• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

New Boss OC-5 Octave

#221
ugly_bassplayer said:
The “weird filter” thing on the solo OCT up is the reason I’m not getting this one.
Huge boss fan, was hopping it could replace my micro POG since it’s has a smaller footprint.

Guess I’m keeping the POG for the octave up soloed thing.

Still have my OC2 for the classic tone.
Click to expand...

Been looking into the oct up on the Sub n Up and feedback it's "tinny" which my EHX Pitchfork also suffered from. Shame, and I recall it Sub n Up having a touch of latency too. The best octave up I've come across, by a long way, is on my Digitech Mosaic - some of my fellow UK bass buddies couldn't tell it apart from my actual 8 string when they heard clips of the same riff played (although tbf most could!). Second best octave up was actually on my Helix HX Effects.

So, on reflection, the OC5 could well trump the Sub'n'up mini for me. Was there a clip of the "weird filter" thing on the solo Oct up posted on this thread that I've missed?
 
#222
Al Krow said:
Been looking into the oct up on the Sub n Up and feedback it's "tinny" which my EHX Pitchfork also suffered from. Shame, and I recall it Sub n Up having a touch of latency too. The best octave up I've come across, by a long way, is on my Digitech Mosaic - some of my fellow UK bass buddies couldn't tell it apart from my actual 8 string when they heard clips of the same riff played (although tbf most could!). Second best octave up was actually on my Helix HX Effects.

So, on reflection, the OC5 could well trump the Sub'n'up mini for me. Was there a clip of the "weird filter" thing on the solo Oct up posted on this thread that I've missed?
Click to expand...
Mosaic wont do Oct up only. The dry signal is always present.

All digital pitch shifting pedals have latency. Yes, all of them.

“Weird envelop thing” at 27:40 of video. My Micro Pog does not do that.
 
  • Like
Reactions: BrentSimons and Al Krow
#223
Fair enough. The Mosaic has pretty minimal latency with dry alongside and is digital - they've done a very good job! Besides, the issue of latency pretty much disappears if you don't have a clean dry running alongside, right?

Personally, I would not want solo oct up without the dry - my band would likely wonder where their bass player had gone and why he was suddenly pretending to be a guitarist, and probably also be a little worried that he might start shredding... :laugh:

Thanks for the clip + time stamp btw.
 
Last edited:
#224
Al Krow said:
Fair enough. The Mosaic has pretty minimal latency with dry alongside and is digital - they've done a very good job! Besides, the issue of latency pretty much disappears if you don't have a clean dry running alongside, right?

Personally, I would not want solo oct up without the dry - my band would likely wonder where their bass player had gone and why he was suddenly pretending to be a guitarist, and probably also be a little worried that he might start shredding... :laugh:

Thanks for the clip + time stamp btw.
Click to expand...
I use the oct up only in my dual rig. So its a very specific need/tool use.
It's to pitch shift up the bass to the "guitar" side of the set up.
Pog splits signals, one dry for bass one oct up for guitar in 2 separate amps.
 
#228
ugly_bassplayer said:
“Weird envelop thing” at 27:40 of video. My Micro Pog does not do that.
Click to expand...

I noticed that on my pedal as well. It's really only audible with the octave up soloed but still kind of strange. My guess is they're doing some kind of gating or something to reduce noise. Some octave up pedals have issues where they'll shift stuff like pickup hum which isn't normally noticeable into a screeching squeal. BOSS was probably trying to mitigate that.
 
#234
Just got it, spent 15 minutes on guitar and haven’t tried it on bass yet.

Initial impression is that it can’t handle any sort of finger style playing - the tracking for the root gets easily confused and latent. The octave up sounds more synth than twelve string, which isn’t a great sound on its own but mixes ok with the main guitar tone.

Will try with an acoustic guitar and electric bass tonight. The buffer sounds fine and it’s a pretty quiet pedal. I don’t think volume drop will be an issue, the octave down has plenty of gain on tap.
 
  • Like
Reactions: BunchyMutt
#235
fourstr00 said:
Just got it, spent 15 minutes on guitar and haven’t tried it on bass yet.

Initial impression is that it can’t handle any sort of finger style playing - the tracking for the root gets easily confused and latent. The octave up sounds more synth than twelve string, which isn’t a great sound on its own but mixes ok with the main guitar tone.

Will try with an acoustic guitar and electric bass tonight. The buffer sounds fine and it’s a pretty quiet pedal. I don’t think volume drop will be an issue, the octave down has plenty of gain on tap.
Click to expand...
Re: tracking with fingerstyle, did you notice a difference between the two modes?
 
#236
Had the OC-5 for a couple days now. So far it's a big improvement on the OC-3. I've owned the MIJ and MIT OC-2's and this sounds pretty similar although it's been a while since I've owned them so I can't say it's dead on balls accurate or anything. I'm a finger style player and it tracks really well. No noticeable noise, no loss of anything when its bypassed. No volume issues. I really really like it. It definitely has that OC-2 vibe and the poly mode seems to work pretty well. I'll have more as I play it over the next few days but I'm happy with my purchase for sure.
 
  • Like
Reactions: alack, 76jazzbass and BunchyMutt
#237
BunchyMutt said:
Re: tracking with fingerstyle, did you notice a difference between the two modes?
Click to expand...

Vintage is noticeably worse than poly for guitar. Arpeggios seem to be what confuse the root note tracker more than anything.

Tracking on bass is very good, although I’m not 100 percent sold on any of the sounds without blending in dry tone. My favorite sound so far has been -1 at 25 percent and dry at flat, giving just a little thicker tone. +1 on bass isn’t my thing, although it sounded good with acoustic guitar. -1 on acoustic sounded goofy, IMO.

I’ll give it some time but not sure this is kicking the BOD off my board. I might just not be an octave guy.

Speaking of which, I partially bought this because the dimensions are listed as smaller than a BOD. They’re not, although with the power in location it does have a slightly smaller side to side footprint. The OC-5 is wider and much thicker than a BOD.
 
#238
fourstr00 said:
Vintage is noticeably worse than poly for guitar. Arpeggios seem to be what confuse the root note tracker more than anything.

Tracking on bass is very good, although I’m not 100 percent sold on any of the sounds without blending in dry tone. My favorite sound so far has been -1 at 25 percent and dry at flat, giving just a little thicker tone. +1 on bass isn’t my thing, although it sounded good with acoustic guitar. -1 on acoustic sounded goofy, IMO.

I’ll give it some time but not sure this is kicking the BOD off my board. I might just not be an octave guy.

Speaking of which, I partially bought this because the dimensions are listed as smaller than a BOD. They’re not, although with the power in location it does have a slightly smaller side to side footprint. The OC-5 is wider and much thicker than a BOD.
Click to expand...

I would say the MXR BOD is hard to beat. It has so much oomf to the sound and it can sound pretty close to the OC2 -1.
Plus, I prefer the smaller size to the OC5.
 
  • Like
Reactions: the low one
#240
For those who get the new Boss OC-5 Octave pedal, if you also play guitar, let me know how it sounds in the poly mode with the range set on low just to track the lowest note. Particularly on strummed chords. I was planning on doing a duo with me on guitar and my backup bass player, but he has backed out, so I am looking at doing a solo act. I was checking out the Dig Deep pedal, but I have already bought a drum machine, vocal processor and need to get a couple of PA speakers, so I don't want to spend too much now.
I am going to trying splitting my guitar signal and run it through my MXR 10-band graphic (boost 125 hz, leave 63 and 250 flat and cut everything else) then go into the TC mini sub n up, with just the sub to see if that provides a usable low end. If not, I may get the Boss pedal. I have been having trouble with the tone print on the sub n up and can't get it back to poly, but it is defaulting to a sub always on and I can get it back to psychedelic diamonds, but that doesn't have a sub.
As a side note, when my band was setting up last Saturday at a restaurant/bar, there was a solo performer on the outside deck. He was a decent singer and as I was moving our band equipment inside, I looked and saw he was standing in front of a keyboard, but never played it (he had backing tracks). After awhile, he sounded really annoying to me and it was basically like karaoke. I looked at the venue's Facebook page and saw the performer's name and they had him listed as "live music on the deck" it was "live singing" not "live music."
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back