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EHX Pitch Fork vs EHX Micro Pog

JimmyM

JimmyM

Apr 11, 2005
127,255
125,177
Plymouth NC
Disclosures
Endorsing: Yamaha, Ampeg, Line 6, EMG
#1
Am I completely nuts, or is there really something to that chirpy twang of the Micro Pog's octave up? I heard the Pitch Fork at a store a few months ago and immediately walked out with one because it cleans up that chirp, and it's the classic tale...when I play them at home I greatly prefer the Pitch Fork, but when I get on a gig, the Pitch Fork sounds like I have to run it louder for the upper octave to be heard and it seems to throw the balance off, and the upper octave always ends up being much louder than I think it should be to imitate the sound of an 8-string bass (NOTE: I don't want to hear any guff from you 8 and 12 string purists!). Never had that problem with the Micro Pog...the chirp is annoying, yes, but in the overall scheme of things, I think it may work better.

Been agonizing over the idea of a pedal sell-off and the the Micro Pog was on the chopping block, but I don't know now...the Pitch Fork is smaller and way less chirpy, but maybe I do want the chirp. Or do I? Anyone else have an opinion?
 
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#2
I was using the Micro POG for a while (octave up only).

I then saw a thread about the Pitch Fork here on TB, I viewed a few demos, read some reviews, and ultimately sold the Micro POG for the PF...though I don't necessarily regret that decision entirely, I do sometimes wish I had held onto the Micro POG just a while longer, mostly for the same reason as you, the PF does sound better solo IMO, but the Micro POG did seem to sound better? more full? with the band...It's tough to describe.

That being said, I've been considering looking at that new Nano POG.....
 
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#10
You know, the more I think about that out-of-tuneness of the Nano Pog, the more I have to say, "What in the hell was EHX thinking?" An octaver that's not even in tune with itself? Look, I know the drill about digital pitch shifting and the imperfection of pitches, but the Micro Pog and Pitch Fork both sound in tune with each other, so what gives? I've been a fan of EHX for decades, even when people were trashing their build quality, but this is just plain inexcusable.
 
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#11
I had the Micro POG, but found it to be too "artificial" or "synthetic" sounding. I was hoping to use it as an octave-up effect to replicate 8-string bass. I haven't tried any of the other EHX pitch effects. I'm thinking of trying the Foxrox Octron at some point. The octave-up on the Foxrox is distorted (apparently an inherent result of its analog circuitry), but I dig overdriven sounds, so I don't see that as a problem. Any of you guys tried it?
 
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#12
a couple things-
I like the micro the most out of the pog family- it is always just what i needed for a little glimmer during solos etc..

-one thing that i found useful (though convoluted) was using an fx looper i built that includes tunable filtering on the way in and out--- shaping the harsher high freq and superfluous low freq content of the BASS going INTO the POG (almost bandpassing the bass into the pog, but not so extreme) and then gently rolling off highs after the pog (somewhere in the range of a bass's passive tone control)- i then blended the pog signal (all wet and octave up only) with my own dry blend (because the 'dry' going into the POG is now affected by thefilters) gave me the results i wanted. Being able to keep some string noise in my dry signal WITHOUT the string noise being modulated drastically ccut down on the warbly chirpy gross-ness without sacrificing the presence. Again, this is only for the octave up, I do not care for the POG down octave AT ALL


jimmy- lets just say ehx makes some inexplicable decisions sometimes with what goes to market at what point in the fine-tuning and troubleshooting process

pog

pog

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pog





I have not used the pitchfork, but I like what I am hearing so far.. that is a tricky irony, though, the old living room vs stage conundrum
 
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#15
RockDoc said:
I had the Micro POG, but found it to be too "artificial" or "synthetic" sounding.
Click to expand...
Hmmm...seemed to have missed this before. Yeah, nobody's going to claim it's as good as an 8 string bass, but I had an 8 string bass before, and I've directly compared them and it was close enough to where I traded away a bass I might be able to shoehorn in on a song here and there but otherwise had no use for. I also hate changing basses during a gig and quite often don't have enough time, but I can always step on a pedal. It's all in the blend IMHO...too much and it sounds as artificial as all getout, but get it just enough in the mix to be heard and it's not bad at all. Is it cheating? Yes. Do I care? Well let's just say I have enough stuff keeping me up at night but never that.
 
#17
Ryan, was your Nano Pog only doing one octave? Because it sounded fine to me when the guy played only one octave at a time, and it sounded good and right in tune with your tracks, but it wasn't until he tried upper, lower, and dry all at the same time where the Nano Pog crashed and burned. Don't know if it's the interaction in the new algorithm causing it or if they only tuned each algorithm to the dry sound but not the other octave, but man, that's not even funny. Well, I guess if you had a ring modulator you could find some way to make it funny in some wacky lo-fi cheeseball 1970's Residents way ;) but how the heck does something like that slip through the cracks?
 
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#19
I used a Micro Pog on bass(primarily octave up for faux 8-string)for a long time, tried all manner of graphic and parametric EQ units to dial out that metallic overtone(as I called it)with little success, then I put together the money that I should have spent in the first place and got a Pog 2. Problem solved, plus presets and a few more features. I relegated the Micro to my guitar board; ironically the overtone is not as much of an issue. I just got a Pitchfork, more for Whammy chores, but I really haven't put it through its paces yet. I did check the MP through a tuner, and both synthetic pitches were true, but my ears tell me they're out. Is there some deceiving Doppler thing going on? Que pasa?
 
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#20
JimmyM said:
Micro Pog vs. Nano Pog just got much easier for me. Why I won't be getting the Nano Pog:



Not good at all. I can play out of tune on my own and don't need electronic help ;)
Click to expand...


Whoa, that's super weird. I had expected EHX to make it *less* warbly and odd, not MORE. I love the Micro because it's just off enough to be interesting. I didn't want it to go super clean but I didn't want it to be unusably out, either...

Interesting!!!
 

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