maybe buying a new envelope filter

[Nv_D_SlapnPop]

well, i own a ebs bass iq but i'm thinking i need something a little "wetter" sounding (along the lines of les clayppol). the ebs is pretty funky but it's almost unusable with my marcus miller and is very sensitive to the littlest changes so at practice i'm constantly fiddling with the knobs. mine is the older non tru bypass btw.
anyway i'm looking for something new and there are so many to choose from but my local shops don't have much of a selection. i like the features of the ehx enigma qballs because it has a dry blend and a dry out plus distortion as well. the agent 00funk also sounded really good in the samples part of chunk systems website and youtube as well as the mxr bass envelope filter. or i'm thinking of maybe waiting for the release of the new mutron clone from 3 leaf. unfortunately anything i buy will probably have to be ordered unheard. thanks!

[P-oddz]

I don't ever use an Envelope Filter myself (so I guess don't know what makes one good necessarily), but I do know Aguilar just put out one.

http://aguilaramp.com/filtertwin_sample_settings.htm

And I know I've been extremely happy with my Aguilar pedals (3 to be exact), for what it's worth.

[sillyfabe]

EHX Enigma QBALLS: wettest filter ever! thats including I've owned an old Q-TRON and have tried a Mu-Tron III.

[Jared Lash]

For slap & pop stuff I prefer bandpass (ideally with a blend) rather than low pass filters. I really dug the Chunk 00Funk but it wasn't my favorite for slap. The DOD FX25 (in the loop of my Barge VB-jr was). The MXR (with a built in blend) can get you very similar sounds.

+1 to the Enigma probably being something that would greatly interest you for those over the top Claypool sounds.

And if you're cool with going the digital route (Les himself obviously is) the new Source Audio filter sounds like it would be up your alley. Only $120 new too.

[OhulahanBass]

For the price the Source Audio is a great way to go. I've had mine for 24hrs and I love it. It can get allot of tones, including super drippy and phasers...don't forget about the hot hand capability also!!! The MXR M82 is also a great filter but only gets one sound and is less than $200. I think for the feature set the Aguilar is over priced, though small, the feature set is original and Aguilar gear seems to be of the best parts and quality. EHX pedals sound great but have given me a long list of quality/reliability problems in the past. Plus, EHX comes comes with a noise floor. Also, 3Leaf Audio has a new peakier more Mutron like filter coming out soon that should be under $200. if you got 280 I love the Super Fatman (super versitile and can get very nasty!!!), if you have 400 the original Mutron is my favorite.

[RCCollins]

Originally Posted by sillyfabe

EHX Enigma QBALLS: wettest filter ever! thats including I've owned an old Q-TRON and have tried a Mu-Tron III.

The Enigma is great - i finally got to check one out last month and was sorry I'd waited. It isn't only good for wet sounds, but smooth ones as well, as it has a wide range of resonance settings, not to mention the powerful frequency controls and attack/decay as well. The onboard distortion isn't perfect - an effects loop would have been preferable, BUT it IS good for nailing certain "classic" synthy envelope tones and muff/mutron "bootsy" sounds.

I sold mine because I've got a different envelope effect that I really feel is "my" sound, but I highly recommend the enigma, which I think competes VERY WELL with much more expensive envelope filters - and in many cases, the Enigma is MORE flexible, with very precisely tuned controls, and even sounds better.

[Albibass]

I bought the MXR m82 bass envelope filter last friday.
It really is the best one I've had so far.
Previously I've owned a Qtron (old and new ones), Bassballs, DOD FX 25(B), Boss AW.
The best thing about the MXR is the fact you have separate level pots for Dry and FX.
That way you can dial in a tone that can cut through in a band setting, whereas the ones I've owned before just drowned in the band mix.
Also, the MXR hasn't got irritating volume pikes like the Qtron's and it sounds tremendous with slap/pop.

[RickenBoogie]

I like the new MXR pedal alot too. Lots of great features AND sounds in a tiny box. It replaced my Menatone MailBomb, which had beaten everything else previously, and lived on my board for over 2 yrs without competition. That MXR has balls.

[warwick.hoy]

+1 MXR BEF,...the clean blend seems to be it's most useful feature especially for S&P.

Since I'm not a S&Per I eagerly await the arrival of the Source Audio Bass Envelope Filter. Having gotten to try out the prototype and currently using the Tri-Mod wah (which is usable but better suited to guitar), this promises to be a very versatile filter.

[*insertcoolname]

Do yourself a favor and check out a Boss SYB-3. Modes 10 and 11 are straight envelope filter sounds that are great.

[Nv_D_SlapnPop]

Originally Posted by *insertcoolname

Do yourself a favor and check out a Boss SYB-3. Modes 10 and 11 are straight envelope filter sounds that are great.

I actually owned the syb-3 years ago and sold it. I'm gonna try to track down a q-balls to test. Maybe ill keep the ebs for traditional filter
and add the qballs for some craziness. Thanks all for your advice, right now it looks like the ehx is the one I should be looking at.

[RCCollins]

sounds like a good idea to me - you should be able to find one for around 150 if you hunt a bit.


a few tips:

the frequency range is REALLY WIDE on the enigma, so try setting the start and stop knobs at about 9 and 3 (or 3 and 9) o'clock at first.

Set the Q(resonance) around ten to start, and increase for additional wetness. If you like your filter sounds wet, get a limiter (try a boss LMB-3 to start, my personal fave, much more expensive, is the Aguilar TLC) - because a wet filter will ALWAYS have volume spikes.

Use the included power adapter, or you will find a horrible screeching noise when attempting downward sweeps - i found this to be true on two different Enigmas - guess it's not really daisy chainable.

The Enigma replaced my EBS bassIQ - it can cop a sound very close, with better decay control. I have a feeling you won't feel a need to keep both of them - unless they're for two different boards (the EBS is VERY hard to beat for its size)