noise gates

  • Thread starter Thread starter Richard Monroe
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Richard Monroe

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I've decided I need a quad noise gate, and I'm just starting the research. As near as I can tell, a pair of Drawmers is pretty much the top of the line, but not currently budget compatible. I need to gate the hum out of a couple of guitar amps, and I figure 4 channels will make it possible to experiment with gating drums as well. A quick search of ebay indicates that the most common units out there are by DBX, Furman, Valley People Gatex, DOD, Behringer, and Peavey. Does anybody have any direct experience with these units, or any other models worth considering? Thanks in advance for your advice. Note- I'm not interested in pres with built in gates, and it really must be rack mountable.-Richie
 
???? HUMMMMMMM ???

Why not try to find the source of the hum? Might be you have some equipment pluged into the same electrical circuit that is setting up a ground loop hum.

Simple as checking with an extension cord.

You might have some power cords laying across sheilded instrument cords.

These are least expensive checks to start with.

DBX is not a bad compressor/gate. I think the 266 is the better of the low end equipment.

Good Luck
D
 
Yo Dyson. No I don't have a ground loop issue, and the 266, I believe, like the 366 and 566, is a single channel unit. DBX makes a quad gate, but it's around $500. And have you not noticed that *all* guitar amps produce hum, *all* the time? This is true regardless of what they are plugged into, and regardless of what guitars and cables are used, although some are worse than others. This is true of Fenders, Marshalls, Vox, Line6, Mesa, all of them.-Richie
 
Richard- the Dbx 274 quad gate should work well for you application. They pop up on ebay ocassionally, you can probably score one for around 100 dollars. I sniped mine with an $85 buy it now price but I haven't seen another one for that cheap.
 
Richard Monroe said:
Yo Dyson. No I don't have a ground loop issue, and the 266, I believe, like the 366 and 566, is a single channel unit. DBX makes a quad gate, but it's around $500. And have you not noticed that *all* guitar amps produce hum, *all* the time? This is true regardless of what they are plugged into, and regardless of what guitars and cables are used, although some are worse than others. This is true of Fenders, Marshalls, Vox, Line6, Mesa, all of them.-Richie
Click to expand...


That is one reason I bought my Carvin XB100 amp. It is not only better sounding than my previous Marshalls, it is also dead quiet. I never had a quiet amp ever. This one is the balls and I will never part with it.
 
I found the Behringer Denoiser to be a great little unit. Of course, Behringer is anathema around here, but I think it does an excellent job for loud sources.If you're doing quiet stuff it'll take a little of the top edge off, but as long as you're generally operating above the threshold, you can't really tell the difference. The expander sections can be used as a gate.

Another note related to your computer purchase.....get the biggest monitor you can afford. I got a 17" and I'm already thinking it's too small.
 
StevenLindsey said:
I found the Behringer Denoiser to be a great little unit. Of course, Behringer is anathema around here, but I think it does an excellent job for loud sources.If you're doing quiet stuff it'll take a little of the top edge off, but as long as you're generally operating above the threshold, you can't really tell the difference. The expander sections can be used as a gate.

Another note related to your computer purchase.....get the biggest monitor you can afford. I got a 17" and I'm already thinking it's too small.
Click to expand...

Hey man, don't feel too bad about your Beh DeNoiser!!!
I sometimes use my Beh Intelligate which has both adj'ble Lo & Hi pass filters and a workable gate that adequatly "clips" the tail off annoying hiss.
 
I use the drawmer.... but just to add to the list.... don't forget to add the Samson s-gate-4 (quad noise gate). I use alot of Samson equipment as back-up stuff and when I want to patch in a few extra channels... and I very rarely have problems with their equipment including artifacts in their signal processors... thats just me though... I'd like to hear other opinions.

I'd be skeptical of using anything dBX as your PRIMARY piece of, equipment.... DBX's are known to be.... (considering theres supposed to be relatively good units,) very loud "clickers", especially on the gates. This does not apply to all dbx models... but some are notorious... The 266XL compressor for example, see the following reviews. I cant speak for the dbx quad noise gate... I'd hope its better than the gate on the 266:

http://www.harmony-central.com/Effects/Data/dbx/266XL_Dual_Compressor_Gate-01.html
 
Well, it's a done deal for the time being. I wound up sniping an Audio Logic unit for $56 on ebay. If it doesn't work out, at least I'm not out that much. Thanks for all the advice.-Richie
 
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