Someone needs to call a Doctor, because that was SICK! Both the sounds and your playing, that is. 
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EHX Enigma QBalls: Review
- Thread starter BassJunkie730
- Start date
Decreased the Delay so the filter tries to reset almost immediately, little wetter and more quacky:
Dammit... *sigh*
I was doing okay with wanting one of these... it was at "pedal for a rainy day" status until I heard clip #3. Now I WANT ONE. The other stuff is nice too, of course. lol
lol
5sg.
Someone needs to call a Doctor, because that was SICK! Both the sounds and your playing, that is.
Haha thanks. In all fairness I probably should have recorded something that's a little slower and lets the filter bloom a little more. That was just quick and dirty off the top of my head to do the demos.
EDIT: I should also mention this was done with my '78 Ibanez Pbass with La Bella DT Flats and some foam wedged under the bridge. With my Lakland it's a little more responsive and I have to adjust the settings some.
Nice to know... I just put a set of D'addario Chromes on my Fender P-bass V. Good to know it'll sound good with a filter, haven't had a chance to really explore with it yet. I'll have to try the foam thing too.
I've really been G.A.S.ing for a 3Leaf GR, but now this one's on the radar again. Dilemmas, dilemmas. lol
5sg.
Went back and did 2 clips with my Lakland. And I should mention, this thing sounds so much better going through my rig than my computer.
3toes, can you let me know some of the settings for these?
This is thing is so responsive, and I'm so new to filters, that I'm having troubles finding any of these tones.
This is thing is so responsive, and I'm so new to filters, that I'm having troubles finding any of these tones.
For the regular upsweep (q-tronish sound):
Blend: 75-100% wet
Mode: LP
Attack: Just shy of fully CCW, about 8oclock
Decay: 8-9oclock (turning the Decay more CCW towards the minimum will cause it to reset almost immediately, making it sound VERY wet and more quacky).
Start: About 9oclock
Stop: About 3oclock
Q: 1-130 oclock
Sens: 1-2 oclock (this mainly depends on my bass, the P is usually at 2, the Lakland sounds better at 1)
For the downsweep the settings are about identical except:
Start: 2-230 oclock
Stop: 10 oclock
And I usually pull back the sensitivity just a hair.
It is really REALLY responsive, and you have to know that when you change one setting vs. another, it'll make a world of difference. Also watch your volume level on your bass itself. I always play at about 75-80% of max volume on my bass anyway... but pumping a little more or pulling it back will have an effect on the sweep.
Decreased the Delay so the filter tries to reset almost immediately, little wetter and more quacky:
you mean the decay, not delay, right?
great clips. I am starting to pitch a tent over this pedal... right outside ehx headquarters. Do they allow camping on Longisland?
you mean the decay, not delay, right?
great clips. I am starting to pitch a tent over this pedal... right outside ehx headquarters. Do they allow camping on Longisland?
Haha yeah, decay... sorry.
The blend truly is the unsung hero of this pedal though. Without it I don't think I'd be as excited. It really helps if you want a more subtle sound, and makes the distortion much more useful. I already had to turn down the distortion level trim-pot inside... but the distortion on the LP just didn't do it for me. Switching to BP and blending in a lot of the dry to keep the low-end just set it off for me. I still think it sounds a bit like a Deep Impact:
Same but with distortion and changes previously mentioned:
bad comparison. they are not really similar pedals. the BMS has a "filter" but is not envelope sensitive
if you already have a dedicated octave, then with that AND your fuzzes, the enigma would allow you to do "synthy" tones. But I doubt it will sound like the BMS, which is really a distinctive effect.
Okay. I got my mastotron and my enigma. Have been enjoying them both greatly. Now I just need a bass to test them on (luckily, mine should be back in my hands tomorrow - God, three weeks without a bass, I've never played so much guitar in my life... I feel dirty - not in a good way.)
I'll update with clips in the weekend, probably.
I'll update with clips in the weekend, probably.
I've tried a BMS - a long time ago. I've also looked at all the reviews for guitar and bass for it.
I've tried to cop some of the "tom sawyer" esque BMS sounds - and I cannot get it to sustain and drop for that long. The attack on the Enigma can only get so stratched out AND pronounced before it just sounds like a late trigger envelope.
I'd say for those of you who REALLY need a BMS for specific BMS only sounds (I'd expect you'd know what they are) then get a BMS
For those of you who are looking to build a mini pedal board that could be a synth - then the Enigma will work fine
:hint hint:
RC: i checked out the stereo polyphase - and it seems that you have to crank the resonance to get the envelope to become a pronounced effect on that pedal. much more so that what a normal Q setting would be on the Enigma for a similar effect.
In truth - I dig an envelope filter more than my previous top pick effect - phase shifting. reason is - the phase shifting is more of a passive controlled effect - the components determine the effects behavior.
With the enigma - i've opened up a whole landscape of picking dynamics that give me really cool performance ability.
like use the HP setting with a 50% bend with a down filter setting with out board distortion and play lightly - you get this cool lofi- tiny speaker sound that drops to a huge bass filled distortion with the strings are hit harder. do that a few times then turn the effect off with the distortion pedal on - and you are off to the races.
There are a lot of coll sounds in here - so much so that I wish - even though it's an analog pedal - that it had digital control over the settings - so I could have presets - this pedal would be a monster then. I guess the only way they could do that is if they could fully integrate midi into this pedal and you'd use a midi controller with it. Seeing how Moog has intergrated midi into the Murf - this could be a possibility.
anyway - enough rambling.
I've tried to cop some of the "tom sawyer" esque BMS sounds - and I cannot get it to sustain and drop for that long. The attack on the Enigma can only get so stratched out AND pronounced before it just sounds like a late trigger envelope.
I'd say for those of you who REALLY need a BMS for specific BMS only sounds (I'd expect you'd know what they are) then get a BMS
For those of you who are looking to build a mini pedal board that could be a synth - then the Enigma will work fine
:hint hint:RC: i checked out the stereo polyphase - and it seems that you have to crank the resonance to get the envelope to become a pronounced effect on that pedal. much more so that what a normal Q setting would be on the Enigma for a similar effect.
In truth - I dig an envelope filter more than my previous top pick effect - phase shifting. reason is - the phase shifting is more of a passive controlled effect - the components determine the effects behavior.
With the enigma - i've opened up a whole landscape of picking dynamics that give me really cool performance ability.
like use the HP setting with a 50% bend with a down filter setting with out board distortion and play lightly - you get this cool lofi- tiny speaker sound that drops to a huge bass filled distortion with the strings are hit harder. do that a few times then turn the effect off with the distortion pedal on - and you are off to the races.
There are a lot of coll sounds in here - so much so that I wish - even though it's an analog pedal - that it had digital control over the settings - so I could have presets - this pedal would be a monster then. I guess the only way they could do that is if they could fully integrate midi into this pedal and you'd use a midi controller with it. Seeing how Moog has intergrated midi into the Murf - this could be a possibility.
anyway - enough rambling.
well the SPP is a 4-stage filter, not a liquidy multi-stage type. But if you're not getting the kind of dramatic effect you want out of it, you might want to just up the gain a tad and not be afraid to light the overload LED with every note
it's surely not as dramatic an effect as a LP/BP/HP - but think of it as an adjustable set of notch filters (basically what it is in envelope mode) and its strengths will become more apparent. Keep in mind that unlike the Enigma's filters, which cut off more signal, the polyphase is more "transparent" and the range just defines the part of the signal that goes through the phase effect - the rest passes through.
The SPP does seem to be one of those pedals that is "too subtle" for a lot of folks. Personally, i like the organic grittiness it provides. I usually keep the feedback on the low side and run some kind of OD or dirt in front of it. I've also had success running my bassIQ in front of it for a MUCH more dramatic effect
but yeah anyway, it's not as dramatic a pedal as the enigma seems to be, but it's clearly an early embodiment of Beigel's start/stop range controls. If he wants to make a similar phaser with multi-stage options, I will get behind it haha
Favor to ask: can someone post a clip with really low start and stop frequencies and possibly also with an octave running into the Enigma as well? I'm really curious to see how deep this can go. If I did pick this up, it would replace both my Maxon AF-9 and DOD FX25 on my board. I doubt I'll sell either but if it's more flexible than the Maxon and can low pass for dub sounds, I'm sold.
I'm definitely going to build an expansion to my PT-2 for some electronica stuff I'm about to be working on, but I'm just wondering if I'd be better off with the Enigma or the Moog (using an expression pedal with either one).
I'm definitely going to build an expansion to my PT-2 for some electronica stuff I'm about to be working on, but I'm just wondering if I'd be better off with the Enigma or the Moog (using an expression pedal with either one).
the lowest setting on the start freq is 40hz
if you crank the Q
depending on how you set the attack, the stop, and the sensitivty -
and how much wattage your amp it pushing versus the excursion limits on your speakers,
i could see this pedal easily destroying a cab.
one think to remember - those start and stop knobs are super sensitive
plus to get a clip that you could use - i'd have to try and get it live so i don't blast everyone comp speakers to crap.
if you crank the Q
depending on how you set the attack, the stop, and the sensitivty -
and how much wattage your amp it pushing versus the excursion limits on your speakers,
i could see this pedal easily destroying a cab.
one think to remember - those start and stop knobs are super sensitive
plus to get a clip that you could use - i'd have to try and get it live so i don't blast everyone comp speakers to crap.
We can always turn down, you know. Aren't bassists somewhat proficient at doing that?
40 hz? That's much much lower than I could possibly need, especially with a flexible resonance control. You should be able to get some really insane dub sounds with this thing with relatively low start/stop frequencies and a higher resonance. I'm now even more glad that I ordered this pedal today.
