Just to get this out of the way: I don't really blend ring mods...it's almost always full wet...so most things I say are from that base point.ck3 wrote:A Pigtronix Ringmaster arrived earlier today. I had an hour or so to do some tinkering with it placed in my amp's effects loop. Per the usual protocol, I did so without reading a manual and was eventually able to deduce how the knobs and switches interact. So far, it seems muffled, overly clippy, and and meh aside from hypnotic glitchiness and synth-like textures possible when engaging the intelligent, LFO, and sample hold ring modulation modes. The tremolo seems pretty weak and unwieldy compared to other options on hand, but may just need to be tweaked better. There is also the distinct possibility the pedal may sound better in front of my amp, though I can already tell that the included power supply will generate a noticeable amount of unwanted noise. More experimentation is in order before rendering a final verdict.
Yeah, that's kinda what I was getting at with the mixer on the pedal...it's kind of hard to dial in. I had it set well when just plugging strait in, then put a fuzz in front and I ran out of time trying to find a gain sweet spot. I think it clips too much with the gain so that it can square it off for the tracking stuff. It's four controls if I remember correctly (kinda), which is kind of a pain...you have to match the volume of the sine carrier to the source audio.
Because the carrier is a sweepable sine-square with harmonic distortion, it is possible it can kind of cancel/saturate/sound weird with overly distorted signals going in (like overdriving the front end gain). The harmonics get kinda fiddly and can interfere with the perception and output signal in the final blend...which is why I can be kind of trying to adjust one parameter and then readjust everything for balance. The more harmonic or loud one signal is in relation to the other, can really change the result. It's part of the reason a lot of ring mods stay with simpler, less harmonic waves.
The tremolo has been great to me. I like it better than Randy and the Moog, but not as much as the noah'sark. The high end frequencies aren't my favorite (much prefer a ton of others), but they are functional (don't dig them as much tracking...because that's not what I'm doing haha). I kind of like the tracking on the subdecay for high pitched stuff better too...it adds some fun wobbles and stuff.
I think your effects loop is probably too hot. Did you try a volume pedal before? (Other ideas that may help tame it it an effects loop or after gain: static bandpass filter, eq, limiter)
Overall, I like the pedal. I like having the dynamic tremolo and it's fun. It's just really touchy.
looking forward to trying this one....
