Found A Use For Annoying True Bypass Popping

[Bryan R. Tyler]

Starting at about 0:23
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3bW-iRCu99M

Now on a more serious note, would it be a fairly simple job for someone to mod my X-Blender to have a buffered bypass? For some reason I get more of a pop using the Blend switch than I do with full bypass switch. I totally love the pedal, and that's the one thing I dislike about it.

[lowregister]

Seriously, why didn't I think of that. Very nice!

[santucci218]

I can't help at all, just tell you it was sick nasty playing.

[odie]

nice jam!!! Yes why do pedals do that!! Ugh! Very clever to make it work for you so well!!

[rcubed]

Without going to a buffered bypass, you could look into some other components that might be the problem like a bad switch or just the addition of caps and resistors.

[scotch]

I've found that 95% of the time I have a pop with a tb switch it's one of two things:

1) Static build up. Just cycling the switch a few times before performance clears it up.

2) Improper ground in signal chain. This can be tricky to diagnose, but when I hear a persistent pop in my tb setups, I usually find that either a device (amp, di, power supply, etc...) is ground lifted, or the metal jacks of a cable are touching something causing a weird ground plane. (In fact, I've had this happen with my X-Blender & found it went away by flipping the ground switch on my di to "grounded"!)

That said, I like your resourcefulness with using the pop!

[Mingus Addict]

Have you e-mailed Xotic about this, or asked around to see if other people have the same poping noise with the X-blend? I've never heard of someone with an xotic pedal complaining of switch noise before and they seem like the sort of company that would be on top of those sort of details.

[groooooove]

Originally Posted by Mingus Addict

Have you e-mailed Xotic about this, or asked around to see if other people have the same poping noise with the X-blend? I've never heard of someone with an xotic pedal complaining of switch noise before and they seem like the sort of company that would be on top of those sort of details.

i doubt anyone mentions it, because we all know its part of true bypass territory.

[Bryan R. Tyler]

Haven't yet, but it can happen with any true bypass pedal. It's possible there was a failing of some pull-down resistors or something as rcubed mentioned- I should probably email Xotic about sending it in. It's not a ground or static issue, as I've tried my amp both grounded and ungrounded, and the pop persists regardless of the number of stomps.

[scotch]

Originally Posted by Bryan R. Tyler

Haven't yet, but it can happen with any true bypass pedal. It's possible there was a failing of some pull-down resistors or something as rcubed mentioned- I should probably email Xotic about sending it in. It's not a ground or static issue, as I've tried my amp both grounded and ungrounded, and the pop persists regardless of the number of stomps.

What's in the loop when connected direct to the amp? It's totally possible that something failed in the blender pedal, but experience tells me to keep looking elsewhere...

[Bryan R. Tyler]

Originally Posted by scotch

What's in the loop when connected direct to the amp? It's totally possible that something failed in the blender pedal, but experience tells me to keep looking elsewhere...

Two MIDI effect loopers, and seven pedals hooked into them.

[scotch]

Originally Posted by Bryan R. Tyler

Two MIDI effect loopers, and seven pedals hooked into them.

Well, it sounds like process of elimination may be called for before you assume somethings broken! Thats a lot of stuff with potential for chaos!

To see if it's the X-Blender thats causing the popping noise, try plugging it in direct to the amp with only a good patch cable in it's loop. Cycle both switches 4 or 5 times and see if it's definitely the Xotic pedal causing the pop. I could totally be wrong, but with all of those various devices in the loop- somethings bound to get weird!

[Bryan R. Tyler]

The X-Blender does it when nothing's hooked into its effects loop at all, which is why I was pretty sure it was the cause.

[Jazz Ad]

A 1 Mohm resistor fixes true bypass popping issues.

[scotch]

Originally Posted by Bryan R. Tyler

The X-Blender does it when nothing's hooked into its effects loop at all, which is why I was pretty sure it was the cause.

Hmmm... could be the X-Blender, then. Still, try plugging a cable (just a cable) to connect the loop- thereby linking all of the grounds...

[Bryan R. Tyler]

Originally Posted by scotch

Hmmm... could be the X-Blender, then. Still, try plugging a cable (just a cable) to connect the loop- thereby linking all of the grounds...

YOU BLEW UP MY AMP!!!!!



J/K Still pops after a couple dozen presses, the blend switch still having a much louder pop than the main bypass switch.

[bongomania]

Originally Posted by Jazz Ad

A 1 Mohm resistor fixes true bypass popping issues.

Sometimes, but not always. It's a start.

[scotch]

Originally Posted by Bryan R. Tyler

YOU BLEW UP MY AMP!!!!!



J/K Still pops after a couple dozen presses, the blend switch still having a much louder pop than the main bypass switch.

I know, right! Imagine one of us actually playing without effects! Heresy!!!!

Looks like there is a problem then! At least, based on the fact that my identical pedal doesn't pop in this manner. Let us know how the customer service is at Xotic!

[OrionManMatt]

Momentary switch with a latching relay and microcontroller?

[zippydog]

My X-Blender used to pop too.
I solved the problem.
It now lives on someone else's pedal board.

A pedal that expensive just shouldn't do that - especially between songs at church....awkward.