EHX "Q" filter confusion

NortyFiner said:

As I look for a funky filter pedal to add to my small collection, the sheer number of different yet similar pedals from EHX has me confused. Q-Tron, Q-Tron+, Mini/Micro/etc. Q-Tron, Doctor Q, Q-balls, Enigma Q-Balls and so forth...so many filters that seem to look alike and do much the same thing. Is this just a marketing gimmick, or are there real differences in these pedals (besides the names and sometimes the number of knobs)? I'm tempted to just save for a EBS BassIQ or some other pedal and avoid this EHX confusion...

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Q-tron: Original ehx envelope filter, supposedly designed by the same guy who did the classic Mu-tron (I think???)

Q-tron+: Same as the Q-tron but with more control over the filter sweep and a built-in effects loop.

Mini/Micro Q-tron: Q-tron in a smaller package for more crowded pedalboards. There is also some debate as to whether they used the same circuitry...

Dr. Q: Basically the q-tron envelope filter without the classic Q "warble." A much subtler effect. Unable to select Low pass, Band pass, or High pass, but it does have a "bass" switch.

Qballs/Enigma (same pedal, but there is a guitar version called the Riddle): Q-tron with even more control over the filter sweep than the Q+. Lacks the built-in effects loop but added in a dry blend, a dry out, as well as built-in distortion.

Granted these are pretty generalized descriptions... But to answer your question, yes there are noticeable differences between each version.

You can't go wrong with the BassIQ, just 2 knobs and a fat sound. My only problem with it is...it's pretty sensitive. I had to readjust the threshold knob slightly when changing from bass to bass or sometimes just switching pickups. It can be pretty touchy, but still one of my favorite pedal. But I do have the older version pedal.

But...my new favorite is the Enigma. Way more adjustability than I ever need, same fat and wet filter sounds, but not nearly as sensitive. I can run different basses thru it without readjusting the Enigma's knobs. For me, that makes it a more "live" playing friendly filter pedal. Little boost in volume when engaged though...there's lots of sound clips of the Enigma on this forum, somewhere. Don't let the 8 knobs scare you, you'll figure it out as I did. It is everything I wished the Qtron to be, but wasn't.

Funkinthetrunk said:

You can't go wrong with the BassIQ, just 2 knobs and a fat sound.

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It might have a good generic sound but any 2-knobbed filter is plainly very limited. I've got one filter here that has 6 knobs and 9 switches, and I still have three other filters on my board along with it.

The mini or micro Q-trons, as well as Dr Q, don't do down sweep like the Q-tron and Q-tron +. Also, since they run on 9v rather than 24 they must be different circuits. I know the Dr Q is really vanilla, and not like Hagen Daz vanilla, more like store brand. The EBS is pretty good, I'm still feeling it out/getting used to it. I haven't played it with the band yet but solo I can pretty much get what I want out of it. It's a little tamer than the Q-tron, IMO.

It's kind of nice like that, but then again I'm really used to the very dramatic 3D sound of the Q-Tron. Plus, I have a pretty nice compressor. I keep wanting to hit it harder.

NortyFiner said:

Yeah, I keep hearing that the BassIQ doesn't hit the hard need-a-limiter peaks like the Q-Tron does.

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Yes it does. Switch it to Hi Q mode. Only 2 knobs, yes...BassIQ does what it was designed to do, quite well. I kept it over the QTron.

The QTron+ I used to own was a bit of a disappointment, I clipped the input too easily and the volume spike is rather large. I ended up selling it and buying a WMD FatMan.

I owned a Dr. Q back in the 70s....really not meant for bass back then. I recently own a Bass Balls...sound was not what I was looking for. I think you can get an Enigma for about the same price as a QTron, give or take. You're better off with the Enigma. It can do anything a QTron can do and more, all the while, with a better sound. I admit I have not seriously dug into all what the Enigma is capable of, after finding "MY" sound, I layed off playing with it. I have 3 filters on my pedalboard currently....if the Enigma was able to save sounds, this would be my only filter.....for now.

Funkinthetrunk said:

I admit I have not seriously dug into all what the Enigma is capable of, after finding "MY" sound, I layed off playing with it. I have 3 filters on my pedalboard currently....if the Enigma was able to save sounds, this would be my only filter.....for now.

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Big +1 on the presets... If it had that capability it'd be the perfect envelope filter imo.

It did take me a while to find all the usable sounds (for my own purposes) on it, but now that I'm very familiar with the pedal, I can dial them in pretty quickly depending on what I want.

3toes said:

Big +1 on the presets... If it had that capability it'd be the perfect envelope filter imo.

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That's the main reason I bought an Octavius Squeezer. My Meatwad is a really versatile filter but all that versatility is wasted live when there's knob-tweaking involved in changing the sound.

kevteop said:

That's the main reason I bought an Octavius Squeezer. My Meatwad is a really versatile filter but all that versatility is wasted live when there's knob-tweaking involved in changing the sound.

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Well I just have to take advantage of time between songs to make the adjustments. Kind of requires me to plan things out ahead of time. But I have been able to make changes on the fly with the Enigma, but the only reason I'm able to do that is because I spent a lot of time learning the ins and outs of the adjustments and sounds that thing is capable of.

Well yeah I know my Meatwad inside and out (literally - I ended up modding it), but it just wasn't practical to adjust it between songs live.

It mostly operates as a manual (well, podietral!) filter on my board now, which is a shame because the envelope follower's really good.