Octavius Squeezer in UK

v1paul · #1 07-02-2009, 10:12 AM

Has anyone for the UK got an octavius squeezer and if so where did you get it from. Also how good is the octave up and down on it... could it compare to the mxr bass octave deluxe?

kevteop · #2 07-02-2009, 10:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by v1paul

Has anyone for the UK got an octavius squeezer and if so where did you get it from.

Yes, used from TheBigO on here. The only UK dealer has very unattractive prices and limited stock.

Quote:

Originally Posted by v1paul

Also how good is the octave up and down on it... could it compare to the mxr bass octave deluxe?

Tracking on the VCO is still a bit glitchy, you'd be better off with a dedicated analogue octaver. Some of the sounds it can produce are really nice, but you have to be careful with your technique.

gnasher1993 · #3 07-02-2009, 10:49 AM

I'd love to try an Octavius Squeezer

but I just can't afford one

Funk&Disorderly · #4 07-02-2009, 10:59 AM

I ordered mine from the states. Invariably works out cheaper, provided you can find a place which will ship internationally.

After weeks of tweaking, i've managed to get the tracking pretty tight. It's still a little glitchy at times, but certainly quite usable by my standards. I would guess that the tracking depends a lot on bass and technique (and possibly the day of the week and alignment of the planets).

dannybuoy · #5 07-02-2009, 11:14 AM

You want to try and get one from Australia where it's made. The dealers over there aren't supposed to ship to the UK but can apparently be persuaded!

anyonefortennis · #6 07-02-2009, 11:37 AM

I'll gladly get one here in the US and froward it to the UK for anyone that wants to pay the cheaper US price. It may just be delayed a day or two

Gashaponcito · #7 07-02-2009, 05:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Funk&Disorderly

(and possibly the day of the week and alignment of the planets).

hahahahaha

Higgie · #8 07-02-2009, 09:01 PM

Paging Max Roberts...

Phagor · #9 07-03-2009, 04:57 AM

I haven't tried one of these, but listening to the sound clips on the Chunk Systems site, I wonder if they have missed a trick by only putting one VCO into this thing.

As it's supposed to be a synth and not just a processed octave sound, wouldn't 2 or 3 VCOs be good? Most analogue synths used for bass sounds have more than 1. The detune or intervals between the VCOs gives them a fatness I think might be lacking in the OS.

Obviously, it would cost even more

But only the VCOs would need to be duplicated - the tracking stuff would be common to all of them.

You fellas who own or have tried one, what do you think?

kevteop · #10 07-03-2009, 05:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Phagor

I haven't tried one of these, but listening to the sound clips on the Chunk Systems site, I wonder if they have missed a trick by only putting one VCO into this thing.

Two would be nice, sure. But I suppose adding a chorus could give a fair effect of two of them closely pitched (I don't have a chorus so I haven't tried it). You can also mix the fuzz in with the VCO set an octave away to get pretty big sounds.

When it comes down to it though, there aren't many pedals that offer even one VCO (this and the FreqBox, basically, and digital impersonations from the Boss SYBs or the Korg G5 [although the G5 is pretty limited]). And for bass purposes one oscillator isn't as limiting as you might think, especially given all the options for setting up the filter.

Funk&Disorderly · #11 07-03-2009, 06:39 AM

Another VCO would increase the possibilities of this pedal quite significantly (and as you say, the price as well). In fact, i would probably sell a kidney to get an updated OS with two VCOs.

Saying that, this is already an extremely flexible pedal. I'm still learning how to make new and exciting noises after a couple of months of tweaking.

I look forward to seeing some of the new tweaks and features added in future firmware updates. There has been talk of expression pedal control, although nobody's sure which parameters will be controllable. Any of them, hopefully.

fightthepower · #12 07-03-2009, 07:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kevteop

You can also mix the fuzz in with the VCO set an octave away to get pretty big sounds.

That's a good idea. I would think that using the fuzz for the lower octave and VCO for the upper octave would also net big sounds with good tracking, since the VCO tracks tracks the higher frequencies of the upper octave?

kevteop · #13 07-03-2009, 07:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fightthepower

That's a good idea. I would think that using the fuzz for the lower octave and VCO for the upper octave would also net big sounds with good tracking, since the VCO tracks tracks the higher frequencies of the upper octave?

I think you got that the wrong way around. It makes more sense to use the VCO to generate the octave down, so you can play an octave up, which of course helps the VCO to track.

To be honest the note-tracking on the O.S. is pretty good and fast, the issue is that you need to turn up the tracking sensitivity quite a lot to get the best out of it, and this means any string noise might get interpreted as a note. And this is compounded when you're using ADSR on the VCA because any note it thinks it's tracked is going to be played confidently and loudly by the pedal.

In short: Whatever you do, don't play mute notes. Unless you want to intersperse your bassline with laser noises of course.

fightthepower · #14 07-03-2009, 07:25 AM

Ah I see.

So is an octaver like the OC-2 just a very simple VCO? Or a VCO with a filter for smoothing? It seems like there are squarewave octavers on the market, and smooth ones. The OC-2 kind of sounds like a triangle, but is it just a lowpassed squarewave, and are squarewaves the easiest to produce- since the signal is just squared/shifted down an octave, and this is an easy process?

I thought that VCO might generate the +octaves, or at least the other +intervals, but for some reason thought that the suboctavers were different-- Now that Im thinking about it I can make some sense of it, but I hadn't yet put 2&2 together- haven't rather. Anyone feel free to chime in

Funk&Disorderly · #15 07-03-2009, 07:37 AM

It occurs to me that i actually have no idea how analogue tracking works at all. I'd love for someone to give us a nice lay person friendly account.

As far as i understand it, a squarewave produced by "clipping" would be more akin to a fuzz sound (which incidentally the OS does fantastically). I imagine there's maths involved in the OC2's tracking. That or voodoo.

The ADSR is pretty frustrating, because it could be used to make some truly unique sounds. Unfortunately, you're limited by the overzealous tracking. It works beautifully on the filter though.

kevteop · #16 07-03-2009, 08:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fightthepower

So is an octaver like the OC-2 just a very simple VCO?

I don't think so, I think the output is a product of your input signal, it just gets butchered so much it's difficult to tell. It doesn't really sound like any typical waveform to me either, it's got too much colour to be a triangle, not enough to be a square (even assuming a low-pass filter on it), but it doesn't sound like a sawtooth either.

Quote:

Originally Posted by fightthepower

I thought that VCO might generate the +octaves, or at least the other +intervals, but for some reason thought that the suboctavers were different-- Now that Im thinking about it I can make some sense of it, but I hadn't yet put 2&2 together- haven't rather. Anyone feel free to chime in

On the O.S.? The component parts are the VCO, VCF, VCA, Fuzz and a few simple switch/mixing options. So if you're getting a signal out of it at a different pitch to your input signal it must be the VCO doing it. Unless you've created a feedback loop with the mix options of course, which is always fun when you've got digital control over the VCF frequency.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Funk&Disorderly

The ADSR is pretty frustrating, because it could be used to make some truly unique sounds. Unfortunately, you're limited by the overzealous tracking. It works beautifully on the filter though.

I would like more granularity on the speed settings myself. 16 divisions isn't enough.

Phagor · #17 07-03-2009, 09:24 AM

Right, all the octave pedals seem to modify the original signal, even the digital ones like the POG and HOG. The OS tracks the signal's pitch and then sets the VCO pitch to the same (or an interval).

I don't really know how pitch tracking works - something to do with phase locked loops? I know in the DSP world it's hard to write a good pitch tracking algorithm - the devil is in the details and in fine tuning it to the practical application.

It would be cool if the OS also did an analogue style octave effect like the OC2. Then you could blend that with the VCO and the original signal for huge tones. I like that about the EHX BMS - mixing the different octaves. But they're all still based on the pitch of the original signal.

Can you detune the OS's VCO slightly then mix it with the original and/or a mild fuzz? That would give it a bit more fatness. Or use the LFO to modulate the VCO slightly around the original pitch.

rottenramone · #18 07-03-2009, 09:31 AM

i made some of my own octavius settings... we really shd start swapping our customised ones.. anyways, here are some clips where i made with the OS and a pitchfactor.

Eventide Pitchfactor Review. The answer to the Bass Whammy substitute?

Funk&Disorderly · #19 07-03-2009, 09:37 AM

There's no facility to detune the VCO (except by +/- 1/2 octaves or + one fifth), but it can be run through the fuzz circuit. You can also preserve your original tone, or put that through fuzz. Very effective for dual octave sounds.

It would have been nice to have another output destination so that the clean (or fuzzy) signal and VCO could be routed and processed separately, but i suppose this would have added significantly to the complexity and cost.

There is a taunting "envelope" output feature via the Aux socket, but it's too low fidelity to use for anything other than its intended purpose (passing on the envelope of your original signal, which i'm yet to find a use for).

Quote:

Originally Posted by rottenramone

here are some clips where i made with the OS and a pitchfactor.

I am suffering from some serious Pitchfactor envy right now!

Funk&Disorderly · #20 07-03-2009, 10:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Funk&Disorderly

which i'm yet to find a use for).

Actually, it would seem to work quite well driving an OC2 plugged into a second amp channel. If you just dial in the -1 signal with no clean, it can beef up the OS sound quite substantially. Don't think i'd want to crank that too loud though!