Filter Shootout - 3Leaf, MXR, WMD

[ninepoundjammer]

Finally got off my butt and put together a little filter shootout that I've been wanting to do for a while now. Filters are the MXR M-82, WMD Super Fatman, and a 3 Leaf Groove Regulator modded to add a wet/dry blend. GR should be similar to a GR2 minus the gain trimpot. It's so hard to actually compare effects with the usual "let me turn all the knobs on this thing" reviews; I've taken the opposite tact. I set each pedal for the closest I could get to "my sound". These things can all get different sounds and YMMV, but it will give you a much better feel for the subtle differences between each of them.

I have clips of each of them with three different grooves: finger style, slap, and octave+filter. I chose settings more or less based on the sound of the finger style groove and left them there, just as I would for gigs using a single filter. In some cases I could have improved things a bit on the later grooves with some knob tweaking, but I had to limit the variables.

Note, these are all 9-volt powered with a wet/dry blend which are base requirements for me (darn you Q-tron!). I generally find slap through a filter without dry signal mixed in is too thin sounding.

And no railing on my playing

Here it is:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3LpZ0czQOPc

CONCLUSIONS
-----------------
This was actually pretty informative for me as well. Even though I've had each of these around for several months, I've never compared them this systematically. Here's what I got out of it:

Finger-style: Groove Regulator probably my fave, cool analogy sound. Others do all right, but Fatman>M82.

Slap: I dig the Fatman the most, nice full, clean, sound. M82 sounds ok and the high end would probably cut through the mix better and dialing back the sensitivity a touch would've beefed up the slaps some. Groove Regulator has a strange warbliness to it that I don't love.

Octave+Filter: M-82 has a nasty sound that I'm digging more than I thought I would. Octave fills out thinness from the bandpass and the accentuated high end would cut through a mix well. GR sounds good too. Fatman would've sounded better with a tweak to the threshold. Is there a filter that doesn't sound good on top of an octave???

GROOVE REGULATOR
Range control: limited, I'd like more options than Hi/Lo
Attack/Decay control: best of the group (has both!)
Resonance control: A little lacking, but I don't need over-the-top
Gain/blend control: Lacking in stock GR, GR2 seems all set

Spencer's going in the right direction with the GR2. Only thing I think I'd miss on the GR2 is a more control over the filter frequency range. But I don't dig the strange artifacts in the slap sound. Must give a shout out to Spencer for fantastic customer service though. This pedal is easy to set and gig with.

MXR M-82
Range control: seems like top end of filter range is fixed while "decay" really controls the bottom of the bandpass range (at least to me). Decay helps dial in some pretty cool sounds, but the bandpass can sound thin depending on sensitivity and blend.
Attack/Decay control: none as I understand it. No real control over "quackiness".
Resonance control: not available
Gain/blend control: Best of the group, both overall gain and blend controlled externally

M-82 is an all around solid but not stellar performer and easy to set and gig with. Due to ease of use and ability to cut in a mix and just sound nasty with my octave, it might have weaseled its way back onto my board.

Super Fatman:
Range control: great, has 12 options
Attack/Decay control: attack works well to dial on quack, but no decay control and it's pretty dependent on threshold setting
Resonance control: great, fully variable
Gain/blend control: external blend with internal gain pots, good, but internal pots are bit of a pain

Super Fatman -- you can tweak just about any sound you want out of this thing, and it's very full and hi-fi sounding to my ears, though it does introduce a bit of high-end hiss. Alas, it has just as many knobs and switches that I will never touch, not to mention the red text on the face blends in with the purple background, so forget about reading it on stage. I like it, but it might have to stay at home for recording.

IN THE END
In the end, each of these pedals has its ups and downs and they've been continually rotating on and off my board for months. I think I understand them better now, but I still don't know if I can get rid of any of them. Such is the way with filters, I fear.

I like the sound of the Q-tron in clips, though I've yet to actually play one. I just don't want to do 24 volts and the micro Q-tron doesn't have a blend, and I'm not going to add a blend pedal either. I'm excited about the Mutron-type pedal Spencer at 3 Leaf is working on, might be the next addition to the herd. Wonder if I can get a blend on that...

Happy hunting. Hope some of you find this useful or interesting.

[Eric!]

AWESOME. We've needed this for a while

Still favor the GR, myself, and this demo solidifies it. I've owned two. I just never used it in band settings but since I'm bandless now..

Been curious about the Super Fatman for a while..seems like overkill IMO though.

GR2? I must know more! :research:

[FilterFunk]

Excellent demo! What always strikes me about the 3Leaf is that it always sounds so natural with bass guitar; it honestly seems to become a part of the sound instead of taking over or riding alongside. And that's even without a blend knob. Funny thing is, the GR didn't get along well with my synth's bass tones, but it sounded great with my synth's treble sounds...go figure! However, my Qballs, Spit Wah and Source Audio BEF love my synth - highs, mids and lows. The input signal makes a huge difference. As well as one can judge from videos and sound clips, it seems to me that the 3Leaf is the most consistently natural-sounding filter for bass guitar.

[FilterFunk]

Any way to dial out the volume swell on the MXR's decay when a note is held?

[fitz420]

thanks for the excellent shootout. i really enjoyed it as i've been planning on buying either the mxr or the 3leaf for a while. very informative.

[Green Mind]

Great demo. Funny thing is my preferences kind of swayed throughout it. For finger style, I'd go with the GR, for slap, the fatman, and with an octaver, the MXR.

[Robertron]

This is a great demo for when people ask about which filter to go with. Well done!

I still prefer the Groove Regulator out of these. It's probably my favorite filter of all and I'm seriously considering getting the GR2 for the blend, gain trimpot, and upgraded functionality of effects loop.

If I could justify the Super Fatman's pricetag, and had the patience to really work with all of those knobs and switches, I'd jump on it right away. It's got such a nice filter character to it and I'd be able to tweak for weeks.

[ninepoundjammer]

Originally Posted by FilterFunk

Any way to dial out the volume swell on the MXR's decay when a note is held?

Yep, that's there, but I haven't found it to cause any problems in practice. Since it happens as a note is decaying it doesn't really push the volume into unreasonable territory. There's no resonance control, so you can't really do much about it aside from increase the "decay" setting so it doesn't go as deep and decreasing the effect volume, but that's more of a way to manage it rather than avoid it. I must admit I'm more fuzzy on how that filter actually works than the others.

[fasto]

EXCELLENT demo sir! thanks for that.

this thread should be the sticky answer to the question "which envelope filter should i get?"

[Swift713]

Thanks for the demo, great job.

[octaverazor]

I have to say, all that i"ve heard about the 3leaf being the top choice in filter pedals it was my least favorite out of those three. i didn't care for it at all. I have the mxr on my pedal board already and it looks like I'll be adding the fatman to the collection. Great job on the shootout.

[Chronicle]

oh wow, that m82 sounded great with the octave.

[Spencer!]

Originally Posted by ninepoundjammer

Groove Regulator has a strange warbliness to it that I don't love.

Try backing off on the sensitivity and increasing the attack time.

[drnknmstr]

Thanks for doing that. Glad I asked!

[PunkRocker33133]

I honestly liked the MXR the best, which is sweet because it'll fit on my PT-Jr for sure and not take up space I'd need for more used pedals

[ninepoundjammer]

Originally Posted by Spencer!

Try backing off on the sensitivity and increasing the attack time.

Thanks for the tips. They do help to an extent, but then I lose the quack and tone that I really dig for finger style. Don't get me wrong, I only keep one filter on my board, and more often than not it's been the GR. It just isn't my first choice for slap.

[PostApocalypso]

Thanks for the reviews/shootout.

These are all pretty good filters, the differences are really a matter of taste. I don't think you can go wrong with any of them.