Distressor 1:1 weirdness?

Tim L · 5th September 2003

Has anyone noticed if their Distressor produces gain reduction in 1:1?... mine does. No dist. modes engaged and Brit mode off I get gain reduction (it happens in dist modes as well). I was under the impression this wasn't supposed to happen.. I mean it is 1:1 yes? So, fellow EL8 owning gearslutz, do I need to schedule a little look see session back at the lab or what?

faeflora · 6th September 2003

it generates distortion harmonics in 1:1. If you push it hard enough, it starts to compress, like how distortion pedals compress. Loud harmonic distortion can sound like compression.

Tim L · 6th September 2003

I've allways used 1:1 along with one of the dist. modes engaged when I wanted distortion without compression (thought that's how it was supposed to be set up

). Didn't realise you don't have to use one of the 'modes' in 1:1 to generate distortion... silly me!!!

I guess what's throwing me is seeing plenty of gain reduction on the meters without seeing at least the yellow THD (.25%) indicator fire up. Even with Att @ 10 and Rel @ 0 for bass guitar I can squeeze about -7dB or -8dB before it'll tickle yellow... I don't know (operative words here I guess

) but it sounds like alot more than a 1/4 of a percent THD happening to me... is this how your unit behaves as well?

jpaudio · 6th September 2003

Quote:

Originally posted by Tim L
I guess what's throwing me is seeing plenty of gain reduction on the meters without seeing at least the yellow THD (.25%) indicator fire up. Even with Att @ 10 and Rel @ 0 for bass guitar I can squeeze about -7dB or -8dB before it'll tickle yellow... I don't know (operative words here I guess ) but it sounds like alot more than a 1/4 of a percent THD happening to me... is this how your unit behaves as well?

Definately not working properly... I can hit redline in 1:1 without any gain reduction occurring, regardless of attack or release settings. That goes for both of my units as well as others i've used (I do Dist 3 1:1 all the time on guitars).

Kenny Gioia · 6th September 2003

Yeah, I don't think the gain reduction lights should light up in 1:1.

faeflora · 6th September 2003

Mine GR lights light up! On both of mine! With Brit Mode off!

paging dave derr!

Tim L · 6th September 2003

Quote:

Originally posted by jpaudio
Definately not working properly... I can hit redline in 1:1 without any gain reduction occurring, regardless of attack or release settings...

After screwing around with it again this morning I find the only time the THD indicators on my unit light without GR is in Brit mode with the Att and Rel set for 'opto'... It's been a while since I've used it as a dist generator (since early spring I think) but I'm pretty sure it wasn't allways like this... time for a phone call me thinks. Thanks for the feedback! thumbsup

lucey · 6th September 2003

BRIT MODE

like 4 buttons on an 1176 ...

ya dig?

Tim L · 7th September 2003

I spoke breifly with Empirical Labs earlier today. It's their day off but where gracious enough to answer a few quick questions.

I didn't get a chance to talk with Dave Derr so I don't have specific details (at least not until Monday anyway) but from what I was told the unit is working properly. Units with the British Mode installed (1:1 w/BM switch off) behave differently than the stock units in 1:1. Like I said, I won't have more details until Monday but I'll post a follow up in case anyone's interested.

lucey · 7th September 2003

Quote:

Originally posted by Tim L
Units with the British Mode installed (1:1 w/BM switch off) behave differently than the stock units in 1:1.

aah, my bad.

please explain, when you get that info...

Tim L · 9th September 2003

I had a chance to speak with Dave Derr about the 1:1/Brit Mode 'off' thingie. As I learned on Saturday, the unit is behaving as it should. I haven't had occasion to use the Distressor strictly as a distortion generator since before I had the mod done last May... so that's why I didn't notice the change untill now.

Putting the Distressor in 1:1 on a BM modified unit (w/BM switch in the 'off' position) will no longer yield 1:1. Dave figured the new ratio (BM off) to be around 10:1. The curve value in the 1:1 selection is altered to work in conjunction with the BM switch, so the new curve (that now lives in the 1:1 slot) and the BM switch together is what achieves "British Mode".

The unit can be restored back to it's original non modified behavior by switching over a jumper inside the unit but I found you can get harmonic distortion without gain reduction by going into BM (1:1/BM on) and setting the att & rel to 'Opto' (ATT @ 10, REL @ 0) so I don't see the need to play with the jumper at all.

I figured this would be a good FYI for anyone interested... and a big thanks to Dave Derr for taking the time to get back to me on this!

Dave Derr · 11th September 2003

Hey Hey Gang!

(Fae - I heard your page.)

The British mode does change 1:1 as described by Tim L.

If you buy an EL8X, or have the British Modification done, 1:1 becomes a ratio in the Distressor. Just what ratio I couldnt say, but its not far from 10:1 depending on the attack, decay. We could actually have made any of the ratios become the British Mod, but since we could enable the user to apply the blisteringly fast attack and decay times to all the ratios by adding the Toggle Switch... we said why not? 1:1 was changed obviously to emulate the 1176 ALL BUTTONS IN mode when the British Mode Toggle Switch was engaged. But as noted, even without the British Mode Toggle Switch engaged it is still compresses, unlike an unmodified Distressor.

Turning the Attack up to 10 will usually allow you to use 1:1 (and the Distressor) as a soft clipping device again. It interacts to make the threshold much much higher.

Have not been back here in a couple months. Hope everyone is well and mixin hits!

tom_c · 11th September 2003

maybe putting a mono unit in link mode could 'raise' the threshold enough to help too..
:-)
Tom

Tim L · 11th September 2003

Quote:

Originally posted by Dave Derr
Hey Hey Gang!...

Thanks for stoppin' by! thumbsup

5th September 2003	#1
Tim L Lives for gear Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Lawn Guy Land Posts: 1,365 Thread Starter	Distressor 1:1 weirdness? Has anyone noticed if their Distressor produces gain reduction in 1:1?... mine does. No dist. modes engaged and Brit mode off I get gain reduction (it happens in dist modes as well). I was under the impression this wasn't supposed to happen.. I mean it is 1:1 yes? So, fellow EL8 owning gearslutz, do I need to schedule a little look see session back at the lab or what? __________________ "Play ƒuckin' Loud!!!..." - Bob Dylan, May 17 1966

9th September 2003	#11
Tim L Lives for gear Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Lawn Guy Land Posts: 1,365 Thread Starter	Brit mode 1:1 follow up I had a chance to speak with Dave Derr about the 1:1/Brit Mode 'off' thingie. As I learned on Saturday, the unit is behaving as it should. I haven't had occasion to use the Distressor strictly as a distortion generator since before I had the mod done last May... so that's why I didn't notice the change untill now. Putting the Distressor in 1:1 on a BM modified unit (w/BM switch in the 'off' position) will no longer yield 1:1. Dave figured the new ratio (BM off) to be around 10:1. The curve value in the 1:1 selection is altered to work in conjunction with the BM switch, so the new curve (that now lives in the 1:1 slot) and the BM switch together is what achieves "British Mode". The unit can be restored back to it's original non modified behavior by switching over a jumper inside the unit but I found you can get harmonic distortion without gain reduction by going into BM (1:1/BM on) and setting the att & rel to 'Opto' (ATT @ 10, REL @ 0) so I don't see the need to play with the jumper at all. I figured this would be a good FYI for anyone interested... and a big thanks to Dave Derr for taking the time to get back to me on this!

11th September 2003	#12
Dave Derr The Distressor's "daddy" Join Date: May 2003 Location: New Jersey, USA Posts: 461	Hey Hey Gang! (Fae - I heard your page.) The British mode does change 1:1 as described by Tim L. If you buy an EL8X, or have the British Modification done, 1:1 becomes a ratio in the Distressor. Just what ratio I couldnt say, but its not far from 10:1 depending on the attack, decay. We could actually have made any of the ratios become the British Mod, but since we could enable the user to apply the blisteringly fast attack and decay times to all the ratios by adding the Toggle Switch... we said why not? 1:1 was changed obviously to emulate the 1176 ALL BUTTONS IN mode when the British Mode Toggle Switch was engaged. But as noted, even without the British Mode Toggle Switch engaged it is still compresses, unlike an unmodified Distressor. Turning the Attack up to 10 will usually allow you to use 1:1 (and the Distressor) as a soft clipping device again. It interacts to make the threshold much much higher. Have not been back here in a couple months. Hope everyone is well and mixin hits! __________________ Dave Derr

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6th September 2003	#2
faeflora Lives for gear Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: washington dc Posts: 2,019	it generates distortion harmonics in 1:1. If you push it hard enough, it starts to compress, like how distortion pedals compress. Loud harmonic distortion can sound like compression.

6th September 2003	#5
Kenny Gioia Lives for gear Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: NYC Posts: 8,323	Yeah, I don't think the gain reduction lights should light up in 1:1.

6th September 2003	#8
lucey Gear Guru Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Columbus, Ohio Posts: 12,365	BRIT MODE like 4 buttons on an 1176 ... ya dig?

7th September 2003	#9
Tim L Lives for gear Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Lawn Guy Land Posts: 1,365 Thread Starter	I spoke breifly with Empirical Labs earlier today. It's their day off but where gracious enough to answer a few quick questions. I didn't get a chance to talk with Dave Derr so I don't have specific details (at least not until Monday anyway) but from what I was told the unit is working properly. Units with the British Mode installed (1:1 w/BM switch off) behave differently than the stock units in 1:1. Like I said, I won't have more details until Monday but I'll post a follow up in case anyone's interested.

11th September 2003	#13
tom_c Gear Head Join Date: May 2003 Location: London Posts: 48	maybe putting a mono unit in link mode could 'raise' the threshold enough to help too.. :-) Tom