Home › Forums › Help/Technical Questions › Stereo Clone Theory, extremely noisy hiss

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  • December 3, 2008 at 9:41 am #77330
    HanSolo
    Member

    I bought a Stereo Clone Theory, and while it’s a very lush and great sounding chorus, it has tons of hiss when engaged.

    I returned the first one thinking maybe it was faulty, and it’s just as bad as the first. So I returned the second and the third is exactly the same, and now the retailer won’t issue a refund or exchange.

    I tried different power supplies, different cables and even used it on a few different amps.

    Are they all like this? Is there anyway to fix it so there is no hiss? I own a lot of EH pedals, and this is the first to ever give me any problems :(

    December 3, 2008 at 9:56 am #88173
    electro-melx
    Moderator

    Yes, they are all like this (as far as I know, mine is anyway) and I’m afaid I don’t know anyway to solve it….it is the circuit generating the hiss, so no amount of different amps, cables or power supplies is gonna change it.

    ……sorry I can’t offer you a solution.

    December 3, 2008 at 12:23 pm #88175
    Fender&EHX4ever
    Moderator

    Strange. I thought the SCT was a digital pedal?

    December 3, 2008 at 1:43 pm #88178
    electro-melx
    Moderator
    Quote:
    Strange. I thought the SCT was a digital pedal?

    I’ve no idea mate, but it is hissy.

    December 3, 2008 at 2:24 pm #88180
    FUZZ (EHX Staff)
    Member

    Good Morning Folks…. Hello electro-melx, I hope all is well… I would suggest trying some different cables and setting up in a different area in the room. It could be a 60 Cycle hum that is amplified with your chain. :thumb:

    December 3, 2008 at 2:26 pm #88181
    FUZZ (EHX Staff)
    Member
    Quote:
    Good Morning Folks…. Hello electro-melx, I hope all is well… I would suggest trying some different cables and setting up in a different area in the room. It could be a 60 Cycle hum that is amplified with your chain. :thumb:

    I read it over and I see you tried that… sorry. Let me ask around here to see if there is a simple solution to your problem. How old is it?

    December 3, 2008 at 3:30 pm #88202
    electro-melx
    Moderator

    mine’s brand new! lol…

    it’s not hum..I have a hum de-bugger that cuts all that out…it’s like proper hiss…..I wouldn’t describe mine as “extremely noisy” but it is there….a hiss in the background.

    it’s there even if you have nothing plugged into the input, if I just plug the unit into my amp then switch the unit on……hhhiiiiissssssss, that why I figured it was the actual circuit that was generating it.

    it doesn’t bother me that much but I know what the OP is talking about.

    December 3, 2008 at 4:44 pm #88232
    julian
    Moderator

    mine is hissy too, but it isn’t extremely noisy. It’s a little bit of background white noise. Doesn’t bother me. If you’re playing it before high gain stuff it will be louder though. If you have an FX loop, putting it in there reduces the noise supposedly. I don’t think it is that bad that it needs it. But whatever.

    It’s analog Fender&EHXForever;.

    December 3, 2008 at 4:48 pm #88236
    John J
    Member

    As far as I can tell, the SCT is just a direct reissue of the original Clone Theory with surface mount components and stereo operation. It’s the BBD chips making the hiss so I can’t see any way of getting rid of it, but if you give it a little bit of time it will grow on you. In fact, the SCT replaced my Small Clone because I miss the added ‘dimension’ that the hiss adds!

    The hiss shouldn’t be as noticeable when you’re playing, so all I can suggest is turning the pedal off when you’re not playing and learn to love the snow!

    December 3, 2008 at 4:56 pm #88248
    julian
    Moderator

    I think most BBDs create that kind of noise, and a lot of them are HPF’d out, but on the Clone theory it seems like there is a LPF so that it has a really bright sound. So I think that’d be why.

    December 3, 2008 at 5:01 pm #88254
    Rick Stevenson (EHX Staff)
    Member

    There is a major reason that the Stereo Clone theory is so popular. It is the warmth of the sound.
    It is also a pure analog instrument. This is not to say that an analog design is better than a digital design. Analog instruments inherently have noise due to component design. It comes with the territory.
    Yet, Analog instruments , without a doubt, have an organic warmth with color characteristics that are unobtainable in the digital domain.

    The Stereo Clone theory uses high quality bucket brigade chips. The same ones that we use in the Deluxe Memory Man and many of our time based analog effects. The noise comes with the territory.

    If you need an excellent sounding stereo chorus then the Stereo Clone Theory fits the bill. If you need a quiet stereo chorus then you trade off the warmth and personality that the Stereo Clone Theory
    presents.

    December 3, 2008 at 5:05 pm #88258
    electro-melx
    Moderator
    Quote:
    There is a major reason that the Stereo Clone theory is so popular. It is the warmth of the sound.
    It is also a pure analog instrument. This is not to say that an analog design is better than a digital design. Analog instruments inherently have noise due to component design. It comes with the territory.
    Yet, Analog instruments , without a doubt, have an organic warmth with color characteristics that are unobtainable in the digital domain.

    The Stereo Clone theory uses high quality bucket brigade chips. The same ones that we use in the Deluxe Memory Man and many of our time based analog effects. The noise comes with the territory.

    If you need an excellent sounding stereo chorus then the Stereo Clone Theory fits the bill. If you need a quiet stereo chorus then you trade off the warmth and personality that the Stereo Clone Theory
    presents.

    Thanks Rick, I figured it was just the way it was…..it’s certainly not going to put me off using mine! :metal:

    December 3, 2008 at 7:40 pm #88290
    janusEffect
    Moderator

    Yeah, the SCT is naturally noisy (as is the original, IIRC), but there’s nothing else I’ve used which sounds like it.

    The regular Small Clone is quieter, but doesn’t sound like the SCT.

    Are you a bass or guitar player? If you’re a bass player, try turning down your tweeters. Most of the hiss will go away when those are turned down.

    December 3, 2008 at 8:44 pm #88301
    julian
    Moderator

    Clone theory sounds sooo good on bass

    December 3, 2008 at 9:04 pm #88307
    janusEffect
    Moderator
    Quote:
    Clone theory sounds sooo good on bass

    +1… I still regret selling mine…

    But my current chorus needs are covered by a Stereo Electric Mistress. :)

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