Pillimees

I play different styles, from folk-rock to lo-fi indie to blues, and this pedal has seen me through all of those. If it got stolen I'd seriously consider getting a new one, though it might prove a little difficult since the Line6 pedals seem to be few and far between here in Estonia. When buying it, I compared it to several Rocktron and Boss pedals, most of which had "zombie", "death" or something to that effect in their names. I chose the Crunchtone because it offered the most variety of sounds, and because I didn't need a high-gain pedal anyway. Since then I have found myself occasionally wishing it had more gain, which is why I recently purchased the Turbo Rat. But the Crunchtone has certainly earned itself a place in my pedal chain. My favourite feature would have to be the noise gate, since it allows me to skip a dedicated noise filter. The selectable models are also neat, and I expect to explore their possibilities more in the future. One point of concern is powering this pedal. As mentioned, it chews through batteries like there's no tomorrow. I measured its power consumption, and got 45 mA in bypass mode and 60 mA when disengaged. This is obscenely high for an overdrive pedal, and means that you'll probably need to bring at least one spare battery to gigs. The Line6 ToneCore pedals also seem to not like being daisy-chained with other pedals, though I haven't tried it myself. The best option, if you have more than two or three pedals, would probably be to get a power supply like the Voodoo Labs Pedal Power. Overall this is one extremely versatile overdrive pedal.

Just a follow-up to my previous review. When I said this: "I measured its power consumption, and got 45 mA in bypass mode and 60 mA when disengaged." I of course meant 45 mA in bypass mode and 60 mA when switched on.

You're welcome. On a related note, it seems that when the Satellite isn't connected to a computer, input signals are sent directly to the output, regardless of the position of the Source switch. This is with the latest firmware update; I can't say if it was the case before that. Either way, neat.

Yes, it is. The Satellite base station has a Source switch that selects between DAW and inputs. The latter position will allow you to hear your input signals directly through hardware, as well as the return from your computer. I use that option routinely to play back other audio equipment (cassette player, MP3s on my work laptop etc) through the Satellite, as my speakers are hooked up to it. Note that you might have to apply the latest firmware update (1.05.0100 as of the writing of this), as before that the inputs position only allowed input signals to come through. You can get the update here: http://www.mackie.com/products/satellite/update.html

No. The mic input goes through the mic preamp, but a line level signal might be too hot for that. Get a female XLR - male 1/4" cable and run it into the line input. A balanced signal is one where you're sending both the original signal and its phase-reversed copy down the same cable. At the receiving end the copy is reversed again and merged with the original signal, thus cancelling out any noise picked up on the way. This is basically the same way humbuckers work (except the signals are in parallel, not in series). To do this, you need a stereo cable. This has three contacts (TRS = tip, ring, sleeve) instead of the two on regular instrument cables - one for the original signal, one for the phase-reversed copy and one for ground. An unbalanced signal is just the original signal, without the phase-reversed copy. That's what you get when you use any old instrument cable. If your amp has an XLR jack, the signal is probably balanced. But I believe the Mackie's line inputs accept both balanced and unbalanced signals, so you're fine either way.

I'm into DIY and looking to build myself a new set of fingers. Any good places for schematics?

Great news, thanks for posting! I forgot what the fefatures would be, but I remember reading about it and knowing I needed it! You can read the release notes on the download page. Re my question above, I've learned that the CardBus and ExpressCard slots don't provide enough power, so Firewire bus power via those interfaces is out of the question. Damn shame, really... Also, I noticed something nifty a while back with my Satellite, that I don't think is mentioned in the manual or this review. The control room A/B switch is both latching and momentary. Press it down about halfway past the first click, and it'll latch. Press it again and it'll return up. But press it down completely, and it acts as a momentary switch, returning when you release it. Sorry if it's been mentioned before, but I just discovered it myself, and thought it was a neat feature to share.

For some reason he reminds me of Bob Pinciotti from "That '70s Show". Hand farting through a wah, though? Le brillant.

Is there any way to bus-power the Satellite from a PC laptop? My HP NX6125 has both Cardbus (I and II) and Expresscard/54 slots, so I guess what I'm looking for is a Firewire controller into either of those slots. It has to be able to bus-power without an external adapter, though - otherwise I'd just be swapping the Satellite's mains adapter for the card's. Is there anything like that out there?

Digital bypass would be as simple as telling the DSP chip not to do its voodoo on the incoming stream of ones and zeros that is the digital representation of your guitar signal, but instead pass it on to the D/A converter untouched. Boss pedals have active analog switching with FETs, as stated above.

Actually, they do. The US pedals all use 3PDT switches, even those that would only require an SPDT or even SPST (DMM etc). The reason is simple: bulk pricing. It's far cheaper for them to use the same switch in all their pedals. Good point about bulk pricing. I remember seeing the insides of a Switchblade some time ago. It also had a 3PDT switch (unnecessary in a passive A/B box; not to mention it wasn't wired correctly).

FWIW, I had a Russian Big Muff a while back, and it had a 3PDT switch. I never confirmed whether it was true bypass or not (used it only occasionally with bass, and didn't notice any tone suck), and have since sold it, but I don't think EHX would put a 3PDT switch in there if it wasn't true bypass.

ohhhh i always thought the DC Resistance was output. Or is it both? I'm confused. DC resistance is just that - the DC resistance of the pickup coil. Generally, higher DC resistance means more output, but that's a rough approximation at best. Much depends on the wire gauge, the winding method, the material and strength of the magnets, etc.

No pedals, but a Mackie Onyx Satellite, Alesis Picoverb and some Swineshead pickups.

I think you just violated their copyright, Devi And yes, that's a pretty old site.