Digitech vs Boss Bypass Quality?

jufros · #1 07-08-2009, 02:29 AM

Is there a noticeable difference between the two? I haven't used a Digitech pedal in my rig before, own and currently use the Boss LS-2 and CE-5, and have no problem with their bypass quality. I acquired a Humphrey Audio modded Bad Monkey in a trade and have really liked what I've heard from sample clips. Is the bypass a problem? Should I be expecting tone suck? If I throw it on my board, it will be the first pedal in my chain.

**TheMutt** · #2 07-08-2009, 04:14 AM

I have owned BOSS and DigiTech pedals in the past. Didn't notice a difference between the two in terms of the bypass.

kirkm24 · #3 07-11-2009, 01:51 PM

Rather than start a new thread I'll resurrect this one (I guess this thread isn't that old no resurrecting here..

. I have a Boss Chorus and a Digitech Bass Synth Wah on the way. I only intend to use these for live applications. I record direct and add effects in post processing. I run clearn 90% of the time and will only use these pedals on 1 or 2 songs in the set which is why I didn't bother investing in "nicer" boutique units.

My question is based on personal experience, is the tone suck bad enough on these pedals that I should invest in a true bypass loop pedal or do you think it is not significant enough to bother? In a live setting, I would suspect that tone suck is not going to be as noticeable but if it's really bad, I want to know. I'd appreciate any feedback.

I'm also considering adding a 105Q to the mix and I've heard this is a tone sucker as well.

whoatherechunk · #4 07-11-2009, 02:30 PM

dont worry about tone suckage for now. if you have a long line of (crappy) bypass effects then you should invest in one. you're not dealing with extremely bad bypass like moogs, vintage mutrons so you should be fine

groooooove · #5 07-11-2009, 05:23 PM

boss and digitech arent the best, but are half-decent bypass.

i think the boss might be a bit cleaner, but with only 3-4 pedals, it wont be that horrible, live atleast.

TOOL460002 · #6 07-11-2009, 05:37 PM

my only digitech experience is with the older xp-100, and the bypass on that was garbage. i would think the newer ones would be better, especially given how common the bsw is.

boss seems fine to me. granted i use a looper, but even when i didnt, and ran 8+ pedals in a row (mostly ehx and boss at the time) i didnt really notice much in the way of tone suck.

dannybuoy · #7 07-11-2009, 06:21 PM

Using a true bypass loop, I tested all of my Pedals to see if there was any tone suck. I noticed a difference using Boss/Digitech pedals, hard to describe but it somehow sounded less 'alive' and detailed. Listening through a clean headphone amp or hi-fi rig you can really tell the difference. However, the Tech 21 pedals I tried have a really transparent bypass. Hence I no longer own any Boss or Digitech pedals, but am using a VT Bass and XXL!

kirkm24 · #8 07-11-2009, 07:50 PM

How are the bypasses on the MXR pedals? I didn't end up scoring a Digitech BSW so that is not an issue. Now I'm thinking about the Bass Auto Q which is not TBP and a Phase 90 which apparently is also not TBP. I don't care about the TBP hype as long as the bypass is good. I've heard that Phase 90's can "leak" when they're off, has anyone experienced this? Again, this would only be for live use and I only intend to have 2-3 pedals in the chain.

Crabby · #9 07-11-2009, 09:38 PM

I find the MXR bypass to be quite good in all of their current pedals including the 105Q. I have owned the bass Auto Q and a current Phase90 for years and never noticed any tone leak or loss of tone. They are really quite good for not being true bypass.

Funny thing is that the bypass in the Tech 21 pedals has always bothered me as I can clearly hear that I have less punch in my signal whenever I had one in line. Its a subtle difference and I'm sure I could live with it but it still bugs me.

The Boss pedals are known for having a relatively good but not excellent bypass. I bought a Boss RV5 Reverb pedal last year and was really disppointed in the bypass as my tone was clearly effected when the pedal was turned off but in the loop. It bugged me so bad that I returned the pedal even though it sounded quite good. I find with Boss pedals that having 1 or 2 in my chain is acceptable but adding any more results in a significant loss of tone.

When I was running 17 pedals on my big Pedaltrain board, several of the pedals were not true bypass. All I did was add an MXR Micro Amp at the end of the chain and left it on all the time set to unity gain. It added no noise at all or change in tone, but it restored all the lost punch and clarity from running so many pedals. It worked like a charm.

I have 8 true bypass pedals on my board now but I leave the compressor on all the time and this allows my signal to stay driven and not lose any tone from having long cable runs.

Hope this helps.