radiophonic

Looks like Tore has joined Universal Audio. Hopefully it works out for all concerned. Quite a different emphasis as a company. Side note: as soon as Tore left TC, the switch on my Flashback went noisy. Like the same day. I’m not sure where to look for a replacement delay, but unless they make their direction clearer, I doubt it will be TC.

Are the subs completely passive - no tracking to worry about? My only issue with the octo nojs is the glitching of the Nojs subharmonic square wave. I want to be able use this like a proper gnarly fuzz.

I just ordered a Mastotron. More toys. I’ve heard a few demos of the OC10 now and it certainly sounds very close to the OC2. Probably worth getting one irrespective.

I think the native sample rate when using voice memo is 8K, which won't give you anything above 4K of audio in mono and will also have aliasing issues in the adio frequency band. I forked out for a Shure MOTIV MV88 mic that plugs straight into the iPhone via the lightning port. 24 bit/96KHz, records using a Mid-Side stereo capsule - so you can control the width of the stereo image. The MOTIV app has a limiter and enough headroom to record anything from a live metal band to a single acoustic guitar. The app will also see the camera, so you can get useable sound on live video. I know you din't want more gear, but it's a massive upgrade, you keep your phone and the mic fits in your pocket.

That's my worry too. TC innovated like crazy over the last 10 years and really made a lot of impact with players. The Flashback and Hall of Fame are pretty much ubiquitous these days. After Behringer took over, all we've really seen is some cheap old pedals rebadged (albeit improved build quality). Spectradrive was a minor development I suppose, but not really innovation as such. I'm guessing he stuck around for the relaunch of Toneprint - which is now more or less right IMO. Certainly a big improvement. Closing the Aarhus factory (news to me), inevitable loss of tech people, losing the public face of the brand, price cuts (not that I'm complaining). Maybe they are getting out of pedals, in favour of studio plugin gear like the 2290? It's a crowded market after all. Time will tell.

Tore is totally the public face of their pedal operation though. To the average player, Tore IS TC. I'm hardly a fanboy, but this looks like a significant change.

First we have a massive price cut and now Tore is leaving too. What is going on at TC? are these facts connected? https://www.instagram.com/p/BpmXMBBnYgF/?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet

What's your take on the solo'd octave down sound of the OC-10 vs the Okto-Nojs? For anything other than filter sweeps, I prefer a little bit of clean blend on the ON and the tone never leaves 12 O'Clock. I guess what I'm saying is that for pedal with a lot of knobs, I don't find it that flexible. However - Parallel fuzz for the win, so it's probably a keeper for practical reasons. I doubt the audience or even the rest of the band would notice the difference.

Regarding the Okto Nojs, it's yet another flavour to the OC2. Similar ballpark, but not the same. Tracking isn't bad with a Stingray, although still glitchier than I'd hoped and you have to be really careful with dynamics. The parallel gated fuzz is great for synthy stuff, although not super useable for anything else since the gate isn't adjustable. I do still wonder if a OC-10 and a Mastotron might give me more, but it remains my austerity solution for now.

Just to round this out in case it happens to others. There is a file in ~/Library/Application\ Support/TonePrintEditor/ called TonePrintEdiitor.settings that isn't deleted or overwritten when you clear system caches or do a reinstall. It wasn't obviously corrupted but several lines were either different or missing compared to an install on another machine. Cut and paste fixed it. Non obvious and without a second computer, undiagnosable. It may be OS dependent I suppose because I have no explanation for why the file contents would have changed. About a day wasted but it is now working.

I'd have thought something by Zvex (pricey though). Our guitar player has a Fat Fuzz factory and it can be set to be wildly unstable. In fact getting something reproducibly stable out of it can be a challenge.

At least I can return the pedal if notsatisfied! If TC don't give me some support then its their loss. It's not like their aren't a shedload of nice reverb pedals out there. I almost went for the Polara anyway (the illegible purple on yellow paint job put me off) but there are many others to choose from. I'm doing a full system backup right now before deleting the system cache since rebooting only clears the user cache. If it works it will cost me all my user toneprints of course - another ball ache. But failing that I'm out of ideas too.

Hi - Its OSX El Capitan 10.11.6. I re-downloaded the installer. Deleted toneprint, rebooted, reinstlled and got the same problem. What's weird is that even with a fresh reinstall it does find my old user toneprints so these are clearly being stored somewhere - the FB ones appear when th HOF2 is attached so they must be local. I can't find any likely library files though - even with 'ShowAllFiles'. The search on tcelectronic or toneprint comes up with nothing and I cant find anything in the application support folder or in the library folder manually. I've posted on the TC use forum but they rarely respond IME. I'll give them another 20 days - after that the new HoF2 pedal goes back. I bought it on line and I can get a Polara instead. Without toneprint its functionality is not as advertised and I'm in the studio on the 27th and then have a run of gigs before christmas. I need a working reverb.

It's on my desktop machine and it's a fresh installation.

I may be alone in this or it may be an OS dependent thing but my toneprint app only shows templates for the Sub N Up, Sub N Up Mini and SpetraComp. I can see my user prints for the flashback, but have no way to access any of the defaults on either the Flashback or the Hall of Fame. Artist prints are available. Anyone had this or better still managed to fix it. It;s basicallly useless to me and the HoF2 I've just bought is going straight back if the editor can't be used on it.

There's a few for guitar (don't EHX make one?), but I doubt any would have the current needed for bass at anything above bedroom volume. I'm not sure how far a typical bass speaker's impedance drops when you start pumping that low B but, if HiFi/Studio gear is anything to go by, that nominal 8 Ohms could be more like 1 Ohm down at 40 Hz. That would take some major headroom.

Personally, I wouldn't lump TC in with Mooer or Hotone. To me, TC are are more of a Boss / Digitech /MXR competitor I'd say. Some (80s) heritage, some innovation but nothing super weird, mid market prices - especially since the recent drop. Have Mooer or Hotone innovated? I think Mooer were the first mini-pedals I ever saw when I got back into playing. I remember being flabbergasted by the 'no batteries' angle.

The cheap end doesn't really innovate though. The only reason you can get a cheap-donkey bitcrusher is because somebody thought to make an expensive one that sold. I doubt it's that challenging technically, but you have to have the idea. I also think there are certain effects that are harder to do right - cheap reverbs can be proper nasty. Guys like Digitech, Boss and TC who have access to all the Lexicon, Roland and Helicon algorithms are pretty safe for now I think. When it comes to overpriced Klon, Rat and Tubescreamer clones it's game over though. Or at least it should be. Edit: Donkey. Swear filter.

Looks like the RV2 has a gate, but not reverse. RV3 has neither, but is a hybrid with a delay. RV5 has the gate again, but not reverse and RV6 loses it in again favour of shimmer. I really disliked the RV6 though and it's the 5 and the 2 that the Shoegaze crowd seem to go for. Digitech seem to be the main players with reverse now - the Polara has the same algorithm as the old Hardwire. The cheaper Digiverb had both and a blend option too, but no additional make-up volume, so if you go 100% wet you lose volume. Not sure about the TC toneprints - they don't mention it. The EHX Holier Grail looks interesting since it has an adjustable gate that can be applied to any reverb type and even reversed. Very big though and no reverse algorithm. Ebay beckons.

Does the RV3 have a gated setting? I'm looking for something with gate and reverse, neither of which seem that popular these days - shimmer seems to have taken over the novelty slot. I had an RV6 but didn't like the basic sound that much. I'm currently on the lookout for a Hardwire, but maybe one of the older RV series is a solution.

Yes! Given the demographic, some dad dancing was probably inevitable.

We (Scriptures) played the Malt Shovel

We had a great night. The annual Oxjam Takeover in Nottingham. It was an evening where it easily could have crashed and burned but somehow everything just worked out, including: 1. According to the schedule, there was only 15 minutes to load all the drums and back-line in, set up and soundcheck after the acoustic acts had finished. Then the first proper band cancelled, so we sudden;y got an extra 40 minutes to load in. 2. Our drummer, who was providing the kit for two other bands, got held up in traffic. He also forgot his drum stool. See above. Extra 40 minute window. Everything started exactly on time and no-one over-ran. A bar chair sufficed. 3. There were no monitors. Fortunately, my old band were on straight after us and they had - randomly - brought monitors with them so we borrowed them. 4. As far as the actual set, we played averagely for us and only about 3 people present had ever heard us before or had any idea what to expect, it was very cramped on stage and we have a lot of pedals - but the place was rammed and our specific brand of epic atmospheric rock seemed to be exactly what they were in the mood for. Nobody noticed the mistakes except us. Lots of applause and cheering and general good vibes. There were even massed calls for an encore - we couldn't oblige due to the strict running time, but it was a good feeling. Somebody bought me a pint and we sold some CDs. Overall a win for us.

Bumping this because I'm potentially after one. I have a Pork Loin and a Okto Nojs so I figure either a Pork and Pickle to get a me a Sovtek muff (and keep the ON) or a Mastotron and a Valeton OC10 (and ditch the ON). That way I have drive, fuzz and gated fuzz in 2 pedals. WRT @dannybuoy 's comment about impedance matching - doesn't the Mastotron have an impedance control to allow you run it passive or active or all the way up to line level? This seemed like a selling point to me - being a died in the wool Stingray player and having fallen foul in the past.

Well there's two issues here - does it really do the same thing and exactly how overpriced some boutique pedals are. I wouldn't lump TC in with Mooer either. They are an innovative company, but they've just made an interesting commercial decision that's resulted in a big price drop. That said, personally I never got on with the Sub N Up and the 'classic' mode was no substitute for a good analog octave down. However, if the Valeton is as good as is being suggested, then maybe the game is up for boutique OC2 clones. I can't see me losing my Okto Nojs solely because the parallel fuzz is so convenient for synth stuff. So maybe the additional functionality is where companies like Emma, 3 Leaf survive etc. The Spectracomp looks like bargain of the century though and if I didn't already have a multiband comp, I'd buy one immediately. The Flashback 2 looks like a similar bargain. Even though I have an El Capistan, I still use the original Flashback for a worn / washy Binson style delay. My guess is that boutique analog pedals aren't going anywhere, especially drive/gain and filter pedals but that the sophisticated DSP found in Strymon, Meris et al will gradually trickle down to the mass market. Only innovation will allow these companies to survive. In fact I'll be interested to see what Strymon do next. At the very top end of weirdness, Red Panda and the like will continue to serve a specialised market. There will never be mass demand for gear like that.