OR15 Better with Zero Pedals?

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beninma
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Re: OR15 Better with Zero Pedals?

Post by beninma » Fri May 10, 2019 3:43 pm

The Oceans 11 is a tone sucker... it got so much press and awards cause it's got a zillion features.

But it doesn't have an analog dry path.. it is digitizing your dry signal and then re converting it to analog. A lot of the other top quality reverbs don't do this, they split the analog signal and send the dry part through without digitizing it, then add the reverb back in.

I bought an Oceans 11 and stuck it in the loop of my Rocker 15. If I played it through a crappy amp you can't hear that it's a tone sucker, but in the loop of an Orange you can hear it.. to me it sounded like everything was distant, maybe some treble/midrange loss, maybe some overall drop in signal strength. Who knows.

The Oceans 11 is also way too complicated.. amazing anyone can use it in a gig or jam with all of it's hidden functions and such.

I took the Oceans 11 back after a day or two and got my money back.

I never had any hum problems with it but I've got a pretty well sorted power setup.

NJD3VIL77
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Re: OR15 Better with Zero Pedals?

Post by NJD3VIL77 » Fri May 10, 2019 7:21 pm

beninma wrote:
Fri May 10, 2019 3:43 pm
The Oceans 11 is a tone sucker... it got so much press and awards cause it's got a zillion features.

But it doesn't have an analog dry path.. it is digitizing your dry signal and then re converting it to analog. A lot of the other top quality reverbs don't do this, they split the analog signal and send the dry part through without digitizing it, then add the reverb back in.

I bought an Oceans 11 and stuck it in the loop of my Rocker 15. If I played it through a crappy amp you can't hear that it's a tone sucker, but in the loop of an Orange you can hear it.. to me it sounded like everything was distant, maybe some treble/midrange loss, maybe some overall drop in signal strength. Who knows.

The Oceans 11 is also way too complicated.. amazing anyone can use it in a gig or jam with all of it's hidden functions and such.

I took the Oceans 11 back after a day or two and got my money back.

I never had any hum problems with it but I've got a pretty well sorted power setup.
I have also returned the Oceans 11. I'm currently selling off my pedalboard entirely. The simplicity is liberating.

stargazer747
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Re: OR15 Better with Zero Pedals?

Post by stargazer747 » Sat May 11, 2019 11:24 am

As I was going thru building pedalboards in these recent years and I've gone thru almost as many configurations and combinations of FX pedals as there is available on the market, I have many a times come across noise issues. Most were easily resolved either by using better quality patch cables that are noiseless, or getting the right power source, or simply choosing another brand pedal to replace one not cooperating and being noisy.

When more than one FX is on the same daisy chain sharing a single power source like a 9V adapter can introduce noise into the signal path it the current draw goes beyond the amount capable of the power source. Since the FX Loop on our Orange amps are tube driven and well balanced it can be heard more through it than if you went thru the front of the amp where the tone has EQ and Gain on it which might mask it somewhat. Have you tried using a separate power supply for each pedal? Look up each pedal's current draw (the mA markings on the sticker or in the manual). The math is fairly simple; total up all the pedal's current draw sharing that daisy chain or non isolated power supply brick, then double that number, and that is what your power supply's current draw should be providing. Example if you had 6 pedals on a daisy chain and the total of current combined is 500mA , times that by 2 = 1000mA (or 1A), and that or more is what the power source should be able to provide.

But even doing so, there are some pedals, especially digital ones like reverbs and delays, that never work well regardless of max current draw when sharing power which is why its recommended that they are kept separate. I don't think you need to go to extreme and rid yourself of FX altogether, we all know how the right tone can be complemented by a nice reverb, or delay, or modulation. I'm heavy on FX when coming up with stuff for us to work on, the right FX at the right point in a tune makes for a very satisfying jam session.

Here is a very useful website that lists almost every FX pedal make and model with their specs...

http://stinkfoot.se/power-list
Orange Rocker 15 Terror-EVH5150III-Hughes&Kettner-Marshall-Celestion-Jackson-Fender-Gibson-PRS-Laguna-AnalogAlien-Earthquaker-Walrus-CryBaby-MXR-BOSS-EHX-Ibanez-TCE-ZOOM-DiMarzio-ErnieBall-Tortex-Pedaltrain

NJD3VIL77
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Re: OR15 Better with Zero Pedals?

Post by NJD3VIL77 » Sat May 11, 2019 1:29 pm

I use a Voodoo Labs 4x4 to power my board. As suggested I have also tried a single pedal via it's own adapter, a single pedal via 9V battery. Any way I go the extra hum remains. Patch cable directly between send and receive jack yields no extra noise. Tried known working tube in place of effects loop tube, no change.

With the Tweaker 40 there was no added noise whatsoever but that amp also has a line/instrument level selection.

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