sansamp bddi 3 channel digital

Mike Money · #1 08-12-2008, 11:39 PM

is it normal for these units to always sound slightly distorted/over driven?

All of the factory settings seem to have a bit of distortion, which doesnt really bug me... im just wondering if it is normal.

bongomania · #2 08-12-2008, 11:42 PM

You kidding? It's an overdrive effect pedal. If you turn the blend all the way to "off" and it still distorts, then it may have an issue. Also FWIW the digital part is the programmability, not the audio path.

bassman251 · #3 08-13-2008, 07:15 AM

If you set the knobs too high you can cause your amps preamp to distortion. You can try lowering the level and/or drive knobs for some of the settings. It is not normal for the pedal to always have distortion. But you can use it for one though.

Mike Money · #4 08-13-2008, 08:55 AM

oooooooh.

I was just wondering because even the Reggae setting sounds a little fuzzy, which didnt make sense to me.

thanks.

bigchiefbc · #5 08-13-2008, 09:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bongomania

You kidding? It's an overdrive effect pedal. If you turn the blend all the way to "off" and it still distorts, then it may have an issue. Also FWIW the digital part is the programmability, not the audio path.

I wouldn't really call it "an overdrive effect pedal". Most of the people here use it that way, but that's not really its intent. It is intended as a direct box that can simulate an amp + cab, and it is capable of overdrive/distortion as one of its features. The only reason for picking this particular nit is that I've used a BDI (BDDI clone) for years now, not for distortion, but to simulate a cleaner, but still tubey, amp sound. And yet everyone always talks about this thing like its just a tubescreamer with an XLR or something.

Anyways, you should NOT be getting distortion or a "fuzzy" sound with drive on zero. It should sound like a tube amp, but definitely not to the point of sounding distorted or fuzzy

Lync · #6 08-13-2008, 10:05 AM

The Reggae setting has some drive in it...in the mix you won't hear it though. The clean boost (for a piezo) has no drive and sounds fat and warm alone.

The secret I found for the bass driver is to adjust it by the band mix. Some of the overdriven tones sound like crap alone, but put them in the mix and they can have bottom, sound tube-like, and cut enough to sit as the bass should.

bassman251 · #7 08-13-2008, 10:34 AM

In other words the pedal can put out a high enough signal then the preamp can handle, thus causing distortion. Especially when using extreme settings. Actually this pedal seems pretty sensitive. Even small adjustments can increase the effect to a great amount conpared to other pedals. So depending on the type of amp you have even the suggested examples in the manual it maybe needs to be lowered.

Make sure the 1/4 boost out is not depressed. Increases output to drive a power amp.