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Boss NS-2 adds harshness to tone

10/11/1999 4:59 AM
Mr.Nice	Boss NS-2 adds harshness to tone I like using the NS-2 for noise reduction but I am bothered by the fact that makes the tone brighter and harsher when the effect is on. Is there a fix for this or is there a better noise reduction pedal that I am not aware of?

10/11/1999 6:26 PM
marrk	Being "noise reduction", it must be doing stuff to your tone by it very design. My favorite pedal is the TC Electronic distortion for its built in noise gate. This thing has a variable threshold. It also trails off nicely and does nothing to your tone. If you are interested in trying it and don't have $350 to acquire one on the used market, get a schematic from Analog Man(?) and build just that part. The distortion part is not that great. The booster/gate part is perfect. Mark

10/11/1999 6:26 PM

marrk

Being "noise reduction", it must be doing stuff to your tone by it very design. My favorite pedal is the TC Electronic distortion for its built in noise gate. This thing has a variable threshold. It also trails off nicely and does nothing to your tone. If you are interested in trying it and don't have $350 to acquire one on the used market, get a schematic from Analog Man(?) and build just that part. The distortion part is not that great. The booster/gate part is perfect. Mark

10/12/1999 1:13 AM
Aron	Re: Boss NS-2 adds harshness to tone/R.G. I think R.G. was going to have a board done for this... I would like the EQ+Booster+Gate w/out the distortion. Aron

10/20/1999 5:33 PM
Mr.Nice	RG is there a board and data to build a noise gate forthcoming? The noise gate section of the T.C. Electronics device sounds interesting.

10/23/1999 10:04 AM
John Catto	Re. Noise Gates..Maplin Kit I know that RG is aware of Maplin Electronics in the UK. They make a little Noise gate kit (part number LK43A in my catalogue Ł14.99) That I've used in my pedalboard for years. I think this is the most unobtrusive noise reduction I've tried. I've got all the board details etc. so perhaps I'll scan them in and up them to RG although you can't beat just buying the kit at that price

10/23/1999 10:04 AM

John Catto

Re. Noise Gates..Maplin Kit

I know that RG is aware of Maplin Electronics in the UK. They make a little Noise gate kit (part number LK43A in my catalogue Ł14.99) That I've used in my pedalboard for years. I think this is the most unobtrusive noise reduction I've tried. I've got all the board details etc. so perhaps I'll scan them in and up them to RG although you can't beat just buying the kit at that price

10/25/1999 9:35 PM
Mark Hammer	Re: Boss NS-2 adds harshness to tone I'm not sure what you mean by "brighter and harsher". In theory (and generally in practice too), noise gates simply turn the volume down. Although compressors very often tend to lose a bit of high end (by virtue of their design), and often include a bit of high end goosing to compensate, this is not true of noise gates. Bear in mind that it would simply not be in the interests of producing an inexpensive noise gate to have some treble enhancement which might make hiss MORE obvious rather than LESS obvious. Consequently, the only thing I can think of is that the NS-2 is providing some buffering which overcomes the high end loss you had become accustomed to prior to using the NS-2. If the buffering itself is doing something, then a number of ancillary questions need to be asked: - is the noise gate the only thing between the guitar and amp? if not, what else is in-between the noise gate and guitar? - if the noise gate IS the only stompbox on the way to the amp, what value volume pots are on the guitar? - how long a cable do you use? What is unsatisfying about this line of inquiry is that, being a BOSS box, there will be solid-state FET switching with some type of buffer circuit in there at all times. How this could be impedance-buffer-related only when in effect rather bypass mode beats the hell out of me. If BOSS used DPDT stompswitches that took the whole circuit out, then I could see a buffering effect confined to FX-on, but it doesn't make sense knowing what I know about their switchng scheme. Is there something you didn't tell us, or didn't quite describe accurately? P.S.: Noise gates are a woefully misunderstood device. I've built and owned a variety of them, and it always took seemingly forever to learn how to peacefully coexist with whatever unit I happened to be using. Part of this is because using one well requires the user to know an enormous amount about the signal they intend to pass through it. Depending on the signal itself, the same threshold, reduction and attack/decay settings can yield transparent, pleasing-but-noticeable, irritatingly noticeable, and wacko sounds. For example, some signals can cause the gate to retrigger at an audio rate if you don't set the attack/decay parameters correctly, yielding intermodulation distortion that sounds like a ring modulator in the background. Is it possible you need to do something different to your signal BEFORE it goes to the NS-2?

10/25/1999 9:35 PM

Mark Hammer

Re: Boss NS-2 adds harshness to tone

I'm not sure what you mean by "brighter and harsher".

In theory (and generally in practice too), noise gates simply turn the volume down. Although compressors very often tend to lose a bit of high end (by virtue of their design), and often include a bit of high end goosing to compensate, this is not true of noise gates. Bear in mind that it would simply not be in the interests of producing an inexpensive noise gate to have some treble enhancement which might make hiss MORE obvious rather than LESS obvious. Consequently, the only thing I can think of is that the NS-2 is providing some buffering which overcomes the high end loss you had become accustomed to prior to using the NS-2.

If the buffering itself is doing something, then a number of ancillary questions need to be asked:
- is the noise gate the only thing between the guitar and amp? if not, what else is in-between the noise gate and guitar?
- if the noise gate IS the only stompbox on the way to the amp, what value volume pots are on the guitar?
- how long a cable do you use?

What is unsatisfying about this line of inquiry is that, being a BOSS box, there will be solid-state FET switching with some type of buffer circuit in there at all times. How this could be impedance-buffer-related *only* when in effect rather bypass mode beats the hell out of me. If BOSS used DPDT stompswitches that took the whole circuit out, then I could see a buffering effect confined to FX-on, but it doesn't make sense knowing what I know about their switchng scheme.

Is there something you didn't tell us, or didn't quite describe accurately?

P.S.: Noise gates are a woefully misunderstood device. I've built and owned a variety of them, and it always took seemingly forever to learn how to peacefully coexist with whatever unit I happened to be using. Part of this is because using one well requires the user to know an enormous amount about the signal they intend to pass through it. Depending on the signal itself, the same threshold, reduction and attack/decay settings can yield transparent, pleasing-but-noticeable, irritatingly noticeable, and wacko sounds. For example, some signals can cause the gate to retrigger at an audio rate if you don't set the attack/decay parameters correctly, yielding intermodulation distortion that sounds like a ring modulator in the background. Is it possible you need to do something different to your signal BEFORE it goes to the NS-2?

10/26/1999 4:47 AM
Mr.Nice	My NS-2 is at the end of the chain just before the amp. I thought at first what I was hearing was the pedal seeming to be harsh with the noise reduction on as compared to the bypass (effect off mode) So I took my trusty true bypass box which allows me to do quick A to B comparisons. What I discovered was the bypass mode is not lossy and sounds as good as true bypass. When I A to B'd the pedal (effect on) It was slightly boosted and had an annoying grit on top. I might add this is apparrent with nice clean low level signals hitting the NS-2. I own two of these pedals and they both exhibit the same problem. I must add that I appreciate you taking the time to respond!

10/26/1999 4:47 AM

Mr.Nice

My NS-2 is at the end of the chain just before the
amp. I thought at first what I was hearing was the
pedal seeming to be harsh with the noise reduction
on as compared to the bypass (effect off mode) So
I took my trusty true bypass box which allows me to
do quick A to B comparisons. What I discovered was
the bypass mode is not lossy and sounds as good as true bypass. When I A to B'd the pedal (effect on) It was
slightly boosted and had an annoying grit on top. I
might add this is apparrent with nice clean low level
signals hitting the NS-2. I own two of these pedals
and they both exhibit the same problem.
I must add that I appreciate you taking the time to
respond!

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