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Tech 21 VT Bass DI
- Thread starter lustersilk
- Start date
I'm curious what the speaker sim defeat switch does on this version, is it a tightening of the lows & highs? I've had the the Vt bass version 1 & 2, definitely preferred v2 for the speaker sim defeat got rid of the ugly highs that it seems this bite switch now does. I liked the fliptop setting the best as a starting point for eqing on the v2 vt bass, I'm tempted to go another round & try this version with the blend & bite switch.
To my ears through the DI.....the speaker sim sounds like it is passing through a mic.....as soon as you defeat the sim it sounds like someone plugged you straight in. That is about the best way I describe it I think. For my purpose of this pedal I prefer it on......though I could understand using it through an amp you may want it off. If I can later maybe I'll try and get a clip of what the BITE and SIM do separately.
Thanks Spego, sounds like they separated the eq changes from v2's speaker sim defeat into 2 separate switches.
FWIW, I'm going to scope the pedal with the SIM on/off and Bite On/Off when I get a chance, just for fun. I'll post up some graphs here. According to the manual, the Bite switch is what tightens up the bottom and filters "subharmonic" content down low, and I can hear that a bit though it's hard to know for sure since it all engages all that buzzsaw upper mid content. But, with the Speaker Sim engaged, the bottom doesn't sound overly extended or boomy to my ears. Perhaps that means it's also tightening up the bottom there as well.
Graphing it will probably be a better option than sound clips.....that will be interesting to see.
I've been using a Zoom MS-60b at home as a preamp lately with the BassDrive sansamp clone setting, using built in eq's to tame the lows & highs like the VT bass. A graph of the VT Bass DI would definitely be cool to see. Tech 21's descriptions of some of there switches & knobs in manuals & even there posts on TB are often cryptic, to me at least. I like to know what specific frequency's are doing.
A fellow TB'er (who can announce himself if he wishes) just made me aware of an issue he had with his VTDI, and was curious if I had the same. Turns out I do, and would have likely never noticed it if he hadn't said something.
Essentially, if you push a lot of Drive (as in noon or higher), then there is some bleed from the Sansamp circuitry into the dry signal even if you have the Blend control fully counter clockwise. The harder you drive it, the more it comes through. On mine, it even comes through if I turn the level completely off. Using headphones, with my bass, I can noticeably hear some signal coming through around noon'ish on the Drive control. It's very faint.
The strange thing is that even with the pedal off, as in supposedly bypassed, there is still some wet signal coming through the pedal if the Drive control is set very high. It's quite faint in this mode compared to the hotter bypassed signal, but it's there, ever so slightly.
None of this is a problem at all for me and how I use the pedal, which is basically to just warm up my dry signal a good bit with no overdrive.
But some others are going to not like this. This TB'er mentioned that Tech21 replaced a cap on his that supposedly fixed the issue, albeit with some tradeoffs involved.
We'll see how this shakes out.
Essentially, if you push a lot of Drive (as in noon or higher), then there is some bleed from the Sansamp circuitry into the dry signal even if you have the Blend control fully counter clockwise. The harder you drive it, the more it comes through. On mine, it even comes through if I turn the level completely off. Using headphones, with my bass, I can noticeably hear some signal coming through around noon'ish on the Drive control. It's very faint.
The strange thing is that even with the pedal off, as in supposedly bypassed, there is still some wet signal coming through the pedal if the Drive control is set very high. It's quite faint in this mode compared to the hotter bypassed signal, but it's there, ever so slightly.
None of this is a problem at all for me and how I use the pedal, which is basically to just warm up my dry signal a good bit with no overdrive.
But some others are going to not like this. This TB'er mentioned that Tech21 replaced a cap on his that supposedly fixed the issue, albeit with some tradeoffs involved.
We'll see how this shakes out.
Those were graphed with pink noise going through the pedal......should I have used something else?
I'm surprised there wasn't a steeper rolloff of highs & lows. I could see variations with the settings in the graphs however. The bite added upper mids & the speaker sim added lows & chopped highs. The speaker sim defeated on VT bass v2 seemed to do what the bite switch off does on this pedal as part of its magic.
I did also confirm that with the level all the way down, blend all the way down, and the drive all the way up.....there is definitely bleed over of distortion coming through. If you then lower the lows, mids and highs then there is complete silence however. Seems with the blend on zero there wouldn't be any of that gain sneaking through. It won't affect the way I'm using it anyway but just confirming mine is the same way.
FYI: I have been leaving the "Bite" Off, I coming from a VT Bass V1 never having to deal with that before. I noticed a lot of hiss also gets cancelled with the Bite Off.
I'll await your graphs then.....I'm not hooking it all up again.
I recall reading an article somewhere about testing frequency range of audio equipment and it told me to do that. I may have taken it out of context or something. Who knows.
svtb15
Inactive
- Mar 22, 2004
- 13,004
- 4,741
- Disclosures
- I play it all. Whatever works for the gig. Q+
i was under the assumption that the sounds in the VT v1 were the same as the VTDI with the BITE pushed in.. and that the Button out is a new feature exclusive to the VTDI
No?
No?
Im assuming that the V2 was voiced with the high attack "bite" that can never be turned off. My V1 was mellow and smooth. Nothing like the VTDI with the Bite On.... I certainly never heard as much "hiss" ever, with my V1.
Anyone?
Anyone?
I had VT Bass version 1 & 2. V2 sounded exactly the same as V1 with the speaker sim engaged. Turning it off tamed the clanky sometimes harsh nature of the high mids/treble region. The speaker sim defeat probably did more than just boost the upper mids on V2. Now possibly the VT Bass DI has separated the other shift of eq I didn't notice, a fuller bottom end with a faster rolloff of highs? I don't know but either way the speaker sim defeated was an improvement in tone for me with V2. This bite switch turned off on this pedal with the blend nob rolled back slightly on the fliptop setting would probably soung good for my everyday use.
