Xotic Effects X-Blender disappoints

[Gladowsky]

I finally patched my Holy Fire (Creation Audio Labs) O/D Dist. pedal through the Xotic X-Blender pedal. I play a Sadowsky and do NOT want the basic tone colored (except for a bit of dirt). With the OD/Dist. pedal off but the X-Blender on I was disappointed at the amount of change to the tone so will be selling the X-Blender pedal soon.

I'm looking for a better recommendation to patch the Holy Fire to split the signal between high / low. Perhaps I'll use the OD effect as full wet signal (no blend).

Thanks for any advice.

 

[bongomania]

Something sounds wrong here. The X-Blender has no tone color whatsoever unless you use its EQ knobs, or unless there is a phase dropout that its phase-reverse switch doesn't solve.

Plus, the Holy Fire is one of the more tonally transparent dirts out there, with no loss of low end--no need to blend it IMO.

You mention splitting high/low... You do know the X-Blender is not a crossover, yes?

 

[Gladowsky]

Something sounds wrong here. The X-Blender has no tone color whatsoever unless you use its EQ knobs, or unless there is a phase dropout that its phase-reverse switch doesn't solve.

Plus, the Holy Fire is one of the more tonally transparent dirts out there, with no loss of low end--no need to blend it IMO.

You mention splitting high/low... You do know the X-Blender is not a crossover, yes?

Bongo,

I misstated high/low. I should have said wet/dry. Thanks for chiming in. Not sure what to make of this. With both LEDs on, EQ set flat, no boost it makes my bass sound deeper - more bassy. Perhaps there is a problem with it. The power is coming from a Voodoo power supply. I tried the Holy Fire the other day and agree completely that there is no loss of low end so will set the X-Blender aside.

 

[bongomania]

If the tone change is just an increase in bass, then one possibility is the wet and dry signals line up very closely in phase, so that the wave peaks actually get boosted (the dynamic range increases) which you would likely hear as a lot more low end.

If that's the situation, then actually it is a sign that both products were designed amazingly well with nothing wrong with them, and it just doesn't happen to work for your tastes--which is fine of course.

 

[punchdrunk]

Looks like problem solved.

 

[dannybuoy]

Not really - the OP is stating that the Xotic sounds coloured when activated even when the pedals in loop are off. The one I had wasn't completely unity gain and flat EQ with all knobs at noon either. Try a simpler blender pedal that all had a phase switch, eg Wounded Paw or the Mosquite blender.

 

[bassie12]

I find the X-Blender incredibly useful. I've had it in studio many times with no strangeness. Maybe different production batches?

 

[thejockobird]

I can highly recommend the Mosquite blender. Does its job really well and is especially tiny.

 

[Downunderwonder]

Why can't they footswitch the phase switches on these things?

 

[bongomania]

Footswitches are larger and more expensive than mini toggles. They still "could" use footswitches, but you can see why they'd choose not to.

 

[shameline]

Have had the XBlender for 2 years now, and it is part of my board for good. Use it all the time, have not notice any coloration or change in tone with it. As mentioned, you can shape the tone with the bass and trebles knob, which I found really useful to shape your send while using effects...

May be a bad batch indeed...

 

[nice_hat]

Thanks to all who contributed to this thread. It was very helpful when seeking info on this product.