Disapointed...

For the Wahoo™ Dual-Analogue, Digitally-Controlled Wah/Filter Pedal

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Flex
Posts: 17
Joined: Fri Nov 08, 2013 10:18 pm

Disapointed...

Post by Flex »

I've been using my Wahoo for a week or two, and know here are the fact:

Unable to be used with usb connected, because it's really noisy, so I won't be able to make all those midi trick I was thinking about...
I have made a sound clip: at fisrt without the usb connection and then by connecting it. I've also tried without my laptop power adapter but it's more noisy.

https://soundcloud.com/flexme/noise

It cuts my extreme low-end (I put a picture of it, playing the same thing at same not, with and without) , and it's a really important part of my sound...
Capture d’écran 2013-12-04 à 12.37.05.png
Capture d’écran 2013-12-04 à 12.37.05.png (154.11 KiB) Viewed 7782 times
So I wonder, because it's a demo version I've received from you ebay store:

Is something going wrong with mine?
Or is the hardware wrong because it's a 1.0.00 hardware version?
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james
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Re: Disapointed...

Post by james »

Regarding the noise when USB is connected, please see this post:

viewtopic.php?f=22&t=846&p=2723#p2723

Are you using a 9V DC power supply with the Wahoo when USB is connected?

The low frequency response of the Wahoo rolls off around 20-30Hz, which looks the same as shown in your spectral plot. Do you agree with this, or do you think it's cutting off higher than this? What preset / filter configuration are you using?
Flex
Posts: 17
Joined: Fri Nov 08, 2013 10:18 pm

Re: Disapointed...

Post by Flex »

I have tried various way: with and without power supply on the pedal, and with and with out the power supply of my laptop, with same or different wall connectic.
And making all those teste, I discovered au new noise: the expression pedal is making buzz while moving...

here it is at first, bypassed wahoo, then wahoo on (lot of hum, and it's not usb connected, and then you can ear the pedal noise while I move it

https://soundcloud.com/flexme/noise-pedal

for the teste of frequency I've done this wiht filter 1, open at max.
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james
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Re: Disapointed...

Post by james »

Is the noise OK when USB isn't connected? If so, it comes down to the USB connection, or maybe even which DC power supply used. Ground loops can be tricky to resolve sometimes.

I assume the filter test was done with the filter in low-pass mode? The lower 3dB point of the signal chain is somewhere between 20 and 30Hz (I don't have the exact numbers to hand just now). However, you can still get significant low-frequency energy when the filter oscillates with the cutoff at 10-20Hz. If you really needed lower than this through the signal chain even without the filter resonating, it would be possible to modify the hardware to extend this low-frequency response. We'd have to do that specially for you though.

I can hear the pedal buzz you described, and I think we need to look at your pedal to repair this. I suspect that if you set the hi and low Q to the same value, the buzz will vanish.
Flex
Posts: 17
Joined: Fri Nov 08, 2013 10:18 pm

Re: Disapointed...

Post by Flex »

Yes it was on low pass mode,
Yes the hiss noise is ok when usb's disconected. but on the second sound clip you can another noise (not talking about the pedal movement), kind of hum noise, is this normal?
(usb was not connected) it's quite loud, and does not disapear totally even when low pass tottaly down.

On the teste (about pedal move noise) high and low Q were at 0
Flex
Posts: 17
Joined: Fri Nov 08, 2013 10:18 pm

Re: Disapointed...

Post by Flex »

By the way, thank you to be so reactive.

I must say that I bought the wahoo 1 or 2 weeks ago, so wehen you say "we need to look at your pedal to repair this" I suppose it's included in the guarenty. What about the shipment?
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james
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Re: Disapointed...

Post by james »

What was drive set to? If the signal level going into the filter is very low, there can be more background noise (I wouldn't really call it a hum because it seems more broadband than a single tone which would be a hum). This is because the filters are inherently quite noisy (a trade-off for their nice sound). Increasing the drive will reduce the noise level (increases the signal-to-noise). Typically a setting of 10-20 for the drive will give something that's clean. The lowest settings are really only required for very high output instruments where these low settings are required to avoid overdriving the filters when you want to keep it clean.

Similarly, mixing in some dry signal can increase the noise. If the wet/dry mix is set to 100 (no dry) it can help.
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