Duncan Paranormal SFX-06...Bad Run? What?

[Bongolation]

Hey, I ordered one of these things on sale from MF for $40 the other day, and the guys who already got them are complaining of noisy bypass switching, a total fail.



Do those of you who have been using previous runs of these things live as tone presets (one recommended use) to be switched in/out experience the dread noise when so doing?

I'm appalled that such a simple circuit with such a hefty $199 MSRP from such a normally reputable company would evince this problem.

As always, thanks for any useful information!

[CaptainSir]

i have this pedal, i am not sure what version or run i have...
as soon as i plug in my board i go ahead and give all my pedals one or two stomps because sometimes i when you make that first stomp you do get an electrical noise....
i will say i switch mine on and off during playing and i have no problem with switch noise... mine is very clean and awesome...

[lowfreqgeek]

Nothing to get excited or upset over; it's a true-bypass switch, which means that there *will be* clicking and popping when you engage the switch. Especially if it hasn't been engaged yet. Sometimes it's not even caused by the pedal that's being engaged, but by a DC offset on another device in the chain.

It has nothing to do with how expensive the device is, nor is it a "simple circuit" to completely eliminate pops and clicks in a true-bypass switch. For $40, I certainly wouldn't complain. Heck, I might buy two at that rate.

[fishtx]

I had one of these for a while and thought it was one of the cleanest DI/Preamp pedals out there...I think the issue I had was it doesn't have a volume control...

[Bongolation]

Originally Posted by lowfreqgeek

Nothing to get excited or upset over; it's a true-bypass switch, which means that there *will be* clicking and popping when you engage the switch.

Well, guys with earlier ones say theirs don't. Most of my true bypass pedals are dead silent when switching in/out, including my own bypass conversions.

Especially if it hasn't been engaged yet. Sometimes it's not even caused by the pedal that's being engaged, but by a DC offset on another device in the chain.

Well, there's nothing else in this chain except the bass and the amp.

For $40, I certainly wouldn't complain. Heck, I might buy two at that rate.

Too late.

I am totally unimpressed with this thing. It's noisy and is merely a gainless, run-of-the-mill 062-based 3-band active bass tone control stuck in a box with some fixed "slap" filter. I'm having a tough time imagining a use for this except as an amp backup pedal for live emergencies. It's not recording quality and its very limited functions are performed better in the studio by a real strip EQ or VST.

[edit] To be fair and accurate, I took it into the studio and gave it a try and found a better noise floor compared to what I had with the amp (why?), but it didn't do anything very impressive. Compared to a SansAmp (which had the same MSRP until recently), or even a good example of a BDI21, it's not accomplishing much with no gain, level or blend controls. That switch throws a nice, visible spike on the readout every time.