The Sushi Box FX Secret Society

[Sushi Box FX]

So, here's a weird little problem:
The relevant bit of the signal chain is:
Cali76 -> Southampton Ictineo -> HWUA
These are not connected to each other directly, but they are in successive loops of a Morningstar ML-5.

When the Ictineo is active and the HWUA is switched on, but not in the signal chain, I get a high pitched whine.
The high pitched whine disappears when I
1. Switch Ictineo off, either by disabling the unit or by taking it out of the signal chain with the ML-5
2. Switch the HWUA off
3. Put the HWUA into the signal chain.

When I switch off the HWUA and then switch it on again, it takes about a second for the whine to reappear. It alters pitch a bit then settles on the frequency.

The pedalboard is powered by a Cioks DC-7 plus a Cioks 4. They are not directly underneath the pedals.
The Cali and Ictineo are powered off the DC-7 and the HWUA is powered off the 4.

Any ideas on how to proceed?

That's a weird one, I'm trying to wrap my head around it.

Since the HWUA is out of the chain I'm assuming only the audio connection is switched and the ground connection isn't, which could mean noise is leaking through the ground connection. But then putting the HWUA into the chain gets rid of the whine? That's where it gets weird. Noise is being generated when it's on but not in the chain, but on and in the chain is fine?

 

[ahbass2500]

So, here's a weird little problem:
The relevant bit of the signal chain is:
Cali76 -> Southampton Ictineo -> HWUA
These are not connected to each other directly, but they are in successive loops of a Morningstar ML-5.

When the Ictineo is active and the HWUA is switched on, but not in the signal chain, I get a high pitched whine.
The high pitched whine disappears when I
1. Switch Ictineo off, either by disabling the unit or by taking it out of the signal chain with the ML-5
2. Switch the HWUA off
3. Put the HWUA into the signal chain.

When I switch off the HWUA and then switch it on again, it takes about a second for the whine to reappear. It alters pitch a bit then settles on the frequency.

The pedalboard is powered by a Cioks DC-7 plus a Cioks 4. They are not directly underneath the pedals.
The Cali and Ictineo are powered off the DC-7 and the HWUA is powered off the 4.

Any ideas on how to proceed?

I think Sushi is going in the right direction by wondering if it is switcher related. There is nothing wrong with Cali76 -> Ictineo -> SushiBox as I have done the same with both an SMD Slampegg and HW Slampegg without the whine. I do have experience with Sushibox pedal related whine, but that only occurred when SMD and HW Slampegg were in the same signal chain (known issue which I fixed by selling the SMD one).

 

[el murdoque]

That's a weird one, I'm trying to wrap my head around it.

Since the HWUA is out of the chain I'm assuming only the audio connection is switched and the ground connection isn't, which could mean noise is leaking through the ground connection. But then putting the HWUA into the chain gets rid of the whine? That's where it gets weird. Noise is being generated when it's on but not in the chain, but on and in the chain is fine?

Correct, I guess. I have no idea how the Morningstar ML-5 does its switching.

One thing I found by accident is that when I pulled the cables from the Cali and by accident touched the two centers, the whine was gone.

I reversed the order again, to Ictineo - Cali - HWUA and the whine is gone. The thing is, that Ictineo will have a flat hiss then - which is also power related. When I power it from a battery, it is dead silent.

There is a bump in volume happening in the Cali - before the Cali, everything is set to unity from my passive bass, after the Cali, everything is set to unity from the Cali's output.

Am I making sense?

 

[Sushi Box FX]

Correct, I guess. I have no idea how the Morningstar ML-5 does its switching.

One thing I found by accident is that when I pulled the cables from the Cali and by accident touched the two centers, the whine was gone.

I reversed the order again, to Ictineo - Cali - HWUA and the whine is gone. The thing is, that Ictineo will have a flat hiss then - which is also power related. When I power it from a battery, it is dead silent.

There is a bump in volume happening in the Cali - before the Cali, everything is set to unity from my passive bass, after the Cali, everything is set to unity from the Cali's output.

Am I making sense?

You're making sense, but the situation is not making sense, I think your rig may be haunted

I wish I had some piece of information that explains exactly what's going on and why, but I'm at a loss here. I'll give it some thought and see if I can come up with anything, but I'm afraid right now I have to concede I have no idea what's going on.

 

[el murdoque]

I mean, the obvious solution would be to replace the Ictineo with a pedal that plays nicer with other Sushis.

 

[CochinoBass]

Sell the Ictineo. Problem solved.

 

[ahbass2500]

Sell the Ictineo. Problem solved.

You have clearly never tried an Ictineo… or you really want to buy his Ictineo (in which case I support your suggestion… everyone should sell their hard to find pedal when you are the one who wants it).

In case it is not clear… my post is a joke… and I really like my Ictineo.

 

[ahbass2500]

I mean, the obvious solution would be to replace the Ictineo with a pedal that plays nicer with other Sushis.

Didn’t you already go down the sell the Ictineo route and not land at a pedal that you wanted to replace it with? Apologies if I am mistaking you for another poster who wanted to replace their Ictineo. I recall them having a similar pedalboard layout is why I am assuming it was you.

 

[bassbrad]

I also had issue with the HWUA and the Ictineo in my recording set up that also included a Finally. Swapping the More for the Finally just magnified that. I'm back to using my Particle Accelerator > Ictineo > LBA 2020 > More> into either my Zoom GCE3 or M-Audio interface depending on which DAW I'm recording into. There is still a very, very faint extreme high pitch noise that is only audible in headphones* but not on my KRK V4 s1 monitors. None of my clients have commented negatively but more than one noticed the added dimension of the More in place of the Finally.

FWIW the Ictineo is a valuable part of my recorded bass tone and neither of mine are going anywhere.

 

[CochinoBass]

You have clearly never tried an Ictineo… or you really want to buy his Ictineo (in which case I support your suggestion… everyone should sell their hard to find pedal when you are the one who wants it).

I have tried one and it didn't really impress me, BUT, I only messed with it for about a half an hour and I didn't record with it, so I definitely didn't get in depth with what it can do.

 

[el murdoque]

Didn’t you already go down the sell the Ictineo route and not land at a pedal that you wanted to replace it with? Apologies if I am mistaking you for another poster who wanted to replace their Ictineo. I recall them having a similar pedalboard layout is why I am assuming it was you.

Yes, I am that person. I ended up with a better understanding of how to set the Ictineo and found a setting I quite like. Plus - those of you who own an Ictineo or Designer Submarine know how hard it is to get hands on one, and so selling them off is somewhat of a difficult step.

 

[Sugarbear08]

Salutations. Long time lurker, first time poster. I feel obliged to express myself because I must laud Nathan and it would just be wrong to be so pleased and not let him know. I received my first Sushi Box on Tuesday (HW Space Heater) and I am floored: It looks cool, is solidly constructed, and sounds amazing. I have only begun to scratch the surface with this powerful device and I'm sure I'll have more to say, but I am compelled to sing Nathan's praises and urge other tone hunters to check out these devices.

Incidentally, my girlfriend asked me what I thought about the pedal and I replied that it's like somebody smacked my tone with a super charged tube bat.

 

[Sushi Box FX]

Salutations. Long time lurker, first time poster. I feel obliged to express myself because I must laud Nathan and it would just be wrong to be so pleased and not let him know. I received my first Sushi Box on Tuesday (HW Space Heater) and I am floored: It looks cool, is solidly constructed, and sounds amazing. I have only begun to scratch the surface with this powerful device and I'm sure I'll have more to say, but I am compelled to sing Nathan's praises and urge other tone hunters to check out these devices.

Incidentally, my girlfriend asked me what I thought about the pedal and I replied that it's like somebody smacked my tone with a super charged tube bat.

Thanks, I appreciate the kind words Glad you're enjoying it!

 

[johnk_10]

just arrived. Finally and HW Dr Watson:

 

[johnk_10]

just wondering on the Finally. when i click the dry pass switch to bypass and raise the gain at or near max i get an ugly clipping on the 1/4" out. is this normal?

 

[Sushi Box FX]

just wondering on the Finally. when i click the dry pass switch to bypass and raise the gain at or near max i get an ugly clipping on the 1/4" out. is this normal?

Definitely not, the bypass setting is true bypass for the 1/4" output, neither control should affect it at all. Can you open it up and shoot me a pic of the board sometime when you have a minute? I've seen something kind of similar happen once, and it was something I would be able to spot on the board if it's the same issue. Otherwise I should probably take a look at it.

 

[johnk_10]

ill take a pic when i get back home in about 40 minutes.

 

[johnk_10]

okay here's the gut shot of my finally:

 

[johnk_10]

any ideas?

 

[Thumper]

Woo-hoo, got a HW Slampegg coming. Planning to pair it with my HW Finally on my gig board. The UA will likely stay on my home board.