I think the best way to get more sustain would be to put a compressor before the Sub. Or use amp feedback (I've been doing that to good effect with my guitar and the Sub).
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Iron Ether Subterranea
- Thread starter JBNeedsBeer
- Start date
For me compression did the trick! This pedal sounds so stinking good! So rich, I haven't really had a use for an envelope filter but I'd like to hear the subt driving one..
Glad the comp worked. I also rarely used the envelope section of my Xerograph til a few weeks ago when I got the Sub- it really makes some crazy punchy and wild sweeps! Try adding the gated TAFM in too- sooo huge!
So I got mine last night. First impressions:
1. It's surprisingly light, which is welcomed since I don't want extra weight in my pedalboard.
2. Quality seems good. Definitely has a hand-made feel to it. Not a fan of the pedal switch, though, kinda hard to click but the spring off very little resistance.
3. The octave is just wonderful, like an OC-2 with no direct signal, but on steroids. REALLY good tracking - the best I've experienced in an analog pedal.
4. The filter control for the octave is MONEY! Instant dubstep. I wish the pedal had an expression out just for this. I put it in the center and leave it alone.
5. I have a weird phenomena with the clean signal volume. With single coil basses, I hear a bit of glitches in the background, like if the synth signal was bleeding through. With a humbucker bass, there are no glitches. And this is not single coil noise I'm taking about . . . But not an issue when when playing normally, so not an issue at all for me.
6. My main caveat: I wish the synth sound had a filter, because I find them incredible bright and not that good sounding on their own. I leave the UNI synth off and add just a 1/4 of the octave synth, because it's so bright. If the synths had a filer it will sweeten the sound so much.
7. You MUST run this pedal with an overdrive and/or filter after, it makes a huge, wonderful difference. I'm running a Billy Sheehan EBS and EBS fiter after it and it makes for a very happy threesome.
8. As other have done here, I'm still leaving the OC-2 in the pedal board for normal octave sounds. The Subterranea is like having that second OC-2 just for the synth sound, but with a stronger synth signal and better tracking.
Wondering if one could order a custom one with an expression pedal for the octave filter.
Soundclips coming soon.
1. It's surprisingly light, which is welcomed since I don't want extra weight in my pedalboard.
2. Quality seems good. Definitely has a hand-made feel to it. Not a fan of the pedal switch, though, kinda hard to click but the spring off very little resistance.
3. The octave is just wonderful, like an OC-2 with no direct signal, but on steroids. REALLY good tracking - the best I've experienced in an analog pedal.
4. The filter control for the octave is MONEY! Instant dubstep. I wish the pedal had an expression out just for this. I put it in the center and leave it alone.
5. I have a weird phenomena with the clean signal volume. With single coil basses, I hear a bit of glitches in the background, like if the synth signal was bleeding through. With a humbucker bass, there are no glitches. And this is not single coil noise I'm taking about . . . But not an issue when when playing normally, so not an issue at all for me.
6. My main caveat: I wish the synth sound had a filter, because I find them incredible bright and not that good sounding on their own. I leave the UNI synth off and add just a 1/4 of the octave synth, because it's so bright. If the synths had a filer it will sweeten the sound so much.
7. You MUST run this pedal with an overdrive and/or filter after, it makes a huge, wonderful difference. I'm running a Billy Sheehan EBS and EBS fiter after it and it makes for a very happy threesome.
8. As other have done here, I'm still leaving the OC-2 in the pedal board for normal octave sounds. The Subterranea is like having that second OC-2 just for the synth sound, but with a stronger synth signal and better tracking.
Wondering if one could order a custom one with an expression pedal for the octave filter.
Soundclips coming soon.
Taylor Livingston
Commercial User
Thanks for the review!
No, not possible. This type of filter requires a dual-ganged potentiometer, and to my knowledge no such expression pedal has ever been made. So adding expression control would mean adding an entirely separate voltage-controlled filter (adding to size and cost of the pedal). I think of the filter knob on the Sub more like a freebie tone control. The Subterranea was designed to be the harmonically-rich oscillator in your "instrument-controlled modular synth", to then be fed into and carved up by the Xerograph Deluxe (or whichever filter you like most - that's the great thing about modularity).
I have been using some new stomp switches recently - if you do have problems with it please contact me via email and I'll replace it with a different type of switch.
No, not possible. This type of filter requires a dual-ganged potentiometer, and to my knowledge no such expression pedal has ever been made. So adding expression control would mean adding an entirely separate voltage-controlled filter (adding to size and cost of the pedal). I think of the filter knob on the Sub more like a freebie tone control. The Subterranea was designed to be the harmonically-rich oscillator in your "instrument-controlled modular synth", to then be fed into and carved up by the Xerograph Deluxe (or whichever filter you like most - that's the great thing about modularity).
I have been using some new stomp switches recently - if you do have problems with it please contact me via email and I'll replace it with a different type of switch.
Do it! The combination of the two pedals is WAY more versatile than sweeping the filter on the Sub would be, and it allows you to affect the synth voices as well.
So XeroD was made to be a great fit to the oxide, the subt is awesome paired up to the xeroD...
How does the polytope fit in there?
I think all the IE pedals were made to essentially act like parts of a modular synth, and they all work really well together! The Polytope fills the function of the dual oscillators on a mono synth really well by adding depth to a single oscillator tone.
I have so much to learn! I'm off to google oscillator.
Thanks
Eric
Edit: oh!! I see, helps me understand the subt also.
Many thanks
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holy sh*** I already have a SubT, XeroD and Frantabit but that just made me seriously GAS for a Polytope 
I have found that increasing the bass going into the unit helps with sustain - sometimes a hot compressed signal works well too - like distortion or just a flat compressor. Sometimes the note you are playing is the cause - try the same note on a different string, or different octave.
hmm I might trying pre-eqing with more lows, because I just don't have room to justify a compressor on my board...
With my 5 string Alleva Coppllo LG I find the best synthy tones come from winding off the bridge pickup, rolling tone control off and turning on the onboard with some bass boost (usually run passive). It just seems to sound more like a synth and less like a bass doing synth.
Adding the 3leaf audio You're Doom afterwards gives a great Moog-y type quality to the sound as well. Then into a filter for awesome sounds. Very cool pedal the Sub-T as part of a modular synth!
Cheers
Ben
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Good god, I don't log into talk bass for ONE day and I miss my chance to have one delivered right to me. Unbelievable, seriously. I appreciate you mentioning I was looking for one. And JWR, thanks for coming to me with the sale. Wish I would have logged on and saw your message before today. I understand though. Gotta sell it to whoever has the money ready to go for ya! If anybody else is selling one on here let me know. I would love to snatch one up.
My Polytope seems to have a slight hiss and makes a not-so-slight "pop" when turned on and off. SubT and Oxide don't do this.
Not a big deal since I'm using a programmable switcher these days, but should I worry ?
Not a big deal since I'm using a programmable switcher these days, but should I worry ?
Mine did this too when I first got it years ago (both the pop and the hissing), but hasn't really done it noticeably recently- I know when I used to use my Rusty Box or B7K at the end of my chain they would really accentuate hissing from anything else (the Rusty Box is especially bad at this unless you roll the Treble down). It could also be the power supply- I went from using a 1-spot to a CIOKs isolated supply, and now I don't have any extraneous noise. Honestly the hiss from the Polytope was never enough to bother me as I always had other pedals that were far worse (like the EHX Small Clone that I replaced with the Polytope).
As far as the pop goes, the IE pedals all use a relay bypass I think, so I don't know if it could be static buildup like a normal stomp switch...
Disclaimer : I have no idea what I'm talking about
Ok guys, I haven't received my Xerograph Deluxe yet but I'm already trying to hack it...
I'd like to be able to toggle between expression control and the envelope thingy without running to the back of the stage to unplug the TRS jack from the pedal.
Now, for the pedal to "know" whether an expression pedal is plugged in, the TRS jack must break an electrical connection made by an actual physical connection in the jack plug, right ?
Say I make a very simple passive box with a 3PDT and 2 TRS jacks where one of the position connects the tip and ring, this would be electrically equivalent to unplugging the expression pedal... right ?
Possibly add an LED for convenience & we're good to roll... or aren't we ?
Edit : I suddenly fear the presence of a Mission Expressionator in the middle may make things not-so-simple... kinda forgot about this thing
Ok guys, I haven't received my Xerograph Deluxe yet but I'm already trying to hack it...
I'd like to be able to toggle between expression control and the envelope thingy without running to the back of the stage to unplug the TRS jack from the pedal.
Now, for the pedal to "know" whether an expression pedal is plugged in, the TRS jack must break an electrical connection made by an actual physical connection in the jack plug, right ?
Say I make a very simple passive box with a 3PDT and 2 TRS jacks where one of the position connects the tip and ring, this would be electrically equivalent to unplugging the expression pedal... right ?
Possibly add an LED for convenience & we're good to roll... or aren't we ?
Edit : I suddenly fear the presence of a Mission Expressionator in the middle may make things not-so-simple... kinda forgot about this thing
