Display posts from previous
Sort by

Re: Gear talk: TALK ME OUT OF IT

92 by tommy
Owen wrote: Thu Mar 24, 2022 8:21 pm Should I spend $150 on the Behringer Bi-Phase? I always wanted the Mu-Tron, but money and all.
I've wanted a Bi-Phase forever. I just took delivery of the Behringer yesterday.

I have some thoughts:
1) the build quality actually seems super nice. I think they've come a long way in quality in the last few years. I've had some good luck with Behringer and I absolutely LOVE my Model D and Pro-1. The Vocoder is also excellent. All feel solid and sturdy, but this Bi-Phase is a TANK.

2) They've done a great job design-wise for the most part on this. Implemented relay switching into it instead of a separate pedal. Added LEDs to see which side is on. I'm not sure I agree with their decision to keep the inputs and outputs on the "wrong side" like the original, but whatever. I'm guessing that is so it coincides with the where the phaser order is on the graphics/face.

3) There is a pretty huge volume drop with guitar from bypass to effect. Especially with both engaged. I haven't yet tried it with keys to see if it's an impedance thing. But I've owned two separate Musitronics Phasor IIs in my life (one half of the Bi-Phase) and they boosted signal a little bit, they didn't kill it. This might be a deal breaker for me. There's a 90% chance I'm returning this unless there is an internal output level control or something. Maybe the effect output seems so low because the bypass is true bypass? There's also a pretty big thud when using the bypass switch. I think I'd let that slide if it was unity gain though. Worth a mention.

4) I haven't been able to try the expression pedal foot sweep because I can't get it to work with my Moog EP-3 (that I really can't seem to get to work very well with ANYTHING (guessing my exp is broken). Who has a good reco for a super universal expression pedal?

5) It's takes a standard 9V power supply BUT it has 700mA current draw! (maybe 700 is a typo? Sweetwater claims the power supply for it one rated for 100mA). The only thing I had big enough to power it was an old Godlyke Power All switchmode supply I haven't used in years. The manual says "use the included adapter" but there isn't one.

Anyway, I also almost got the Octave Divider when it came out, because I loved the original I used to have. But I've been super thrilled with the Octron 3 so didn't bother. I probably won't end up giving that other Musitronics clone a shot now.

Did I help, Owen? Or do you want to swing by and buy this from me for what I paid less shipping? I think there's a big backorder. Or at least there was.

EDIT: WHOA! Maybe I should hold onto it? Looks discontinued (or maybe the backorders reached epic level. https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail ... lsrc=aw.ds
Last edited by tommy on Fri Mar 25, 2022 1:22 pm, edited 1 time in total.
self: https://tommiles.bandcamp.com/
old: https://shiiin.bandcamp.com/

Re: Gear talk: TALK ME OUT OF IT

93 by benadrian
TylerDeadPine wrote: Fri Mar 25, 2022 11:10 am Yes!!

Were there any full on brawls between coworkers with team “keep the aesthetics the same” and team “change it up”?
Not at all. This pedal is basically for people who know and love the DL4. It had to operate exactly the same, so the footswitch spacing is exactly the same for the looper crowd, and the knob layout is exactly the same for the knob tweaker crowd. Plus there's a bunch of extra shit (mic preamp), newer and better sounds in addition to the exact old sounds, it can be run off a lot more power supplies, and it's still smaller. Not to mention it's the same price or cheaper than the original DL4 when it was released 22 years ago.

So, in short, the idea was to have the same user functionality, which had to keep it the same size, AND we want people to know exactly what it when they see it on a pedalboard from 100 feet away.

Re: Gear talk: TALK ME OUT OF IT

95 by Tom Wanderer
tommy wrote: Fri Mar 25, 2022 1:01 pm 4) I haven't been able to try the expression pedal foot sweep because I can't get it to work with my Moog EP-3 (that I really can't seem to get to work very well with ANYTHING (guessing my exp is broken). Who has a good reco for a super universal expression pedal?
I use an old Boss volume pedal like this
Image

And a cable that's a TRS plug on one end and two mono plugs on the other. That way you can route the ring and tip into and out of the boss pedal however necessity dictates.

...oops...pictured is the 300L (low impedance/keyboard) the 300H is the instrument-level one.
Radio show https://www.wmse.org/program/the-tom-wa ... xperience/
My band https://redstuff.bandcamp.com/
Solo project https://tomwanderer.bandcamp.com/

Re: Gear talk: TALK ME OUT OF IT

96 by Owen
tommy wrote: Fri Mar 25, 2022 1:01 pm
Owen wrote: Thu Mar 24, 2022 8:21 pm Should I spend $150 on the Behringer Bi-Phase? I always wanted the Mu-Tron, but money and all.
I've wanted a Bi-Phase forever. I just took delivery of the Behringer yesterday.

I have some thoughts:
1) the build quality actually seems super nice. I think they've come a long way in quality in the last few years. I've had some good luck with Behringer and I absolutely LOVE my Model D and Pro-1. The Vocoder is also excellent. All feel solid and sturdy, but this Bi-Phase is a TANK.

2) They've done a great job design-wise for the most part on this. Implemented relay switching into it instead of a separate pedal. Added LEDs to see which side is on. I'm not sure I agree with their decision to keep the inputs and outputs on the "wrong side" like the original, but whatever. I'm guessing that is so it coincides with the where the phaser order is on the graphics/face.

3) There is a pretty huge volume drop with guitar from bypass to effect. Especially with both engaged. I haven't yet tried it with keys to see if it's an impedance thing. But I've owned two separate Musitronics Phasor IIs in my life (one half of the Bi-Phase) and they boosted signal a little bit, they didn't kill it. This might be a deal breaker for me. There's a 90% chance I'm returning this unless there is an internal output level control or something. Maybe the effect output seems so low because the bypass is true bypass? There's also a pretty big thud when using the bypass switch. I think I'd let that slide if it was unity gain though. Worth a mention.

4) I haven't been able to try the expression pedal foot sweep because I can't get it to work with my Moog EP-3 (that I really can't seem to get to work very well with ANYTHING (guessing my exp is broken). Who has a good reco for a super universal expression pedal?

5) It's takes a standard 9V power supply BUT it has 700mA current draw! (maybe 700 is a typo? Sweetwater claims the power supply for it one rated for 100mA). The only thing I had big enough to power it was an old Godlyke Power All switchmode supply I haven't used in years. The manual says "use the included adapter" but there isn't one.

Anyway, I also almost got the Octave Divider when it came out, because I loved the original I used to have. But I've been super thrilled with the Octron 3 so didn't bother. I probably won't end up giving that other Musitronics clone a shot now.

Did I help, Owen? Or do you want to swing by and buy this from me for what I paid less shipping? I think there's a big backorder. Or at least there was.

EDIT: WHOA! Maybe I should hold onto it? Looks discontinued (or maybe the backorders reached epic level. https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail ... lsrc=aw.ds
Yeah, a few of those are kind of a deal breaker for me unfortunately. Maybe you have a rare bird on your hands if they pulled it already.
guitar in - weaklungband.bandcamp.com/
Post Reply

Return to “Tech Room”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 1 guest