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Darkglass Super Symmetry
- Thread starter depalm
- Start date
As an Empress owner, I am definitely curious about this. Of course, that new smaller Cali76 could let me shoehorn another pedal onto my board... so yeah, eagerly awaiting your review.
Well I've had a short time to play with it now and I'm impressed. Very transparent and a decent range of control. Still trying to get the best out of the blend and I won't have time to compare it to the cali76 tx or the Keeley compressor pro (the first is the best I've used but I rate the Keeley very highly too) for a while due to work. But first impressions are its a keeper
Anyone got this compared to Cali 76 TX-LP? or any large versions not the compact?
It's interesting how these two will collide.
It's interesting how these two will collide.
So after spending a couple od days with the Super Symmetry I've decided I'm gonna send it back.
It is a very good compressor, but I can't justify keeping it since it is not significantly better that the Empress Compressor, which has been on my board for over 2 years.
I don't know if I got a defective unit or what it's going on, but I found a couple of issues that for the price (€319) should just not be there.
1. I noticed that the compressor circuit dampens the High frequencies, this is something you can hear if you set the Compression to 0% and set the Input and output levels to match unity gain
2. The Meter is not very accurate and sometimes it just turns off for a while if you play aggresively adn set the comp to limit.
3. It does not play well with a 9V Battery power supply, like the Volto or warwick Rockboard, there is a chirping sound when the meters engage.
(I know DG recommends using a regulated PS. but I have a small battery powered setup that I constantly use for rehearsals)
Anyway, I hope that some of these "issues" will be resolved in a future revision of the SS, but for now I will return it and buy a B7K for my second board.
It is a very good compressor, but I can't justify keeping it since it is not significantly better that the Empress Compressor, which has been on my board for over 2 years.
I don't know if I got a defective unit or what it's going on, but I found a couple of issues that for the price (€319) should just not be there.
1. I noticed that the compressor circuit dampens the High frequencies, this is something you can hear if you set the Compression to 0% and set the Input and output levels to match unity gain
2. The Meter is not very accurate and sometimes it just turns off for a while if you play aggresively adn set the comp to limit.
3. It does not play well with a 9V Battery power supply, like the Volto or warwick Rockboard, there is a chirping sound when the meters engage.
(I know DG recommends using a regulated PS. but I have a small battery powered setup that I constantly use for rehearsals)
Anyway, I hope that some of these "issues" will be resolved in a future revision of the SS, but for now I will return it and buy a B7K for my second board.
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I was going to order one from Effects Boutique, but the conversion rate is insane right now. It'll cost me about $400 Canadian before shipping. Hopefully it gets better soon, because I want one of these!
Turning the Compression to zero does not by any means mean compression is turned off, just at its presumed lowest ratio, so not sure the relevance of it being at 0. However, interesting if this is true...
That sounds faulty, it seems accurate from the videos that are on youtube and cutting out just seems wrong.
Doesn't surprise me, as Darkglass specifically advise not to use battery supplies. I doubt this will be revised
Doug, any comments on the first two? My preorder will be waiting for me when I come home tomorrow.
Doesn't surprise me, as Darkglass specifically advise not to use battery supplies. I doubt this will be revised
I must have slept through that recommendation - has that always been the case for all their pedals? If so, that's quite a bummer.....I was just considering reconfiguring with a Volto...
I know that, IDK what the lowest ratio setting for the SS is but I set the Input and output to unity gain and making sure the meter did show any sign of compression. Doing the exact same thing with the empress compressor set to 2:1 Ratio does not dampen the high frequencies.
This happens with my very hot output Sanderg California and playing 8th Notes hard, both the input and Compression set to max. The meter starts dimming and loses response after a while.
Same test with the empress, the LED Meters are always responsive, showing that you are driving the compressor really hard.
Doesn't surprise me, as Darkglass specifically advise not to use battery supplies. I doubt this will be revised
It did surprise me, I know DG recommends a regulated PS, but I have used my B3k, Duality and VMTD with the same setup and none of them exhibit this issue.
I still think that DG makes the best OD/Distortion pedals and Doug is a really great person who really cares about his costumers. I will continue to use them, but the SSdid not make it for me.
bongomania
Commercial User
I just the other day noticed the shutting off thing. I didn't observe it during normal use, but when I was testing it on the o scope I decided to run a super hot signal into it to see how it distorts. The distortion was not significant, but the meter did stop working during those periods of high signal level.
- Dec 10, 2008
- 2,341
- 5,822
- Disclosures
- Douglas Castro, Founder: darkglass.com
Hey! Thanks for giving it a shot and I'm sorry you had some issues.
I heard of another user saying that his symmetry had some strange noises when using it with a Warwick battery, which was a surprise but then we don't really test with batteries as we recommend regulated power supplies and will probably continue to do so for the foreseeable future.
I'll get a Warwick one ASAP to run some tests though, I have yet to hear of someone having issues with a Volto, so far it seems to be Warwick but as always, a good power supply is preferred, specially for compression where more headroom is usually better.
As for the high frequency attenuation, that sounds very odd indeed, the Super Symmetry should be pretty flat (actually every single person who's tried it so far as brought up how transparent it is) so you saying that it wasn't specially with zero compression suggests that there could be something wrong with yours, again if that's the case I am sorry for the inconvenience (feel free to PM me the dealer you got it from so I can coordinate with them, I'd like to test yours personally to see what's up).
It is 100% you call sending it back, that goes without saying, but if you do decide not to, please contact me directly at [email protected] I'd be more than glad to help you get the most out of it and/or help you coordinate the replacement of the one you have for a brand new one.
At the moment I'm away visiting my family in the Chilean country side with very, very limited internet access, but if you do write I'll do my best to reply ASAP - I'll be back in Finland by next week anyways.
Thanks to everyone who have posted their experiences with the compressor, the positive experiences are very encouraging and motivating and ones aren't usually are very educating and help us get better continuously.
Both are hugely appreciated.
Regards, Doug.
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- Dec 10, 2008
- 2,341
- 5,822
- Disclosures
- Douglas Castro, Founder: darkglass.com
Turning the Compression to zero does not by any means mean compression is turned off, just at its presumed lowest ratio, so not sure the relevance of it being at 0. However, interesting if this is true...
That sounds faulty, it seems accurate from the videos that are on youtube and cutting out just seems wrong.
Doesn't surprise me, as Darkglass specifically advise not to use battery supplies. I doubt this will be revised
Doug, any comments on the first two? My preorder will be waiting for me when I come home tomorrow.
Just did above. If you have any further questions just drop me an email
.
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Thank you for the reply Doug,
It is actually I, who wrote you about the Warwick Battery Issue.
I actually have not test with the volto, I just made an assumption, I should have written I saw an issue with a Volto Style (meaning cheaper) [Invalid or Expired Link Removed] Battery.
Sorry about that.
After playing around with the unit for a while and hearing some high frequency roll off, even with the compression set to 0%, I did some measurements and found that there is a roll off that starts around 1kHz.
I was suprised at this result, since every demo I've seen sounds pretty flat. The frequency resposne is pretty flat if the blend is set to 0%.
Here is a screenshot of the measurement's results:
I ran the same Tests with the Empress compressor and that one does not roll off the highs, but it does the lows with the Ratio set to 2:1, as you can see here:
Doug, I will get in touch with you, I will send you all the details of the unit I ordered. Perhaps after you have tested it and see if the unit I got was defective I'll order a new one. I did like the way the compressor itself works.
Once again thank you very much for being so attentive with your customers. That is one of the reasons I'm a huge fan of your company.
Careful, Fedex told me there are delays in many areas of the US this week due to.... THE POPE'S VISIT!
I wish I was making this up.
Yeah we have the president of China here in Seattle too...double whammy?
Edit: the mail moves in strange and mysterious ways.
I'm just patiently (not really) waiting for the shipping confirmation from Effects Boutique. Where is my new toy!?
