicle, have you tried the chorus in a band setting yet? I really like the double detune, but cant help being drown out anytime i use it in a song.

TimmyDX · #3 03-28-2009, 12:10 AM

hmmm im not sure about with this but i combined the detune on the bass whammy with a regular chorus and it was just killer, it mixed well but you could still really hear it well, you just have to be careful here you use it

tomhanzo · #4 03-28-2009, 01:00 AM

The double detune just disappears it seems. In single mode it shows up fine, but double just vanishes in the mix.

TimmyDX · #5 03-28-2009, 01:30 AM

i suppose there's just not enough of your clean signal left

katri · #6 03-28-2009, 02:47 AM

Looks like you got a pretty good deal. TBH this isn't a review of insanity though is it.

dannybuoy · #7 03-28-2009, 02:52 AM

Try box.net for the clips if Soundclick is giving you problems. Best site I've found for it, plus it lets users download the clips and they can be played on an iPhone!

RCCollins · #8 03-28-2009, 08:12 AM

I'm familiar with the PS-3, but maybe you could go into a bit more detail for those who aren't?

Then again, if you think the mode 7 is "pretty cool" i should probably just go out and re-buy this pedal

Chronicle · #9 03-28-2009, 08:24 AM

insanity would be if the soundclips are up, let me see if SC is up yet ;P

theunknowndude · #10 03-28-2009, 08:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chronicle

insanity would be if the soundclips are up, let me see if SC is up yet ;P

im eager,... been playing with mine so often lately,... want to see what other crazy sounds people have come up with

Chronicle · #11 03-28-2009, 08:38 AM

clips are up!

skulletwhip · #12 03-28-2009, 08:53 AM

dont think of mode 11 as a whammy sub. its not supposed to be a whammy sub. you can make some REALLY bizzare sounds with the expression pedal and mode11.

Chronicle · #13 03-28-2009, 08:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by skulletwhip

dont think of mode 11 as a whammy sub. its not supposed to be a whammy sub. you can make some REALLY bizzare sounds with the expression pedal and mode11.

I'll keep that in mind when I try it out at work today.

RCCollins · #14 03-28-2009, 08:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by skulletwhip

dont think of mode 11 as a whammy sub. its not supposed to be a whammy sub. you can make some REALLY bizzare sounds with the expression pedal and mode11.

agreed. the ps-3 makes a pretty poor whammy sub.

if it had better control of the pitch settings, however...

skulletwhip · #15 03-28-2009, 08:58 AM

just randomly set it. its great for sound design stuff. it can be down right goofey.
that said mode 7 and 8 are my favs. although i am growing fond of 4 and that long delay one i think its 3.

Chronicle · #16 03-28-2009, 08:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RCCollins

agreed. the ps-3 makes a pretty poor whammy sub.

if it had better control of the pitch settings, however...

+1, it's hard to get good sounding pitch shifting out of it as seen in the clips...I'll have to experiment more later.

TimmyDX · #17 03-28-2009, 08:59 AM

it's certainly a good pedal

but im thankful for this review mostly due to the fact that is put me off it and stopped me from making the mistake of buying it

personal taste for sure i just don't like the sound it makes

Chronicle · #18 03-28-2009, 09:00 AM

I'm pretty fond of the detune features and maybe I'll find a use for Mode 7 one day. We'll see

fivestringgecko · #19 03-28-2009, 09:04 AM

Chronicle, your sound clips are very helpful, thank you!

I know they're not quite the same pedal, but can you guys (or anyone) compare the PS-3 to the the PS-5?

Aside from the obvious difference of no delay on the PS-5 (which I can live without), are there any other significant differences I'm missing? My main goal would be a detuned chorus type of effect. Realistically I'd probably only use one or two of the other settings on either pedal and most of the others would really just be a novelty.

It seems like there's much more love on TB for the PS-3 than the PS-5... should I really try to track one down if I probably wouldn't use most of it's full potential and the PS-5 is readily available?

Thanks for your input guys!

5sg.

RCCollins · #20 03-28-2009, 09:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TimmyDX

it's certainly a good pedal

but im thankful for this review mostly due to the fact that is put me off it and stopped me from making the mistake of buying it

personal taste for sure i just don't like the sound it makes

there are plenty of clips by mysticboo in the wiki, not to take away from Chron's clips (thanks Chron!)