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New Electro-Harmonix Battalion Bass Preamp and DI

#24
petrus61 said:
Now that they know what they were missing, sure. I'd be happy to check out all the "Oh, how I wish my VT Bass, or Tone Hammer, or Darkglass pedal had an LPF/HPF" posts and threads pre-dating any Broughton mania if you'd be willing to link them, but again, small sample lot.
Click to expand...

Don't know about the others, but the Tone Hammer has a (non-adjustable) H&LPF on the AGS channel, and the various incarnations of the VT Bass have HPFs, some of which can be switched.
 
#25
Right now, for a flat out do-all preamp, I think the Tech 21 Q-Strip hits all the sweet spots. There's no fluff on it despite there being an pretty extensive range of tone shaping controls. And everything that's there is quality - and genuinely useful.

Sometimes it's not just how much as it is what you're getting that's important.

Or so I think anyway. YMMV. :):thumbsup:
 
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#26
I must disagree with my esteemed colleagues. This pedal looks like it may fill my needs perfectly. I like (good sounding) one knob compressors, I need a noise gate, and I like the distortion...
...and about that, it appears the EQ has three, switchable positions, so it can affect the distorted channel only? Is that true?
I can't seem to find any information on this thing on the EHX website.

And it looks like it DOES have a blend!
 
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#27
gregoire1 said:
I must disagree with my esteemed colleagues. This pedal looks like it may fill my needs perfectly. I like (good sounding) one knob compressors, I need a noise gate, and I like the distortion...
...and about that, it appears the EQ has three, switchable positions, so it can affect the distorted channel only? Is that true?
I can't seem to find any information on this thing on the EHX website.

And it looks like it DOES have a blend!
Click to expand...

Hey there, there should be more information on this out this coming week.

On the Pre/Post/Dry EQ - you're correct. In PreEQ the entire distortion section (including dry blend) comes before the EQ, so the EQ can have a pretty large effect on the tonal character of the distortion. In PostEQ the entire distortion comes after the EQ, the EQ's affect on the distortion is more subtle when the distortion is active (this mode is meant for EQ-ing your main signal, and putting distortion on top of that). In DryEQ, only the dry signal controlled with the blend knob is affected by the EQ. The distorted signal doesn't see the EQ at all. You can dramatically EQ your dry signal and blend it with an un-EQ'd distorted signal (with the Tone control still affecting the distorted signal). You can blend two really distinct tones in this mode for a sort of dual-amp style effect, or keep the Blend at max and use the Distortion footswitch as a pseudo channel switcher.

The distortion itself is a MOSFET circuit, similar to our OD Glove. It has a pretty big range of drive, can be subtle and can be pretty intense. Maybe the video didn't do a good enough job showing the range. I'm sure some other people will get some demo videos up in the coming weeks.

The compressor is all analog, similar but not identical to the Bass Preacher circuit. Can be pretty subtle or very squashed sounding.
 
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#31
Seems good as a basic DI but a lot of what this does, a Deluxe Bass Big Muff does and for less. Yeah this has compression but it would have to be some stellar compression which I just don't see with a single knob. Yeah it's got some DI functions too I guess but I can get most of the benefits out of using me Genzler MG800 as a DI. I suppose for someone who doesn't have a Big Muff or any other means to DI this could be great, and it could be useful as an all-in-one to carry along as a backup or for gigs where you don't' want to use a pedalboard. I may still get one for that purpose. Besides I'm an EHX fanboy so I'll have to own one eventually.
 
#35
I'll be going for it I think, depending on price. I've been needing a subtle drive with a dry blend forever and this looks like a version of the Soul Food, which I really like. I've also been super keen to have an 'ampless' solution with two pedals or fewer for quite some time. I'm especially happy to see the compressor function. Even if it's not a superb compressor (one would have to expect though that it's some variant of the Preacher circuit) I only use a little bit of Spectracomp on my live sound, so I expect it'll do the trick.

The other thing that is going to be super useful for me is the gate, because the other pedal in my chain will be my Microsynth, which can get quite noisy. I don't see that feature being terribly useful for anyone without additional drive/mod units though because the gain stage on the in-built drive circuit doesn't really seem to be unruly enough to require taming from a gate.

This will all come down to Australian street price for me, as EHX units tend to receive a vicious hike at retail. If our local price actually reflects US street of $150 and the unit is available for <$250AU this is a no brainer. I wouldn't be shocked to see it drop over here for closer to $400 though.

EDIT: Should have read Manny's post above before speculating on the components. I'm less into the OD Glove than the Soul Food, but the drive sounds pretty good regardless. Also cool that the comp is a version of the Preacher circuit. That's a good comp.
 
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#37
deepestend said:
It actually looks pretty good to me.

I don't understand the 1/4 out/headphone ready thing. What exactly does that mean? Does it "kind of" drive headphones? How does that work without a headphone volume?
Click to expand...

If you plug headphones into most pedal's output jack, you will likely only get sound out of one ear and the volume will be very low, if you plug headphones into the Battalion's output jack you will get sound out of both ears at a reasonable volume. If you use headphones the volume is controlled by the main volume knob.
 
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