Home › Forums › Review Your EHX Gear › Octave Multiplexer

Viewing 15 posts - 16 through 30 (of 30 total)
1 2
  • Author
    Posts
  • June 5, 2009 at 10:55 pm #97420
    mattcasey
    Member
    Quote:
    I know what you mean! …I reckon that the muff unit in the DOMs I have is the Big Muff Pi, however I will see if someone can tell us precisely. I have enclosed a pic of one my two DOMs, both of which are this model which I think is the original vintage DOM.
    Meanwhile, keep looking out for vintage Deluxe Octave Multiplexers. Of the two I have now, I bought one in the UK from a store closing sale, and one in Germany on eBay. They each cost over 200 Euro and this was a few years ago, so I expect prices to have gone up, at least on this model.

    never knew this existed….i’d kill to try it. seriously.

    June 6, 2009 at 11:34 am #97437
    nightraven
    Member

    i only know one post-punk band, Wire; and i’ve only heard two of their albums, pink flag and 154. but damn they are a great band. i’m really digging 154. it’s turning out to be one of those desert island albums. i’m not really into pink flag though. probably because i’m not really a fan of punk…

    June 6, 2009 at 11:31 pm #97477
    julian
    Moderator

    If you did Wire, you should check out Mission of Burma, Swell Maps, Gang of Four, and Joy Division. They’re all similar to Wire in different ways.

    June 6, 2009 at 11:37 pm #97478
    mattcasey
    Member
    Quote:
    If you did Wire, you should check out Mission of Burma, Swell Maps, Gang of Four, and Joy Division. They’re all similar to Wire in different ways.

    joy division.
    best.
    band.
    ever.

    if you get psycho obsessed with joy division, check out new order and happy mondays. buy make sure you’re dropping ecstasy, selling coke and dancing 24 hours a night at the hacienda.

    never really listened to wire….i’m surprised…

    June 7, 2009 at 9:41 am #97487
    nightraven
    Member

    downloaded joy division’s greatest hits

    src=

    i’m such a tool haha.

    thanks guys!

    June 7, 2009 at 3:15 pm #97494
    mattcasey
    Member

    that’ll probably be stuff from their two full length studio albums — closer and unknown pleasures. if you get into them, don’t dispare, there’s tons of singles and b sides, and a 4 disc collection of most of that stuff called heart and soul (sounds kinda lame, but it’s awesome).

    a little more “raw” is first band, warsaw. alright, i’m done preaching…hope you like it!

    June 8, 2009 at 3:37 am #97526
    st.bede
    Member
    Quote:
    Like the Frequency Analyzer, it’s a pedal that begs you to find creative or unconventional applications for it.

    I like placing it in the effect loop of the Qtron+. It sounds great when playing staccato rhythmic lines into a delay. I also like to use it with my Sonic Boomer drum to get a fat kick sound.

    Here’s a soundclip where I use it with a Crying Tone Wah: http://soundclick.com/share?songid=7486247

    too cool of an idea….enjoyed the clips too…peace

    February 24, 2010 at 1:15 am #107881
    Stoner Wizard
    Participant

    Ah! The Octave Multiplexer…

    … It’s one of my favorite monophonic octavers along with the MXR Blue Box (one of their rivals from the 70’s)

    I own three big-boxed units of this: An original from 1975 and two RI’s (early 2000’s and a later RI – after 2005 I suppose).

    It has a 70’s hard-rock & funk vibe, which was on vogue when it was designed – I’ve noticed that the original has a bit more gain than RI’s.

    The “Bass” mode of the original performs really good for guitar and bass while the “Sub” mode of RI’s is not as versatile on guitar but really outstanding with bass.

    It’s also very funny how it works on vocals.

    About blend control, maybe at some settings, especially if you go past 50%. With more octave present in the mix, you may notice a volume “drop” comparing with the bypass volume. This can be solved readjusting the High & Bass filter values or changing between Normal and Sub. It depends on the instrument you’re using. I noticed that this “drop” sensation is caused because some notes on extreme ranges (lowest or highest) cannot be tracked properly, but it can be solved as I comment above, just tweak the filter knobs and here it goes.

    The XO version, as it has two outputs may let you experiment with blend-knob at max, while you can get the dry sound going through the other output. That could be especially useful for studio recording (two tracks at a time – one with the dry signal and the other with full-octave signal), and with the status LED (but I don’t really miss it on the big boxes).

    I suggest some possibilities:

    Guitar – EH Big Muff Pi USA/Russian – EH Octave Multiplexer – (whatever) – Amp. Here, the OM may tame a bit the roar of the Big Muff while you can get a nice octave-down-fuzz for soloing or heavy riffing – which I find very Melvins/Boris-like.

    You may place instead, the OM first and Big Muff after if you want to use “more wet” settings (I mean, the blend control going past 12 o’clock) so you can boost and fuzz the deep octave sound.

    This rig can make your 4-string bass sound like a 5-string bass, deep and powerful:

    Bass – EH Octave Multiplexer – EH Q Tron (LP mode) – whatever – Amp

    Another cool rig could be: Guitar or Bass – EH Octave Multiplexer – EH Doctor Q – whatever – Amp:

    This is very responsive to playing dynamics, a super funky sound. And a bit synthy on some settings (listen to the song “Madison Ave.” of Tortoise and you can have an idea of what I’m talking about).

    Regards!

    N.

    February 24, 2010 at 2:08 am #107883
    mattcasey
    Member
    Quote:

    You may place instead, the OM first and Big Muff after if you want to use “more wet” settings (I mean, the blend control going past 12 o’clock) so you can boost and fuzz the deep octave sound.

    So true — sounds great running a les paul into the OM then the BMP then my fender red knob twin :)

    March 16, 2010 at 10:30 pm #108581
    Stoner Wizard
    Participant

    Hello everybody:

    I’ve reading the instructions of the new XO Octave Multiplexer. It gives more information than the manual of the Classic Chassis version.

    The XO manual says that Bass filter knob is not active when SUB switch is OFF. OK, but does it work in the same way in the Classic OM version?. I’ve used the Classic OM RI many times but now I’m not too sure about it.

    The XO manual:

    https://www.ehx.com/assets/instructions/octave-multiplexer.pdf

    vs. the Classic manual:

    http://www.bassemporium.com/pdfs/EHOCTAVEMULTIPLEXER.pdf

    Supposedly both are the same or maybe I’m a bit confused.

    Thanks for your help!

    S.W.

    May 25, 2010 at 8:40 pm #104631
    FluffChop
    Member

    I like mine for the octave sounds. LoL I’ve owned the Boss PS-5, HR-2, Digitech HarmonyMan, Eventide PitchFactor and the Octave Multiplexer is the only one I kept because nothing else does an octave sound like it does. The only thing I don’t like is it doesn’t track as well as the Digitech, it glitches and drops out below the low A. The filter controls let you tailor a very fat (phat?) bass tone from your electric guitar. I practically never use the pedal however, but it’s the best sounding octaver I’ve found. Also there is no latency. It can sound cool plugged into the Micro Q-tron for funky bass sounds. The plan is to record some lovely music and use the Octave Multiplexer to make the bass line. I also have a Godin Freeway SA and Boss GI-20 so midi synth stuff is on the cards. The thing is I never get around to doing anything, but hey I enjoy buying and selling pedals on eBay. That’s like a whole other hobby, or an extension of the guitar hobby. It’s all one big melting pot of fun and sounds. On the way are a Memory Toy and Stereo Clone Theory.

    August 4, 2010 at 1:00 am #110659
    friedjesseradio
    Member

    hey guys. so i visited my aunt and uncle in maine a couple weeks ago. he had a dui and now hes 1 year sober while waiting a year and half to get his licence back. so hes kinda stuck at home and he got really into pedals during this time. hes built a few of his own and loves modding and selling. well besides you guys i have never been able to talk to anybody about pedals so visiting my uncle was amazing. during that week i stayed with them, i learned what makes a pedal, how to read schematics, and generally what i need to know. the night before i left, he helped me build a fuzz circuit and helped me wire it and everything.

    so since im still on vacation but not in maine (im in new york visiting more family) i cant work on any pedals. however, i do have access to looking them up and learning more. this past week, i have fallen in love with the octave multiplexer. i just looked over it before and didnt really like it but now, i cant stop thinking about it. its just perfect for what i want. i have found a schematic and layout for it and i have been looking at that non-stop.

    i plan on building this sucker when i get back home. i love this pedal and think its extremely underrated. well i will tell you if i get it to work or not but wish me luck

    August 4, 2010 at 12:41 pm #110668
    Zippster
    Member

    I have a broken 1975 at home. Sounds like it might be worth getting fixed

    August 4, 2010 at 2:37 pm #110677
    Fender&EHX4ever
    Moderator
    Quote:
    I have a broken 1975 at home. Sounds like it might be worth getting fixed

    Definitely. Should sound great in front of that Zipper.

    December 26, 2010 at 1:14 pm #113316
    Stoner Wizard
    Participant

    Hello again, people:

    After months of intense use and testing, I give some additional tips for the classic chassis version of the OM.

    I’ve found out that “sub octave” works better with guitar and vocals (as they have enough mid-high requency range to get some useful sub octaves), while it’s more useful keeping it disengaged for bass.

    I tested it with keys (a friend of mine played while i was tweaking the knons) and it’s more flexible, depending the octave range you play, you may choose sub or not.

    I checked it with bass and noticed that keeping the sub-octave on caused lots of gain peaks (the limiter LED lights almost everytime), but some of the sub octave gets lost as some frequencies may be out of the audible range (depending what notes you play, they may be near of the low freq. spectrum), so I noticed a certain volume “drop”. But there’s a rumble caused by the sub-harmonics. So I disengaged the bass filter and it works much better for a subtle effect, unless you want a thick sound (in this case, with the sub-octave on, it needs additional help -> read tips below).

    This is a good setting for guitar:

    High filter – MAX.
    Blend – 9 or 10 (Distortion before)/2 or 3 (Distortion after).
    Bass filter – MAX.
    Sub – ON.

    NOTE: You may get better results placing a BIG MUFF before or after, depending the amount of octave you want to put into the mix. If you want more octave, push up the distortion output.

    Using it with vocals: Roll the blend knob past 50%, so you can get more “Jabba-The-Hut” tones.

    This is another setting for bass:

    High filter – 10.
    Blend – 9:30 o’clock.
    Bass filter – Disengaged/3.
    Sub – OFF/ON.

    If you want your 4-string bass sound like a 5-string, use the sub octave and an EH Q-Tron placed after the OM with this setting:

    Drive: DOWN.
    Boost: ON.
    Gain: More than bypass.
    Peak: Just a little bit.
    Mode: LP.
    Range: LO

    NOTE: A Black Russian BIG MUFF or Bass Big Muff with low-gain placed after the OM gives an extra punch.

    These are my OM’s:

    [img]http://public.blu.livefilestore.com/y1pQEh5WHHuQ4betiDypmuA-B1TB0te0RqvT_QU4oNN3XPT2c6longzKrLMSV3K3meEvuLt4Seyqu40aSwF1VW4IA/EH Octave Multiplexer Original VS Reissues.JPG?psid=1[/img]

    From left to right: 1975 OM, Early 2000’s RI, Late RI (2006). I use the first two with guitar and the Late RI with bass.

    If you want a 70’s organic octave down sound… go for the OM.

    If you want to go further, try the Micro Synthesizer or the POG series.

    Regards.

    S.W.

  • Author
    Posts
Viewing 15 posts - 16 through 30 (of 30 total)
1 2
  • You must be logged in to reply to this topic.