None of the issues are visual, that's for sure.
Just so happens I had gotten a purple PA puppy with green LED myself
so needless to say, I find it quite babealicious in the X form!
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The Sushi Box FX Secret Society
- Thread starter kranahan
- Start date
None of the issues are visual, that's for sure.
Just so happens I had gotten a purple PA puppy with green LED myself
so needless to say, I find it quite babealicious in the X form!
Alright, I have a lead on the SBVT issue, but it's late and I have work in the morning, so it will have to wait until tomorrow. And frankly if this lead doesn't pan out then I'm going to build up a new board to test, because there may very well be a manufacturing issue with this one. Anyway, more news tomorrow evening probably.
Hey gang... what are the minimum power requirements for a Dr. Wattson? Would a 9 volt 1700mA TruTone OneSpot do the trick?
Thanks!
Thanks!
@Sushi Box FX
Just wanted to confirm that the Deep Dish needs 12V and won't work with a 9V input like some of the other 12AX7 pedals?
Just wanted to confirm that the Deep Dish needs 12V and won't work with a 9V input like some of the other 12AX7 pedals?
Yup, OneSpot works great. If it's a mni-tube Dr. Wattson realistic minimum is probably around 800-900mA.
I've continued just printing 12V on them, Effectrode insists that LA-1A run on 12V, but I just did a quick A/B and I don't hear a difference between 9V and 12V on my Deep Dish. I'll change the printing on that one as well starting this month, 9-12V for Deep Dish is fine.
Ok great, thanks! I've got a used Deep Dish incoming. I'll try it at 9V first and see how that goes before I go hunting for a 12V wall wart.
Westinghouse in the house! Love the colour scheme. Will try to remember to apply 9V only.
Your otherwise-unobtainable replacement pedal is on it's way by Canadian Delivery Moose.I see my old Octabvre...
Brief I-Should-Be-Working-Right-Now test:
- Plugged into the DI on my Chameleon Labs mic pre with the EQ defeated, so just straight DI to headphones. It's kind of subtle on it's own, but when you turn it off you definitely notice that it's gone. It's hard to describe what it's doing, but it sounds like I'm getting some slight midrange emphasis/magic, and also seems to sort of bring the overall sound into focus, like focusing a camera lens or putting on a new pair of glasses with a proper prescription. The overall tone just sounds more lively and distinct when it's on. Definitely a great tone enhancer.
- With the Volts and Level cranked to max, and the input gain on the interface reduced to suit, there is some very slight overdrive happening. I'd describe it has mildly hairy, but not overtly overdriven sound. I wouldn't describe this as an overdrive pedal in any way.
- I get a similar high pitched whistling noise at lower voltages, as described by a few others here. The frequency of the sound seems to move up in frequency as you increase the voltage, I believe shifting to above the audible hearing range beyond about 12:00-1:00 on the Volts dial. At max voltage there is no extraneous noise. It is dead quiet in fact.
- This is very similar to noise that I've had with my Dr. Wattson as well, which seems to intermittently come and go. With this in mind, I'd wager that it is not related to the EF86 tube, and something else in the circuit that's common to these two pedals. Without proclaiming to know anything about what I'm talking about, I'd be leaning towards a ghost in the power supply as has previously been suggested.
- I'm going to leave the pedal plugged in over night and see if it's still there in the morning.
- I get a sort of springy noise when I tap hard on the enclosure or hit the bypass switch. I've never experienced a microphonic tube before, but I'd put money down that this is it. It's not catastrophic, but I'm going to sign up for a replacement if that's still an option.
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So it turns out I'm dumb sometimes. The whining noise people are getting with the sweep of the volt knob has nothing to do with microphonic tubes. When it's pumping high voltage, the switch-mode power supply I use runs at a frequency of about 45kHz, far above human hearing range. If I'm telling the power supply to drop the output voltage, it does that by dropping the switching frequency, that's what the Volts pot is hooked up to. The whine drops off when you get around 1:00 or 2:00 because that will be right around when the power supply passes 20kHz or so and sits nicely above hearing range. When the volts are turned low the power supply is switching inside hearing range (around 10kHz at the lowest setting I think), so you can hear it.Brief I-Should-Be-Working-Right-Now test:
Despite the noise, I'm keeping this pedal. If Sr. Sushi ever comes up with a fix for the (alleged) power supply noise I'd be looking to get that fixed asap.
- Plugged into the DI on my Chameleon Labs mic pre with the EQ defeated, so just straight DI to headphones. It's kind of subtle on it's own, but when you turn it off you definitely notice that it's gone. It's hard to describe what it's doing, but it sounds like I'm getting some slight midrange emphasis/magic, and also seems to sort of bring the overall sound into focus, like focusing a camera lens or putting on a new pair of glasses with a proper prescription. The overall tone just sounds more lively and distinct when it's on. Definitely a great tone enhancer.
- I get a similar high pitched whistling noise at lower voltages, as described by a few others here. The frequency of the sound seems to move up in frequency as you increase the voltage, I believe shifting to above the audible hearing range beyond about 12:00-1:00 on the Volts dial. At max voltage there is no extraneous noise. It is dead quiet in fact.
- This is very similar to noise that I've had with my Dr. Wattson as well, which seems to intermittently come and go. With this in mind, I'd wager that it is not related to the EF86 tube, and something else in the circuit that's common to these two pedals. I'd be leaning towards a ghost in the power supply as has previously been suggested.
- I'm going to leave the pedal plugged in over night and see if it's still there in the morning.
- I get a sort of springy noise when I tap hard on the enclosure or hit the bypass switch. I've never experienced a microphonic tube before, but I'd put money down that this is it. It's not catastrophic, but I'm going to sign up for a replacement if that's still an option.
So I guess the good news is I figured out the problem mathematically, the bad news is that this means a new tube won't fix the problem, I have to figure something else out, which is complicated as it won't likely be a user serviceable fix and I'm going to end up recalling all the Westinghouses I just sent out.
So the easy fix - pretend it doesn't have a Volts control and run it at high voltage all the time
I guess the main reason I made it controllable at all was for the people that still wanted to get exactly the Edison tone, otherwise I probably would have just had it hard-wired for high voltage as I think it sounds better. I guess that's what I get for trying to make everyone happy The hard fix - I redesign to either heavily filter the regulator to reduce the whine, or use two separate supplies internally and have a "LV/HV" switch to go between the two instead of a pot to sweep them.
Well, I'm glad you figured it out! I'm sorry it's not an easy fix.So it turns out I'm dumb sometimes. The whining noise people are getting with the sweep of the volt knob has nothing to do with microphonic tubes. When it's pumping high voltage, the switch-mode power supply I use runs at a frequency of about 45kHz, far above human hearing range. If I'm telling the power supply to drop the output voltage, it does that by dropping the switching frequency, that's what the Volts pot is hooked up to. The whine drops off when you get around 1:00 or 2:00 because that will be right around when the power supply passes 20kHz or so and sits nicely above hearing range. When the volts are turned low the power supply is switching inside hearing range (around 10kHz at the lowest setting I think), so you can hear it.
So I guess the good news is I figured out the problem mathematically, the bad news is that this means a new tube won't fix the problem, I have to figure something else out, which is complicated as it won't likely be a user serviceable fix and I'm going to end up recalling all the Westinghouses I just sent out.
So the easy fix - pretend it doesn't have a Volts control and run it at high voltage all the time
The hard fix - I redesign to either heavily filter the regulator to reduce the whine, or use two separate supplies internally and have a "LV/HV" switch to go between the two instead of a pot to sweep them.
For what it's worth, and I can't stress this enough for anyone out there following along, it sounds fantastic with no audible issues when the Volts are turned up above the audible range.
And with my glorious 20/20 hindsight I wish I had just left it as a high voltage preamp with a single control. I have yet to hear an amp or preamp, especially with tubes involved, that sounded better at lower voltage. Trying to decide what I want to do long-term for Westinghouse now. Is it the weekend yet?
So you're saying my dogs will still hear it? unacceptable! j/k
Just make the switch, or nothing at all and leave it high, you know that's where its supposed to be anyway. In a way I look at that pot like, "this is how they make it, this is how I make it" just do you and make it sound guud!! This is no simple heater
and as I typed the above lol
And with my glorious 20/20 hindsight I wish I had just left it as a high voltage preamp with a single control. I have yet to hear an amp or preamp, especially with tubes involved, that sounded better at lower voltage. Trying to decide what I want to do long-term for Westinghouse now. Is it the weekend yet?
If I end up keeping it variable and adding a switch I'll probably label it like Klon does with the KTR "Almost Always Better/Almost Always Worse."
I'd be fine with just leaving the voltage turned up, (unless a song calls for a faint banshee wail).
With all the negative comments placed on the WH whine, I will say it sounds way better than an Edison. It has to run at full voltage of course. If there's anyone on the fence on whether to upgrade from the Edison to the WH. It's a no brainer, get the WH!
Thanks everyone for the kind words.
So here's my game plan: I just confirmed (had to turn my amp up enough to hear it) that my personal WH has the whine at low voltages, so I'm going to hack it a bit and try out an experiment for a LV/HV switch. If it works the way I expect it to then I'll reach out to everyone in the April batch and offer the choice between a HV/LV switch and hardwired as high voltage, no more pot. I'll probably do this for May as well, then starting in June I'm thinking I'll just hardwire them for high voltage. If the Volts option as a knob was a dealbreaker I'm happy to refund anyone in April or May that ordered one.
EDIT: Just remembered my TAD EF86 are out for delivery right now, I'll wait until I try one out before hacking up my WH, for the sake of science.
If you got a WH in March and really wanted the low voltage option, I'll get set up to have them sent back to me for a mod. If you got one in March and are okay just leaving the Volts turned up all the time, I want you to know you have my eternal appreciation and I'll find some way to make it up to you
So here's my game plan: I just confirmed (had to turn my amp up enough to hear it) that my personal WH has the whine at low voltages, so I'm going to hack it a bit and try out an experiment for a LV/HV switch. If it works the way I expect it to then I'll reach out to everyone in the April batch and offer the choice between a HV/LV switch and hardwired as high voltage, no more pot. I'll probably do this for May as well, then starting in June I'm thinking I'll just hardwire them for high voltage. If the Volts option as a knob was a dealbreaker I'm happy to refund anyone in April or May that ordered one.
EDIT: Just remembered my TAD EF86 are out for delivery right now, I'll wait until I try one out before hacking up my WH, for the sake of science.
If you got a WH in March and really wanted the low voltage option, I'll get set up to have them sent back to me for a mod. If you got one in March and are okay just leaving the Volts turned up all the time, I want you to know you have my eternal appreciation and I'll find some way to make it up to you
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I agree it sounds fantastic
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