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Envelope Filter: which one should i buy?

Which envelope filter do you recommend?

  • Total voters
    118
F

fasto

Mar 4, 2007
963
304
Amsterdam, NL
#1
This has already been a long journey to find the perfect envelope filter for my pedal board. I already have the DOD FX25-B which i really don´t like (heavy volume drop and never found cool settings) and the Exar "Pig Nose" is also not my friend.

So which one do you recommend?
 
#4
i use both a q-tron + and an emma discumbobulator.. both fantastic pedals!
the emma is quite a subtle filter , sounds GREAT with a fuzz before it!!
i had a volume pot added to my q-tron to tame some of the volume spikes that they are notorious for and im tending to use it a lot more these days, can get REAL wet sounding.. the inbuilt fx loop is awesome as you can add effects after the q-trons pre-amp but before its filter section, so the envelope drive isnt affected.. truly great feature!! (the 3leaf also has an internal effects loop)
i cant comment on the MXR or the 3leaf................ YET ; )
 
#13
chicago_mike said:
The flaw in your questioning...

You asked wich ONE should I buy. Thats a no-no here.

3 minimum!!!!!
Click to expand...

I'm of this opinion, lol! There are too many envelope filters out there for you to ask about which one you should buy without giving us an idea of the tone you're looking for.

The MXR sound very cool and unique but is a little limited as some have said before, and the 3Leaf is a great all around filter. The Q-tron+ can get some sweet sounds but they can be tough to dial in and I don't like the fact that it has a gain control as opposed to a sensitivity control (even more frustrating is the fact that the Enigma: Q-balls has a sensitivity control but it "acts" like a gain!). If I had to choose one and it would be my only filter it would probably be the 3Leaf.

However, if you could tell us what sound(s) you're looking for, we could much more easily suggests something for ya' :).
 
#14
sikamikanico said:
Ibanez/Maxon AF-9
Click to expand...

+1. Maxon AF-9 has about 2, maybe 3 sounds maximum, but they are all disgustingly awesome envelope filter tones. My advice: filters are really personal effects and you'll almost definitely wind up trying more than one. I'd think about what you want it do specifically and then go for that. I can't think of a single filter that ever did everything I wanted out of a filter, and the ones that were able to do more usually did so at the cost of sonic quality in a specific category.
 
#18
I currently own a Qtron, 3Leaf and an Xotic RobotalkII. They are all very unique. The 3Leaf is so good sounding, easy to dial in and has no noise or volume drop issues. The QTron sounds so wet and delicious but is huge, a pain in the ass to power and has a volume spike that becomes dangerous at higher volumes.

The Robotalk II seems to be overlooked for some reason. It is not as warm as the 3 leaf but is much more intense. It has two individual filters that can be switched between or blended. It has volume controls and dry/wet blend as well as a bunch of internal switches so it can be setup to work really well with bass. Its a quality filter that really should be considered.

I am stoked to try the new MXR but I wonder if it can compare to the 3leaf.
 
#20
I just got the MXR and it's a really good sounding filter. I like it alot but just like we all do, I'm really wondering about the 3leaf as I'd like to A/B the two...keeping my eyes open on the classifieds as soon as I sell some other stuff.
 

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