Noise Gates

Ive searched past threads and im yet to find a good NG. By good i mean one that doesn t colour sound. I hear alot about the boss..but ive also heard that it colours sound a bit. Can anyone suggest a better noise gate???

The change in sound that you notice when you use a noise gate is produced by the elimination of unwanted frequencies... Noise gates will slightly alter the sound no matter what because it's clipping frequencies that are commonly known as "noise" frequencies. No noise gate is absolutely 100 % efficient. However, the Boss noise gates are probably some of the higher quality gates. I don't have a noise gate, because I use a PODxt LIVE and a GENX2 which both have gate features on them. When it comes to choosing a gate, definitely take your axe to a guitar store and hook into all the gates you're looking at. Different pickups generate different frequencies and operate at different levels. A gate that is good for one guys guitar may not be the best one for you to use. Even though all noise gates have different settings to adapt to any amount of frequencies... the settings may not give your set-up the same results as the other guy. So just try them out and see what works for you.

Originally Posted by: PoleraIve searched past threads and im yet to find a good NG. By good i mean one that doesn t colour sound. I hear alot about the boss..but ive also heard that it colours sound a bit. Can anyone suggest a better noise gate???

I say the MXR Smart Gate, it's extremely good

Originally Posted by: Blazinshreder8I say the MXR Smart Gate, it's extremely good

Actually i did get it...and i found that it didnt colour my sound one bit...i was amazed! Good pedal.

There are several misconceptions about noise gates being bandied round here.

If a noise gate is coloring your sound you either:
a) have a broken noise gate or
b) haven't set it up properly

A noise gate is in essence like an automatic no/off switch. You key in the threshold value which triggers upward expanders / downwards expanding filters to kill the signal. These should not be active when you are playing if they are you have your threshold set too high. Think of the threshold like an upside down compressor. A compressor kicks in when the signal level raises above a certain value and it applies a user defined level of compression. A noise gate looks for signal dropping below a predefined level and then wipes it out to kill buzz and humm.

Clipping results for having your threshold set too high

But if the noise gate doesnt have 100% true bypass...it can colour your sound like boss', but mxr does have true bypass... Thats what i beleive but could be wrong...

100% true bypass, are you talking about superconductivity ?

I dont believe it is superconductivity...But one thing i have found is that true bypass allows you to play while the unit is off....unlike say...boss unitsw where i have found they have to plug in to play.

Originally Posted by: PoleraIve searched past threads and im yet to find a good NG. By good i mean one that doesn t colour sound. I hear alot about the boss..but ive also heard that it colours sound a bit. Can anyone suggest a better noise gate???

The MXR Smart Gate is good :)