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Best Octaver Pedal?
- Thread starter Bassiclees
- Start date
Source Audio Spectrum or C4 Synth pedal are the most flexible and offer great tracking.
I like the Iron Ether Subterranea, which is out of production. But the replacement Dubterranea looks amazing too. If you want a pedal where all of the controls are on the surface of the pedal.
I also like the Aguilar Octamizer for a straightforward analog octave down.
Your first big choice is analog octave down or digital, and among digital there is octaver/pitch shifter vs simulators. The SA stuff are simulators, so they can sound just like analog effects. They are amazing, but I find them a little harder to dial in.
I also like the Aguilar Octamizer for a straightforward analog octave down.
Your first big choice is analog octave down or digital, and among digital there is octaver/pitch shifter vs simulators. The SA stuff are simulators, so they can sound just like analog effects. They are amazing, but I find them a little harder to dial in.
I love my EBS Octabass. Easy to dial in great sounds and it tracks well.
I've used a few, but my latest favorite is the Digitech Drop for two reasons:
a) the 'momentary' switch is nice for when you just want to hit that one low note
b) you can set the amount of drop from one semitone down to a full octave.
It's polyphonic, and tracks well with my fretless.
a) the 'momentary' switch is nice for when you just want to hit that one low note
b) you can set the amount of drop from one semitone down to a full octave.
It's polyphonic, and tracks well with my fretless.
3Leaf Octabvre. Love it. I also love the C4. Both have strengths.
I second the Aguilar Octamizer, C4 and Spectrum. All three are on my board and have their own strengths. The Aguilar octave is thick in all the right ways and even tracks perfectly down to the 5th fret with rounds. The Spectrum and C4 are incredibly flexible.
The Aguilar is analog so you can purposefully make it glitch a bit under certain circumstances.
The Aguilar is analog so you can purposefully make it glitch a bit under certain circumstances.
Already great feedback, thank you!.
Leaning towards TC Electronic Sub 'N' Up or EH Pog 2 but going to look into the above suggestions.
EBS has been consistently excellent and I guess the Digitech Whammy Bass deserves consideration.
Thomann has great prices on pedals if I can't find it used on Reverb.. developing...
Leaning towards TC Electronic Sub 'N' Up or EH Pog 2 but going to look into the above suggestions.
EBS has been consistently excellent and I guess the Digitech Whammy Bass deserves consideration.
Thomann has great prices on pedals if I can't find it used on Reverb.. developing...
I agree with the above that you can't go wrong with the C4/Spectrum or 3Leaf Octabvre. If you want all the other bells and whistles, so C4/Spectrum, if you just want Octave, Ocatbvre (or i'm sure some of the other recommendations, but i've only personally tried the Octabvre) are probably simpler and more straightforward.
There are so many variables to consider, as many octavers sound and function very differently from one another. It sounds like you want both up and down options, and the C4 or Spectrum are really some of the best value out there (though may not be if you only plan to use them for the octave voices). The POG tracks fantastically, but the tone of the octaves is a love/hate thing IMO (the tone of the octaves are very synthetic sounding vs many of the other options listed) and the low octave can have a noticeable latency the lower you play (this will be an issue with any digital octaver due to how they track, but I found it particularly annoying on my old POG). I have no experience with the TC. On the analog front, an option not listed are COG pedals out of the UK (just may be difficult to get ahold of right now)
There are lots and lots of options in the market place. Naturally, the Boss OC-2 is the gold standard because it's the original and Boss got SO much right with this pedal. Unfortunately, there's a lot wrong with it too. It's got a weird buffered bypass, it doesn't like hot inputs and there's some gain drop issues with the pure wet octave. Also, no one uses the oct-2 on bass and the dial in is pure analogue so you have to twiddle a fair bit to get the different range of tones out of it.
Then there's OC-2 clones, like the MXR, 3 leaf Audio and COG offerings, all great and all trying to keep the core tones but dial out some of the irritating issues.
Then there's a whole bunch of brand specific Octavers that do their own thing or take an OC-2 and apply a hefty set of baked in EQ's the make a brand specific sound. Some even use a totally different circuit design to get their octave sound. Foxx, EBS, Eden, Markbass...the list is numerous.
Then there's the digital octavers (often including harmonisers). EHX Pog / Hog2, Digitec Wammy, Eventide Pitch factor / H9's etc. These effects sound different to the analogue pedals and can usually track better while also offering polyphonic tracking. They usually offer a plethora of octave up, dual and octave down, plus harmony options. Pure wet, they sound very different and have their specific uses.
Then there's a last last and newest category of octavers, the "digital but want to sound analogue" octavers. To my knowledge there are only a few of these currently. Source Audio own this category with their amazing Spectrum Filter and C4 offering and recently Boss entered this field with the new Boss OC-5.
So you are welcome to draw on this list and choose what's best for you. Personally, I most used octaver is the Source Audio C4. For me it nails the OC-2 totally and I have 3 other voices to add to that. I have midi control, expression and a lot more too. I also have an EHX Hog2 under my board (literally) that allows me to tap into some of the unique features / sounds that panel offers. I also have a pair of Eventide H9's...so that's got all the harmonizers, pitch shifter, octavers anyone could want from a digital math based pedal.
Does any one pedal cover most of this list...yes the SA C4, but it's a broad list and some people like a few click on / off pedal sounds, while others like to call up patches via a Midi controller.
Then there's OC-2 clones, like the MXR, 3 leaf Audio and COG offerings, all great and all trying to keep the core tones but dial out some of the irritating issues.
Then there's a whole bunch of brand specific Octavers that do their own thing or take an OC-2 and apply a hefty set of baked in EQ's the make a brand specific sound. Some even use a totally different circuit design to get their octave sound. Foxx, EBS, Eden, Markbass...the list is numerous.
Then there's the digital octavers (often including harmonisers). EHX Pog / Hog2, Digitec Wammy, Eventide Pitch factor / H9's etc. These effects sound different to the analogue pedals and can usually track better while also offering polyphonic tracking. They usually offer a plethora of octave up, dual and octave down, plus harmony options. Pure wet, they sound very different and have their specific uses.
Then there's a last last and newest category of octavers, the "digital but want to sound analogue" octavers. To my knowledge there are only a few of these currently. Source Audio own this category with their amazing Spectrum Filter and C4 offering and recently Boss entered this field with the new Boss OC-5.
So you are welcome to draw on this list and choose what's best for you. Personally, I most used octaver is the Source Audio C4. For me it nails the OC-2 totally and I have 3 other voices to add to that. I have midi control, expression and a lot more too. I also have an EHX Hog2 under my board (literally) that allows me to tap into some of the unique features / sounds that panel offers. I also have a pair of Eventide H9's...so that's got all the harmonizers, pitch shifter, octavers anyone could want from a digital math based pedal.
Does any one pedal cover most of this list...yes the SA C4, but it's a broad list and some people like a few click on / off pedal sounds, while others like to call up patches via a Midi controller.
I use the MXR bass octave deluxe, very flexible with 2 different octave voices, and a variable mid boost on the dry signal, but there are so many options as has already been said.
Great text by @GMC , and the (limited) experience I have with octave pedals is mirroring what he says.
I was never a fan of the OC-2, much prefer my old EBS OctaBass. It works very well, and has its own voice. Tracking is a non-issue, even on stage.
My Digitech BSW and the C4 do track even a bit better, but to me, their advantage is that they offer a different tonal character. Especially the BSW has a one advantage, that it CAN blend into the clean bass signal, making it sound massive without announcing its own presence too much.
C4 can do many things, and the stock octaver offers a glitch free OC2. But rather than "blending in", it will give an articulate, separate "voice" below the input signal. More like a dramatic effect than a natural extension of the instrument.
(So the OctaBass and the BSW are like face make up, and the C4 is like a halloween face mask.)
I was never a fan of the OC-2, much prefer my old EBS OctaBass. It works very well, and has its own voice. Tracking is a non-issue, even on stage.
My Digitech BSW and the C4 do track even a bit better, but to me, their advantage is that they offer a different tonal character. Especially the BSW has a one advantage, that it CAN blend into the clean bass signal, making it sound massive without announcing its own presence too much.
C4 can do many things, and the stock octaver offers a glitch free OC2. But rather than "blending in", it will give an articulate, separate "voice" below the input signal. More like a dramatic effect than a natural extension of the instrument.
(So the OctaBass and the BSW are like face make up, and the C4 is like a halloween face mask.)
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The Boss OC-2 is a kind of industry standard and it is tried and true. And from what I understand, it works well with electric bass (does not color the sound or drop frequencies).
Memorial Day sales and inventory plus price means Boss OC-5 wins.
Going to pick it up once I get the discount codes that will drop this weekend.
Yeeew! Thanks all for rehashing a common thread, was Boss reticent but it seems true, the new and digital OC update looks to win... For me... For now.
Going to pick it up once I get the discount codes that will drop this weekend.
Yeeew! Thanks all for rehashing a common thread, was Boss reticent but it seems true, the new and digital OC update looks to win... For me... For now.
+1 for the C4
Source Audio C4 won out in direct taste test on my board against both my MXR and Boss Octaver pedals. It isnt the most plug and play, though. It assumes you are hooking it up to their neuro app and tweaking settings. If you know or want to learn about sound synthesis, its a powerful tool. If that sounds like a headache, there are plenty of simple pedals. I've replaced both my octaver and filter with it.
Source Audio C4 won out in direct taste test on my board against both my MXR and Boss Octaver pedals. It isnt the most plug and play, though. It assumes you are hooking it up to their neuro app and tweaking settings. If you know or want to learn about sound synthesis, its a powerful tool. If that sounds like a headache, there are plenty of simple pedals. I've replaced both my octaver and filter with it.
Source Audio C4 is great but can seem kinda lame at first. You really need to dive in to the pedals full capabilities to get what you want out of it. Same with the Future Impact, gotta learn the software..
I had a ton of fun with my TC Electronics Sub n Up, on the affordable side, not huge, and super flexible. Tracking is realllly good too. I just don't need an octave pedal so I parted ways otherwise that's the one I would have kept.
I had a ton of fun with my TC Electronics Sub n Up, on the affordable side, not huge, and super flexible. Tracking is realllly good too. I just don't need an octave pedal so I parted ways otherwise that's the one I would have kept.
The OC-2 is probably "the" sound like a P bass is "the" electric bass sound. However it will glitch from time to time. I would have an OC-2 or similar clone for recording and something glitch free for live. Maybe an OC-3 or OC-5 for live? They don't glitch much since they're digital and have POLY modes. I've owned a lot of octave pedals and would be happy with just an OC-5, OC-3 in second place, EBS Octamizer in third and any of those top three would do in most situations. There was a period of time where the TrueBypass two knob Octamizer was made with a footswitch that turned wonky over time. Just keep an eye out for those and I don't know the dates to watch out for, so I'm no help there.
