Old Blood Noise Endeavors Dark Star

[Disarm D'arcy]

The more I think about this verb the more I want it. That bitcrushed sound is hauntingly beautiful.

[SecretMachine]

Anyone get one in the end? I got mine today but I haven't had a chance to use it yet!

[11A]

Yeah I have one. The hold f/switch niggles me though, it's momentary but there's a click so it doesn't feel very smooth to use. Like the EHX freeze.

I kinda wish it just latched anyway....

[SecretMachine]

Finally had a chance to play it and it's really really fun and very beautiful.
I spent most of my time in the Pitch and Crush modes. Both are incredible, especially the Crush mode, nothing quite like it.

[Willem]

Yeah I have one. The hold f/switch niggles me though, it's momentary but there's a click so it doesn't feel very smooth to use. Like the EHX freeze.

I kinda wish it just latched anyway....

Annoying, I don't have any click on my procession.

[Olin]

Thinking about getting one of these to replace a Walrus Audio Descent. I was real stoked for it but it just isn't what I thought it was, and I only seem to use the octave settings on it, this seems like a pretty solid replacement and would open up some real estate. Anyone got any input on that>

[the5chord]

So how is it going with the dark stars? Been checking the online emporiums for a used one but so ar nothing has come up. Does that mean you like them or did not very many buy one?

[SecretMachine]

It's pretty good. To me it's kinda following the trend of most OBNE pedals where I like what they're trying to do, but I'm not always keen on every aspect of the pedal.

The BitCrush and Pitch modes are pretty awesome. Tuning the pitch is alittle bit tricky as it's full sweep, not specific intervals, so you can sharpen or flatten notes quite easily. The reverb sound is pretty lovely, however the actual reverb knob itself doesn't seem to really have much impact on the sound as I'd have liked. I feel like it's a super long decay no matter what setting. As a result, it's pretty over powering, so I dial the mix down so it can "sit" in the mix abit better.

The delay mode is pretty pointless in my opinion as the delayed note is so "submerged" that it's hard to differentiate it.

Truthfully, it's way more likely to be intended as a big obvious effect rather than a subtle reverb. More designed for those big tremolo picking post-rock cresendo things.

It's worth noting that I'm running this last in the chain. I'd imagine running it pre-dirt would be a different story all together and something I need to try.

OBNE pedals in terms of online presence kinda suffer from masses of pre-hype but little post-release discussion. The only really widely talked about pedal they have is the Black Fountain and maaaybe the Haunt. I've rarely seen the Reflector and Dark Star mentioned.

[weebles]

Truthfully, it's way more likely to be intended as a big obvious effect rather than a subtle reverb. More designed for those big tremolo picking post-rock cresendo things.

Yeah, I think they say as much on their technical video for the pedal. Chicago Music Exchange has a video up for it on their YouTube channel where the guy says it can be used as a regular reverb, but I just don't see how that's possible.

I don't own one, but I've borrowed a friend's for a few days to check it out. I really love it for crescendos and pad-making. (#ambientnotes) It would probably work really well paired with just a regular old HOF mini for your normal verb.

I really want to pick one up, but I don't know how it would pair with my Meteore, since I'm using the Meteore to do most of what I would do with the Dark Star (Minus the crush and pitch modes).

[SecretMachine]

I have a Meteore and the Black Star. I use the Meteore inbetween two dirt pedals to both tame it and accentuate it, whereas the Dark Star is a last in the chain "special effect" reverb.

Similarily I found the reverb size slightly hard to control on the Meteore, but sticking it pre-delay and pre-dirt tames it quite nicely.

The Dark Star is your celestial vista.
The Meteore is your amps spring reverb onfire, whilst falling into a black hole.

[weebles]

Philippe had said on some other forum or Instagram post or something that part of the framework for the Meteore, aside from the metro line, was an old busted up Deluxe Reverb, so "spring reverb on fire" is a pretty great description.

I read a review of the Black Star that said it sounded like clouds on fire.

[zoooombiex]

i emailed Brady regarding the trimpot to sort the volume boost issues that previous pedals had.
he said while they haven't managed to get a trimpot in this initial batch, they've basically set the pedal to unity gain

he means 100% wet = unity gain?

+1 on this question

[toothsome]

Hey guys,

I don't notice any volume difference.

Love my darkstar, and am actually pretty into the delay mode for super cheesy Steve Vai lead shredding. That's a place where the hold switch is actually great, I do also wish it didn't have such a click though and was a little softer. Latch would also be nice. letting the delay oscillate is really fun great because it happens pretty slowly and the volume doesn't seem to peak so you can play into the oscillation quite a bit before it overtakes your signal.

As everyone else has said the pitch and crush modes are ethereal as fuck. Controlling finding good spots for harmonies is a little tricky, but it's pretty awesome to just do octave up and/or down or both. I find that if you point the knob at the LED light (about a 35 degree angle) I think it's a third up. I tend to prefer pitch for shimmer-y higher register voicing and crush for lower stuff.

i do tend to keep the reverb knob around 7 - 9 o clock and the changes in this range and just beyond it are pretty substantial. Past 12 or 1 generally gets pretty crazy and more or less long lead sustain, super slowcore or ambient only territory.

[Disarm D'arcy]

Should be able to buy one next month. Completing the OBNE team

[Bonefish67]

This pedal sounds great in front of my MF 104m. Pitch mode is my favorite setting.
-Mike