Since I use a LA-1A always on I’d never be able to use a Sushi pedal. Fortunately, I do hear a benefit so will continue run Sushi pedals as well.
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The Sushi Box FX Secret Society
- Thread starter kranahan
- Start date
The Effectrode L1A is literally the ONLY exception to my commentary above....but it's so large and power hungry that unless one is willing to have aboard the size Utah or is talking about a fixed/studio setting(neither of which describes my sitch) it's an outlier....the right tool for the job, etc.
For those with the whine issue, a noise suppressor pedal works well to eliminate the noise. I've been using the Donner Soph Gate, and it does the job perfectly with no tone suck like many other suppressors do. It's about the only Donner pedal I would recommend.
With pedalboard real estate as limited and valuable as it is, I'm very much not a fan of having to add [Pedal B] to fix an issue with [Pedal A]. I solve the issue of [Pedal A] by simply not buying (or returning) it.
That's just my personal outlook though, which is not exclusive/limited to SushiBox pedals. As always, the usual Talkbass disclaimer applies: "your mileage may vary."
5sg.
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Hey everyone, sorry I've been AWOL for a bit, 95% of my day job involves me sitting in front of a computer so I have Talkbass in front of me all day, but the past couple days I've been in the lab with no computer.
Anyway, re: noise. I know my pedals aren't the only pedals on the market that cause noise with other pedals, but because of the weirdness involved in converting 9-12V into 230-350V, there is an oscillator sitting inside of every single pedal I make, which means there is noise being generated. The oscillators operate at a frequency above audio range, but as discussed several pages ago when you have multiple oscillators going at different frequencies in series the high frequencies cancel out and the difference in frequencies is left as noise.
I'm continuing to add more filtering to the power supplies in newer units, but the fact of the matter is that the power supply design is imperfect; it was originally designed to run nixie tubes (google if you aren't familiar, they're pretty neat) where audio noise isn't an issue, and pedal builders discovered it was "good enough" to run audio tube circuits. I continue to use this design as I haven't yet found a better one, and while I hope that someone will design a better high voltage converter so I can stop using this one, in the meantime I continue to hope that enough filtering and the right kind of filtering will get rid of the problem. It's clear that I'm not there yet.
People have discovered ways to get around the noise that occurs when running multiple Sushi pedals in a chain: buffers, noise gates, loop switchers, or even just rearranging the pedals in the chain; but I agree that ideally these shouldn't be necessary. Ideally any pedal should be able to work in any position with any other pedal next to it without any effect on noise level. I obviously can't promise this, but I'm doing the best I can to make it work. I understand that some feel like my customers are my beta testers, and I apologize if it feels that way. I'm one guy building these by myself in my basement, and I want everyone to like them. I will continue to try to make improvements in an effort to make a better product, but I'm far from perfect, and I don't always catch everything. I will always do everything I can to make it right, and I will continue to try to learn from mistakes and shortcomings to try to improve. I said before that product quality is my first priority, but I think realistically customer satisfaction is my first priority. Improving product quality is one of the best ways to keep customers happy, but from the beginning I've always just tried to do right by the people that buy my pedals, and I will always continue to do that.
Sorry for the ramblings, I'll try to be around to answer any questions or comments because I do care about what you all think. I'm off to grab lunch now, I'll swing back by the computer and eat here before I head back to the lab.
Anyway, re: noise. I know my pedals aren't the only pedals on the market that cause noise with other pedals, but because of the weirdness involved in converting 9-12V into 230-350V, there is an oscillator sitting inside of every single pedal I make, which means there is noise being generated. The oscillators operate at a frequency above audio range, but as discussed several pages ago when you have multiple oscillators going at different frequencies in series the high frequencies cancel out and the difference in frequencies is left as noise.
I'm continuing to add more filtering to the power supplies in newer units, but the fact of the matter is that the power supply design is imperfect; it was originally designed to run nixie tubes (google if you aren't familiar, they're pretty neat) where audio noise isn't an issue, and pedal builders discovered it was "good enough" to run audio tube circuits. I continue to use this design as I haven't yet found a better one, and while I hope that someone will design a better high voltage converter so I can stop using this one, in the meantime I continue to hope that enough filtering and the right kind of filtering will get rid of the problem. It's clear that I'm not there yet.
People have discovered ways to get around the noise that occurs when running multiple Sushi pedals in a chain: buffers, noise gates, loop switchers, or even just rearranging the pedals in the chain; but I agree that ideally these shouldn't be necessary. Ideally any pedal should be able to work in any position with any other pedal next to it without any effect on noise level. I obviously can't promise this, but I'm doing the best I can to make it work. I understand that some feel like my customers are my beta testers, and I apologize if it feels that way. I'm one guy building these by myself in my basement, and I want everyone to like them. I will continue to try to make improvements in an effort to make a better product, but I'm far from perfect, and I don't always catch everything. I will always do everything I can to make it right, and I will continue to try to learn from mistakes and shortcomings to try to improve. I said before that product quality is my first priority, but I think realistically customer satisfaction is my first priority. Improving product quality is one of the best ways to keep customers happy, but from the beginning I've always just tried to do right by the people that buy my pedals, and I will always continue to do that.
Sorry for the ramblings, I'll try to be around to answer any questions or comments because I do care about what you all think. I'm off to grab lunch now, I'll swing back by the computer and eat here before I head back to the lab.
Just the sack, but he threw in this beauty...
Best toy in a sack ever, much better than what I usually find at the bottom of most bags or cereal boxes.
Though I probably would have been just as happy if the sack was full of marbles.
Mr. Sushi Box makes some great artwork, but these raw boxes are pretty nice also. There is a metal flake sparkle in the clear coat, some blues, silver and such when the light hits it. Similar but to a lesser effect to the Rainbows End.
I dig the silver on silver with the green and the hidden sparkles.
Finally, the sound.
I do not like distortion, it does clean nice, it pushes the mids out there nicely. On my Genzler Magellan the Drive is always on a bit, but clean. I like it better than just the Clean channel, it gives that little something special that can not be described.
This Finally DI sounds the same as the Genzler Drive channel when in the Clean channel.
Volume matched I could not tell a difference.
REAL NICE.
Now I will no longer be bringing my Genzler head to be used as just a DI Box for ampless stages, (set Post, flat eq with Drive on) the Sushi Box Finally does it for me in a smaller package.
Though I have not tried the DI out yet, the same results are expected.
I know you have a thing for pushing the plate voltage, but do you think there could be a happy medium lowering the voltage with a decreased (eliminated) noise?
What makes all these mains powered tube preamps quiet? is there a component responsible that could be added, or built to work with your pedals to negate this?
I know its just another piece of gear, but if people are buying looper, buffers, ect. then maybe offer something similar?
Unfortunately lowering the voltage lowers the frequency of the oscillator, which is what happened with the first round of Westinghouses. If I get below 100V or so the oscillator is within the audio range.
The difference with mains powered pedals is that they use a transformer for the high voltage instead of a SMPS, so the rectifier gets rid of a lot of the noise off the bat, then adding a couple caps for filtering knocks it down to a tolerable point.
As for adding things, a gate is the only really consistently working thing as it just mutes it when you aren't playing so you aren't hearing the noise. Buffers seem to work most of the time, but I've been informed they don't work 100% of the time. So I could look into a gate setup specifically to work well with my pedals, and see how small I could make it. But I still need to see how much filtering I need to strangle the noise out of the power supply.
Well then, what about a small transformer inside the pedal? does it need to be a particular size? I think they're just there to step down signal but a few of my pedals have them inside, they are small compared to a table top/rack setup though.
For bass possibly, you could in theory adjust it until the noise is gone. On guitar or in high registers of bass there would be a noticeable loss in high end in your tone as I would expect some frequency overlap between the noise and the signal.
Unfortunately a transformer would have to be fairly large for any of my pedals. It takes the 120V or 220V AC and gives a 6.3VAC tap for the heaters and a 250VAC (approx, depends on pedal) tap for the plates. The high voltage then goes through a rectifier to get it to DC.
This is the only way tube pedals were made until the nixie power supply was created, and that's now the standard for getting high voltage into a small box. A transformer is doable, and I've sourced a small-ish one, but it's a big additional cost, and the enclosure would still have to grow considerably to fit it in. It would be smaller than a typical rack mount unit, but bigger than I want it to be for "pedalboard friendly."
I've always admired your dedication to the quality of your products, and the honesty and transparency you give your customers.
Also, I too think Nixies are cool...
Also, I too think Nixies are cool...
Interesting, well I guess good luck. I'd be willing to pay the xtra cost, quiet operation goes a long way.
I don't have a lot of time as I'm supposed to leave for the airport in about an hour, but I just finished all the HW Smoke Signals and fixed the HW SH so those will be shipping out shortly. If you have sent me an email in the last 24 hours or so it will be answered when I get to the airport.
Well, the HW Lab Rat possesses that instant yowza factor. Tons of range, very low noise floor, and gratifying spzip.
Middle clip (no diodes?)
Gain fully CCW
Bass and Treble maxed, yields an amazing, thick, clean whompf.
The distortion/fuzz character punches way above its weight class.
The only let down is Rainbows End. Maybe I just haven’t viewed it in the proper light yet.
EDIT
ok, it does look freakin amazing in the direct sun, but I’ll rarely see it like that.
Middle clip (no diodes?)
Gain fully CCW
Bass and Treble maxed, yields an amazing, thick, clean whompf.
The distortion/fuzz character punches way above its weight class.
The only let down is Rainbows End. Maybe I just haven’t viewed it in the proper light yet.
EDIT
ok, it does look freakin amazing in the direct sun, but I’ll rarely see it like that.
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I assume my Black Eye is still on the bench, and that's totally fine. Enjoy NAMM! Send pics.
Well, not any more, at least not on my brand new HW.Whew, I forgot the Lab Rat had a boost on it too...
Dang! You're right, the website pictures are still of the old Lab Rat X. I was hoping it could pull double duty, but now its just a another nice to have one day
