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My Dirt Bender - Another Jounal
- Thread starter el murdoque
- Start date
Since the Internet seems to be quite hyped about that new Empress pedal,
let me start off with a drop of vermouth, as the Germans would say.
The Boost function is, from the viewpoint of a bassist, difficult.
Look at this:
I did set everything to noon. Gain, Boost, EQ, then recorded the pedal with the boost off. Then I activated the boost and reduced the output to match the non-boost output (this is the pre-gain boost, so the level did not jump that much, but it was noticeable) and recorded again.
To my naked eye, this looks like a HPF set at 500Hz with 3dB per octave. Let me tell you it's VERY noticeable to the naked ear.
let me start off with a drop of vermouth, as the Germans would say.
The Boost function is, from the viewpoint of a bassist, difficult.
Look at this:
I did set everything to noon. Gain, Boost, EQ, then recorded the pedal with the boost off. Then I activated the boost and reduced the output to match the non-boost output (this is the pre-gain boost, so the level did not jump that much, but it was noticeable) and recorded again.
To my naked eye, this looks like a HPF set at 500Hz with 3dB per octave. Let me tell you it's VERY noticeable to the naked ear.
Where was the Mix control set? At noon as well? And what about the Boost control?
I agree that the frequency graph does not look good for bass as there is too much of lows attenuation...but I am thinking that it perhaps may be caused by reducing the output. Could you please measure it again without reducing the output..and with less boost (Boost control set at 9 or 10 o'clock)? Thank you
Yeah I'd like to see a couple more plots:
- Boost active with no output reduction
- Boost active with reduced output, but adding in Bass to makeup the lows.
- EDIT: my hope for this setting is to act as a pseudo-low-passed clean-ish blend with higher gain settings
Last edited:
Mix was actually set at 3 o'clock.
Here's Boost on / boost off with everything at noon, except for mix, which is set 100% wet, no correction in levels.
Even though not exactly per your request, I do think this shows the info you're after. All taken at the same gain and level, no correction. Everything at noon except for mix, which is 100% wet, and the yellow curve is with the bass knob maxed out. It can certainly take care of the bass cut and then some.
The problem, is that you will have the jump between bass response, no matter what you do. You can either set proper bass response with the boost off, which will result in bass dropping audibly when activating boost or you can set the boost sound to sound good, but that might result in overwhelming bass when the boost is off.
I hear you there, and I agree, I don't think it would be suitable for switching between the settings - I was thinking about it as 'always on' for an alternative approach to tailor the low end response at higher gain settings.
Yeah, that's bad. It's a direct consequence of the decision to place EQ controls after mix (and the HPF on the Boost feature)... Such an approach works for guitar but not so much for bass, IMO.
What I love about pedals like Damnation audio MBD(3), EBS Sheehan Ultimate, TECH 21 MP40/YYZ Shapeshifter, is that the boost does not affect lows...so it's possible to have consistent low end while using the boost feature...
Empress Drive, playing you reminds of other pedals. Certain characteristics feel similar, or close enough to make my synapses go pop, and the list of Pedals I'm thinking of is impressive. Impressive to me, that is.
It's very easy to get a sound that makes you rig sound $1000 more expensive. That's a trait I usually associate with the Origin Effects DCX Bass, one of my all-time favourites. The nature of the drive is dynamic and tube like, the generated harmonics have that feeling of ripping very expensive cloth. This reminds me of the normal channel of the Verellen Meatsmoke - one of my all-time favorites. The way the pedal pushes back and fights to clear up on note decay, something that I associate more with the feeling of the pedal than the sound, makes me look at my Audio Kitchen Fake Plastic Trees - you guessed it, all-time favourite. This is some pretty elevated company - it seems like I'm sorting this one into the top shelf, and I feel like I've only scratched the surface. We have 9 knobs to twiddle with, but this pedal does not feel complicated at all. The one thing that sticks out is the midrange control. With the aforementioned boost-issues, I can ignore the boost knob and switch for now. Then there's the gate. As long as your intention is to add some tasteful drive to your signal, the gate is as useful as indicator lights on a BMW.
In low to medium gain settings, his pedal is as silent as a bunch of toddlers who are up to something.
I played around with it to get a feel for it and it works. Might be a bit quicker to choke sounds, but at least it does not slam shut like Paris Metro Door (if you've never been, these doors have been designed by the descendants of the people of 1789, and you're involuntarily thinking of heads dropping in baskets), but glides in smoothly. If you're running the gain super high and think about using the boost to add some extra, this function might come in handy - but I'm putting it in the same basket as the boost circuit and ignore it for now. What remains is a very straightforward drive pedal with gain, level, and two band EQ, plus the parametric mids to shape the drive.
It's very easy to get a sound that makes you rig sound $1000 more expensive. That's a trait I usually associate with the Origin Effects DCX Bass, one of my all-time favourites. The nature of the drive is dynamic and tube like, the generated harmonics have that feeling of ripping very expensive cloth. This reminds me of the normal channel of the Verellen Meatsmoke - one of my all-time favorites. The way the pedal pushes back and fights to clear up on note decay, something that I associate more with the feeling of the pedal than the sound, makes me look at my Audio Kitchen Fake Plastic Trees - you guessed it, all-time favourite. This is some pretty elevated company - it seems like I'm sorting this one into the top shelf, and I feel like I've only scratched the surface. We have 9 knobs to twiddle with, but this pedal does not feel complicated at all. The one thing that sticks out is the midrange control. With the aforementioned boost-issues, I can ignore the boost knob and switch for now. Then there's the gate. As long as your intention is to add some tasteful drive to your signal, the gate is as useful as indicator lights on a BMW.
In low to medium gain settings, his pedal is as silent as a bunch of toddlers who are up to something.
I played around with it to get a feel for it and it works. Might be a bit quicker to choke sounds, but at least it does not slam shut like Paris Metro Door (if you've never been, these doors have been designed by the descendants of the people of 1789, and you're involuntarily thinking of heads dropping in baskets), but glides in smoothly. If you're running the gain super high and think about using the boost to add some extra, this function might come in handy - but I'm putting it in the same basket as the boost circuit and ignore it for now. What remains is a very straightforward drive pedal with gain, level, and two band EQ, plus the parametric mids to shape the drive.
@tidbits @Zbysek
Yeah, that boost function leaves room for hope, maybe?
Yeah, that boost function leaves room for hope, maybe?
The first setting I settled on is with the mix up nearly all the way, gain at 10 o'clock, bass slightly boosted, treble with a solid boost and the mids set to around 1k with a gentle boost. This gives my bass a bit 'moar'. There's more of everything and there is a touch sensitive saturation to be had. The gain is set so that playing with a soft touch does not add any drive to the low notes and they remain intact. The treble is turned up so that I get a bit of sparkle up top, something my flatwound strings don't do on their own. This lets me use the dynamic response of the unit to accentuate notes as I please and add some gentle and expensive sounding grind through plucking strength alone. There are more responsive pedals out there, but the Empress is doing a great job in that regard. Double stops bloom up, but there's note separation and they clear up on note decay. Push and the Drive pushes back. It's not a fight, though. It's a dance.
High praises indeed. I'm really looking forward to putting it through its paces, even though it will probably land as my low-gain always on pedal where I have my DCX bass right now.
@el murdoque while it's a bummer that the Boost cuts that much bass in the pre-gain position, don't forget that you can throw it on the post gain setting to hit whatever is running downstream harder. That HPF on the Boost is only present for pre-gain, not post. This is how I intend to use it.
@el murdoque while it's a bummer that the Boost cuts that much bass in the pre-gain position, don't forget that you can throw it on the post gain setting to hit whatever is running downstream harder. That HPF on the Boost is only present for pre-gain, not post. This is how I intend to use it.
See Post #2 by myself in the below thread.
This looks incredibly cool. Super flexible EQ, configurable pre/post boost, VU meter?!
Product page
empresseffects.com
Bass The World demo
Product page
Drive
Most overdrives are built around one particular character. The Empress Drive gives you the tools to shape your own. Instead of locking you into a single flavour of overdrive, it lets you shape the harmonic structure that determines how a drive sounds and responds.With pre-overdrive mid shaping...
empresseffects.com
Bass The World demo
...especially since I personally found the Bass version of the EQ a bit redundant. I've had the ParaEQ Deluxe for a while before the Bass version came out and no particular complaints about it or wishes for a bass specific version. So when they did that, they surely will make a bass specific Drive?
See Post #2 by myself in the below thread.
This looks incredibly cool. Super flexible EQ, configurable pre/post boost, VU meter?!
Product page
Drive
Most overdrives are built around one particular character. The Empress Drive gives you the tools to shape your own. Instead of locking you into a single flavour of overdrive, it lets you shape the harmonic structure that determines how a drive sounds and responds.With pre-overdrive mid shaping...
Bass The World demo
Which begs the question - what do we want on the BASS VERSION? Maybe a switch to tune/disable the HPF on the pre-gain boost? A switch to add a lowpass to the clean mix (a la Doom 2)? Could even be internal dipswitches... Remove the Gate function in favor of running the boost independently?
Seems like the blend would help keep the fundamental but I guess it’s fighting a losing battle with the HPF. Would putting the HPF at much lower frequencies and post-boost and EQ be enough to not only fix but let the blend work better?
Mine just arrived, and I played around with it just a little bit and immediately found a few settings I'd like.
Just playing solo, I feel like I could easily dial in something similar to both how I'm using the DCX and the Blumes. At lower settings it cleans up at light touches, and gets nicely gritty when you dig in. I really like that pre-gain mids control. It's a fun exercise to put the frequency up to max, and compare how the tone changes when you dial in the Mids pre-gain vs the Treble post gain The only disappointment with this low-gain setting is that the VU meter is basically a huge orange LED as the needle barely moves between the first two ticks
The HPF on the boost could be a little frustrating initially but I'm going to hold judgement until I try it out in a band setting. Just with the headphones on I felt like I was able to dial in a good boost (just above 9 o clock) that should let me step out and riff with the guitars without diminishing the low end. That will be tested at volume and by FEEL at some point later on.
It will have to wait a bit before I have time to mess around with higher gain settings.
Just playing solo, I feel like I could easily dial in something similar to both how I'm using the DCX and the Blumes. At lower settings it cleans up at light touches, and gets nicely gritty when you dig in. I really like that pre-gain mids control. It's a fun exercise to put the frequency up to max, and compare how the tone changes when you dial in the Mids pre-gain vs the Treble post gain The only disappointment with this low-gain setting is that the VU meter is basically a huge orange LED as the needle barely moves between the first two ticks
The HPF on the boost could be a little frustrating initially but I'm going to hold judgement until I try it out in a band setting. Just with the headphones on I felt like I was able to dial in a good boost (just above 9 o clock) that should let me step out and riff with the guitars without diminishing the low end. That will be tested at volume and by FEEL at some point later on.
It will have to wait a bit before I have time to mess around with higher gain settings.
