That's a good point. I haven't really thought about switching between clean and dirt mid set/song, and maybe I should. I can see that being a pain point with split loops. Sounds like VT and X7 is a good starting point in any case.
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Microtubes X
- Thread starter Frank_Raider
- Start date
That's a good point. I haven't really thought about switching between clean and dirt mid set/song, and maybe I should. I can see that being a pain point with split loops. Sounds like VT and X7 is a good starting point in any case.
I don't know if I should start a new tread for this, but I hope that you guys here could help.
Long story short last year I had a low pass filter knob on my X Ultra broken that caused no signal from the low band at all. In that state, distortion on a pedal was unusable. So I contacted tech support and they said that I wouldn't be able to find the replacement part on the market and that I should contact the dealer first. The problem was, that the dealer is a small Reverb shop a couple thousand kilometers away from me (and even not on official dealer list as I checked) and it was full lockdown and also I needed my pedal to be in working condition as soon as posible cause I used it to stream weekly. My local official dealer said that they won't repair pedals that aren't bought from them even for the additional cost. So I made a bold move and decided to fix it myself. I fixed the potentiometer and it started working just fine, but in the process I accidentally ripped out this little D7 diode (pictured below) which resulted in a pedal working with a clean channel with a bit of low end shelf boost (with afrequency regulated by low poss knob) instead of low channel. Everything else is working just fine. So I ended up with a only clean-blended X Ultra mod in excitence I guess, which is kinda cool, but I still want it to work as it was intended to do. So, the support team doesn't answer to my emails and the site form doesn't seem to respond too. All I need to know is what diode exactly was there so I can buy it and solder it there. Maybe somebody who own XU can take a picture of their pedal inside or @Darkglass could say what part was that?
PS I know that my soldering looks awful, I'm working on it
Long story short last year I had a low pass filter knob on my X Ultra broken that caused no signal from the low band at all. In that state, distortion on a pedal was unusable. So I contacted tech support and they said that I wouldn't be able to find the replacement part on the market and that I should contact the dealer first. The problem was, that the dealer is a small Reverb shop a couple thousand kilometers away from me (and even not on official dealer list as I checked) and it was full lockdown and also I needed my pedal to be in working condition as soon as posible cause I used it to stream weekly. My local official dealer said that they won't repair pedals that aren't bought from them even for the additional cost. So I made a bold move and decided to fix it myself. I fixed the potentiometer and it started working just fine, but in the process I accidentally ripped out this little D7 diode (pictured below) which resulted in a pedal working with a clean channel with a bit of low end shelf boost (with afrequency regulated by low poss knob) instead of low channel. Everything else is working just fine. So I ended up with a only clean-blended X Ultra mod in excitence I guess, which is kinda cool, but I still want it to work as it was intended to do. So, the support team doesn't answer to my emails and the site form doesn't seem to respond too. All I need to know is what diode exactly was there so I can buy it and solder it there. Maybe somebody who own XU can take a picture of their pedal inside or @Darkglass could say what part was that?
PS I know that my soldering looks awful, I'm working on it
Hey guys, potentially stupid question but, with the X series, what becomes of the frequencies between the two cutoff frequencies?
So, if for example I set the Low Pass Frequency to 50hz (all the way counter clockwise) and the High Pass Frequency to 1kHz (all the way clockwise), what happens to everything in between? Are all those frequencies just gone now? Do you have to make sure that they're abutting or overlapping to ensure a full range sound?
So, if for example I set the Low Pass Frequency to 50hz (all the way counter clockwise) and the High Pass Frequency to 1kHz (all the way clockwise), what happens to everything in between? Are all those frequencies just gone now? Do you have to make sure that they're abutting or overlapping to ensure a full range sound?
So I guess the easiest way to make sure you're getting a full range sound is to set them both to 500hz? Seems like anything other than that and you're either overlapping or just eyeballing it with the knobs and potentially losing some freqs.
Honestly, I try to let my ears do the work in this scenario. Adjusting the cutoff for both bands to sounds as close to the undistorted tone (or not depending on what you're going for). But it's definitely easy to accidentally dial in a huge scoop in the sound. I did this kind of jokingly the other day and absolutely nailed Justin Chancellor's tone on "schism." My 9th grade self would've been delighted haha.
To make it clear, that scoop is what you hear in many X demos online and imho it is the X sound. Very usable and desirable depending on the tone you are after. If you don’t want it you can either overlap the freqs or rescue the mids through EQ elsewhere in the chain or on the pedal (that’s why all sizes have a mid control), freq bands are never magically wiped in an analog processor.
I thought about this for a long time, and it was the reason I didn't buy an X7 until maybe 1.5 years after the release.
My advice? Don't look at the knobs. Dial it in so it sounds good in the context of YOUR mix. Everyone says that mids are essential for bass if you want to be heard in a mix. I play in a death metal band (so that's two guitarists who think that more gain=more talent, and a drummer with lead feet) and my crossovers are about 200Hz low and 800Hz high, and **** me if I don't sit PERFECTLY in our mix.
That mid gap isn't as important as you might think.
Remember, the low pass knob doesn't determine what frequencies you're boosting or cutting, it only selects the frequency the *compressor* boosts (lower for more boom, higher for more finger-thump) and the high pass determines what frequencies the *distortion* boosts (lower for more fuzz, higher for more clank). In my band mix I've had great results with both high low pass (3 o'clock) and low high pass (9 o'clock), and low low pass (12-10 o'clock) and high high pass (12-2 o'clock).
And if you've got an active bass or eq pedal, no one's saying you can't boost your mids a bit
Think of each filter as having a gentle rolloff beginning at the selected frequency, it isn't a vertical drop. You'll still have some mids even when the filters are spread wide, but of course they will be scooped.
I thought about this for a long time, and it was the reason I didn't buy an X7 until maybe 1.5 years after the release.
My advice? Don't look at the knobs. Dial it in so it sounds good in the context of YOUR mix. Everyone says that mids are essential for bass if you want to be heard in a mix. I play in a death metal band (so that's two guitarists who think that more gain=more talent, and a drummer with lead feet) and my crossovers are about 200Hz low and 800Hz high, and **** me if I don't sit PERFECTLY in our mix.
That mid gap isn't as important as you might think.
Remember, the low pass knob doesn't determine what frequencies you're boosting or cutting, it only selects the frequency the *compressor* boosts (lower for more boom, higher for more finger-thump) and the high pass determines what frequencies the *distortion* boosts (lower for more fuzz, higher for more clank). In my band mix I've had great results with both high low pass (3 o'clock) and low high pass (9 o'clock), and low low pass (12-10 o'clock) and high high pass (12-2 o'clock).
And if you've got an active bass or eq pedal, no one's saying you can't boost your mids a bit
I agree with this.
Thanks guys. I done gone and ordered one lol. I'm curious though which of the controls are actually active in clean mode? Is it just the EQ sliders and, if in blue mode, the compression?
The drive side adds a lot of mid harmonics with the clipping, but a scoop is definitely a part of most of the X tones unless you leave the Low band crossover up high and the High band below noon. I would have much preferred to be able to dial the Low band to incorporate a wider frequency range for the tones I wanted so it ultimately wasn’t for me, but it is capable of tons of uniquely brutal tones!
Hello everyone
I have read the entire thread and if I have read it correctly the DG Microtubes X can go to 9-12-18 V... but on the DG page it says the following; (Copy and paste from page) Warning
The Microtubes X has a current draw of 30mA. Use only a regulated 9V DC adapter with a center negative plug.
Unregulated power supplies and/or higher voltages can result in sub-optimal noise performance and even damage your unit, voiding your warranty.
I understood that it was something to modify from the people of Dg, but that's been a few years and it raises doubts... tomorrow I'm going to try my X and I don't know whether to take a risk and leave it at 9V or without problem I can with 12 or 18V. ? Thanks
I have read the entire thread and if I have read it correctly the DG Microtubes X can go to 9-12-18 V... but on the DG page it says the following; (Copy and paste from page) Warning
The Microtubes X has a current draw of 30mA. Use only a regulated 9V DC adapter with a center negative plug.
Unregulated power supplies and/or higher voltages can result in sub-optimal noise performance and even damage your unit, voiding your warranty.
I understood that it was something to modify from the people of Dg, but that's been a few years and it raises doubts... tomorrow I'm going to try my X and I don't know whether to take a risk and leave it at 9V or without problem I can with 12 or 18V. ? Thanks
They used to have an FAQ page on the website that specified which pedals could be powered with higher voltages, and I know the X7 was one of them and I used it that way for awhile (not sure about the X). The FAQ page is now missing. I would message Darkglass to ask them before trying higher voltages
That’s a good idea for sure. My guess is that now that Darkglass is part of Korg that Korg is instituting some of their more conservative standards to avoid frivolous warranty repair claims- opening the door to people trying non-standard voltages is bound to lead to stupid mistakes where people apply the wrong polarity or wrong adaptor, etc and fry components. I can’t imagine they’d start using less tolerant capacitors or anything as it probably isn’t worth the change or potential risks, but they may well take a more conservative by-the-book approach to what they will say is safe and not
I reckon worth reaching out to double check incase there has been a change to the parts and newer pedals can no longer take on the higher voltages.
On saying this, I found 12/18V not to be to my liking. My (passive) bass has quite a hot output as is and to get my preferred level of breakup/distortion I was having to do a fair amount of boosting causing noise.
I contacted DG and this is their response: Technically with Microtubes X, you can use higher voltages of 12V/18V as mentioned.
With this specific design, we would not recommend using higher voltages as the actual gains would be minimal.
You can definitely try this out yourself and verify if that works for you.
Thank you all
With this specific design, we would not recommend using higher voltages as the actual gains would be minimal.
You can definitely try this out yourself and verify if that works for you.
Thank you all
