Bass Envelope Filter - Help!

[rhysyjob]

 

I’m in the market for an envelope filter but need one that keeps the Bass in the signal. At the moment the choices are MXR M82, Source Audio Spectrum or Aguilar Filter Twin? 
 Can anyone give me some advice/experience/pointers? 

 

Edited October 2, 2021 by rhysyjob

[fretmeister]

I sold 99% of mine when I got my Spectrum.

 

It just does everything! Brilliant pedal.

[SumOne]

I've owned the Spectrum, EBS envelope filter, Robotalk 2 (also multi things that do envelope filters: Stomp, Zoom, Future Impact). They all do more than the M82 but don't do it's specifc thing quite as well or with the same feel and funk. So I've just got the M82 as my envelope filter (at the moment!), I guess it depends if you like its quite specific thing or not though. 

Edited October 2, 2021 by SumOne

[stewblack]

All the ones listed are good , the Spectrum is a real one stop shop as long as you're happy using a computer to set it up.

I also like the Fwonkbeta which is massive bottom end wise, and the Mojo Hand 443 seems to retain the bass well.

If I had to pick one it would be the MXR bass envelope filter.

[fretmeister]

I’ve never used my PC to set up the spectrum!

[SumOne]

Ah yeah I had a Fwonkbeta too for a while and it does indeed have massive bottom end - so much so that that's why I didn't keep it as was pretty sure one wrong move and my speakers would die! 

[Bunion]

Love my 3leaf GR2 

[TheGreek]

EBS is my favourite - I bought another after selling my first but realistically I don't need it.

[paul_5]

My personal favourite is the chunk systems Agent 00Funk.

[itu]

IE Xerograph, OnkartGromt Funky Fellow, FI.

[Gareth Hughes]

Another vote for the 3 Leaf Audio GR2. My happy place filter is an Electro Harmonix Mini Q-Tron. I love mine to bits but it's a potential speaker destroyer when it wants to be.

[rhysyjob]

Thanks for all your advice guys 😊👍

[Al Krow]

14 hours ago, Bunion said:

Love my 3leaf GR2 

Absolutely brilliant bit of kit and very wet! I do believe you've got my old one (which I sold on to the BC'er you got it from and before that belonged to @dodge_bass of this parish). Glad it's found an appreciative new home  

 

I've ended up with its more compact / less featured successor the 3Leaf Proton Mk4 (2020), which is the first filter I've had that's comparably good to the GR2 - and the only reason I moved my GR2 on. Like the GR2, it offers both upsweep and downsweep.

 

The other filters I've had, in order of preference, after the GR2 and Proton Mk4 would be the:

- Fwonkbeta (very good),

- Aguilar Filter Twin (a little too polite for me - but had both upsweep and downsweep);

- MXR M82 (two attempts at this one, I just found this a bit too harsh / brittle - but others on here clearly rate it highly);

- Walrus Kangra (filter fuzz - I found the filter a bit meh).

Edited October 3, 2021 by Al Krow

[lee650]

If you're only looking for  which filter let's you blend in your clean bass, rather than filters which keep low end.  There arnt too many!

 

In my experience most clean blends are done with band pass filters, as a low pass filter has plenty of bottom end.

 

Ones I've had/heard of with a clean blend

 

MXR BEF- Great sounding,bubbly,funky little filter. Is band pass,but great for finger funk tones. It isn't a hugely expensive pedal.

 

EBS Bass IQ- has an internal trimpot which allows you to dial in the clean high frequencies only, not a full range clean signal. Not too badly priced and has up/down sweep.

 

3 leaf Wonderlove/GR/GR2 - has clean  blend and up/down and a lot of control. Currently very hard to find and expensive when you do.

 

EHX Qtron - big box/modern smaller version (not mini or micro)- very wet and lots of control, with up/downsweep. It has a "mix" mode which is 50/50 band pass and your clean bass signal. Fairly expensive if you can find one.

 

EHX Enigma Qballs- lots of control and a variable clean blend knob. In built distortion which isnt great. You can set the start/stop frequencies so you can get up/down sweep. A pig to dial in, but not mega money if you can find one used. There is also a Guitar tuned version called Riddle Qballs, which can be picked up fairly cheaply.

 

Source Audio Spectrum/C4 - loads and loads of filter models, sounds great. I can be set up via a PC or yiur mobile phone and has every parameter possible (incl clean blend) not mega money for what it gives you.

 

Subdecay Prometheus DLX- I've recently got this. All Analog and has up/down as well as dozens of step/pixelated/LFO And expression control (like a manual wah) it's synth heaven. It has low pass/band/high pass, however for bass players there is a,switch inside that adds clean blend to the band pass. Hard to get hold off and quite expensive.

 

Lovetone Meatball - good luck!!

 

Guyatone MR3- again good luck.

 

Exotic Robotalk 2- 2x band pass filters, each with a differnt tone. But both have a clean blend. Not too expensive.

 

Iron Ether - Xerograph deluxe- very synthy filter, has ton of control incl a clean blend. Fairly hard to get and expensive.

 

Seamoon  Funk machine- a reverse sweep filter with a clean blend. Bit of a one trick pony, but very funky indeed. Quite expensive for what it does.

 

MXR Auto Q- more of an auto way than an envelope Filter,but has a clean blend and not expensive.

 

It all depends what you want a filter for. Low pass is all bottom end and great for adding to octave/fuzz to create synth sounds, however hard to dial in for finger funk. For the latter I prefer a band pass with a clean bass, sounds clean precise and funky,with no loss of bottom.

 

Another solution is to buy a boss LS2 and you can add a clean blend to any filter you like,as well as lots of very useful stuff 😁

 

IMO for what you're after the MXR is very hard to beat,Ive had 4, i keep selling them though, mustn't be enough and my C4 has a decent model of it.

Edited October 5, 2021 by lee650

[ped]

IMO a filter is very hard to recommend to someone else because it depends so much on your playing style, your bass and everything else in your setup as well as your personal taste. These suggestions are good places to start but there’s no shortcut to finding one that suits you the best!

[SumOne]

41 minutes ago, ped said:

IMO a filter is very hard to recommend to someone else because it depends so much on your playing style, your bass and everything else in your setup as well as your personal taste. These suggestions are good places to start but there’s no shortcut to finding one that suits you the best!

 

Yeah, it's a shame there don't seem to be shops that have a big chain of envelope filters (or any other type of pedal) plugged in for customers to come along with their Bass and compare. Recommendations are good to narrow things down but in the end it comes down to setup and personal taste. 

 

I'm grateful for Basschat as buying/selling second hand on here is a good option, most things are fairly priced and can be re-sold for similar prices.  

Edited October 3, 2021 by SumOne

[paulo m]

I've a GR2 & I don't think I will find anything quite like it....for its Wet & Squelchy Envelope '. Also their value is rising.. 

Edited October 5, 2021 by paulo m

[Boodang]

Source Audio's spectrum is great, will do just about anything envelope filter wise (check out the 'bass the world' YouTube video). However if you want a pedal with more manual control there's always their older pedals, the Manta or Soundblox Pro, where the filter options are selected with knobs. And all these pedal are bass orientated.

[ped]

It's also nuts how differently envelope filters (well, any pedal for that matter) work better with some basses than others. I absolutely love the synthy phased sound of my Bassballs on my P with flats (trim pots turned down and sensitivity low), but it sounds anaemic and tacky with my other basses. The only exception is the original FX25 which makes everything sound amazing but I'm aware of how massively polarising that pedal can be!

 

I'm reminded of some advice written elsewhere by a well trusted source - 'play the filter'. There aren't many filters that sound perfect whatever you do with them, or that don't need some special consideration to get the best sound. And that, of course, is a moveable feast at the best of times.

 

Maybe give us some examples of sounds you like? 'Keeps bass in the signal' is misleading, because mixing wet and dry is one thing, BP and LP is another, and each work equally well depending on other things.

[SumOne]

There's a C4 in the for sale section for £175, would be a good place to try out a close approximation of a lot of filters (and synth stuff too). I expect you'd be able to re-sell it for about the same cost if you felt individual pedal(s) would be better.

 

 

[fretmeister]

2 minutes ago, SumOne said:

There's a C4 in the for sale section for £175, would be a good place to try out a close approximation of a lot of filters (and synth stuff too). I expect you'd be able to re-sell it for about the same cost if you felt individual pedal(s) would be better.

 

 

The C4 will load the Spectrum presets too.

 

[SumOne]

1 minute ago, fretmeister said:

The C4 will load the Spectrum presets too.

 

 

Yeah, I hope someone buys it before my will power crumbles! Caveat is that I have owned a C4 and it didn't quite click with me, possibly due to the limited hardware controls, but it probably is the best value way of getting so many decent filter and synth and octave (and some distortion) sounds if you don't mind connecting to a phone/laptop or buying controllers for it.    

[Boodang]

Sorry for the shameless plug but.... there's a Source Audio Bass Envelope Filter pro in the 'effects for sale' section for £100. A sort of early and basic version of the Spectrum (only does envelope sounds) but with lots of knobs for manual twiddling rather than being computer programmable. 

Edited October 11, 2021 by Boodang

[Sibob]

For me it’s the MXR, best envelope filter on the market IMO

 

Si

[Al Krow]

8 minutes ago, Sibob said:

For me it’s the MXR, best envelope filter on the market IMO

 

Si

That's because you've not yet had a Proton Mk4, right? 😉