TC Electronic Sentry Noise Gate accentuating white noise...normal of a noise gate?
- Thread starter TheShreddinHand
- Start date
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TheRileyOBrien
Well-Known Member
jc986
Tone Enthusiast
ISP makes good stuff. I have an original Decimator and haven't even thought about trying any other noise reduction pedal. It works so well in my setup I don't see how it could be improved. You should be very happy with the Decimator II.
op1e
Spirit Taker
Have you tried any of the toneprint settings to remove that frequency? I've always only used NS-2's. Have one in front of my chain, then the 1101 gate, then G Major's gate in the loop. If I were to gig again just digital, the 1101 gate would be enough.
TheShreddinHand
Uber Stringer
I didn't mess with any of the tone print stuff. When TC support wrote me back and said the pedal was not acting right I just accepted that and sent it back.
I use an NS-2 in front of the amp with a dirt box and boost in the pedal's loop. Those two pedals are just in case pedals depending on the situation, because most of the time I just use straight amp gain. I also have an ISP Decimator II in the effects loop of my Mesa. This set up works well for me. Dead quiet.
TheWarAgainstTime
"TWAT" for short
Nice! I've a Decimator II and an original in my main rig and they're untouchable as far as noise reduction goes.
I've also owned an MXR Smart Gate, which was pretty good but very touchy with the controls, a Boss NS-2, and a DBX 266xl. The NS-2 is okay, but not my first choice, especially if I were to only use one gate in my rig. The DBX was actually the next best thing to the Decimators IMO, but once I got my second Decimator pedal it was redundant and just taking up space in my rack.
decreebass
Business Secrets of the Pharoahs
Agreed. Like I said, though, I'm on my second one because the first one just up and stopped working. It wasn't even abused. But this one's been going strong for quite some time. Best noise killer pedal on the market if you ask me.
TheShreddinHand
Uber Stringer
Thanks to everyone's advice. Decimator II is awesome. Kept everything quiet and no accentuating of any white noise. Decay is great and does its job darn well. Thanks everyone. Highly recommend this pedal!
eviltoaster
Well-Known Member
I compared my ISP Decimator (1. Gen.) and my new Sentry for days.
I have another point I recognized and that Sentry users may check in that regard: the bypass that is used. By default the pedal is in true-bypass mode, which means the impedance is changed when the pedal is engaged because there will be a buffer in use! This slightly changes the frequency response (especially with ODs/boosters afterwards) and can be heard easily imho. Especially in terms of white noise. When I turned the buffer of the TC on, there is no such change anymore between ON and OFF.
The ISPs are always buffered, there is no true bypass. So you cannot get this effect there.
But they are anyhow always on, so what.
For my in-house noise problems I liked the Sentry more, but it was a close call.
I have another point I recognized and that Sentry users may check in that regard: the bypass that is used. By default the pedal is in true-bypass mode, which means the impedance is changed when the pedal is engaged because there will be a buffer in use! This slightly changes the frequency response (especially with ODs/boosters afterwards) and can be heard easily imho. Especially in terms of white noise. When I turned the buffer of the TC on, there is no such change anymore between ON and OFF.
The ISPs are always buffered, there is no true bypass. So you cannot get this effect there.
But they are anyhow always on, so what.
For my in-house noise problems I liked the Sentry more, but it was a close call.
InFlames235
Well-Known Member
I compared my ISP Decimator (1. Gen.) and my new Sentry for days.
I have another point I recognized and that Sentry users may check in that regard: the bypass that is used. By default the pedal is in true-bypass mode, which means the impedance is changed when the pedal is engaged because there will be a buffer in use! This slightly changes the frequency response (especially with ODs/boosters afterwards) and can be heard easily imho. Especially in terms of white noise. When I turned the buffer of the TC on, there is no such change anymore between ON and OFF.
The ISPs are always buffered, there is no true bypass. So you cannot get this effect there.
But they are anyhow always on, so what.
For my in-house noise problems I liked the Sentry more, but it was a close call.
IMO, having owned both, the ISP Decimator 2 is way better than the Sentry Noise Gate. Can't speak for the first Decimator version but they made some drastic improvements on the 2
eviltoaster
Well-Known Member
funny thing is: the TC group (TC and more) is actually owned by Behringer.
TheShreddinHand
Uber Stringer
I compared my ISP Decimator (1. Gen.) and my new Sentry for days.
I have another point I recognized and that Sentry users may check in that regard: the bypass that is used. By default the pedal is in true-bypass mode, which means the impedance is changed when the pedal is engaged because there will be a buffer in use! This slightly changes the frequency response (especially with ODs/boosters afterwards) and can be heard easily imho. Especially in terms of white noise. When I turned the buffer of the TC on, there is no such change anymore between ON and OFF.
The ISPs are always buffered, there is no true bypass. So you cannot get this effect there.
But they are anyhow always on, so what.
For my in-house noise problems I liked the Sentry more, but it was a close call.
I will say that the Sentry had a very very natural decay to it (really shined in that respect). But overall, the DII was what I needed for my application for sure. Glad your Sentry is working out for you though!
eviltoaster
Well-Known Member
I guess bbove a certain level, it's generally a thing of specific application, personal preference and for noises: usage environment.
However, I wonder what is the actual difference between Decimator 1 and 2? I always thought it prunes down to the link functionality?
Since I never intended to use any loop-gating (never had super noisy equip or the need to go below that "equilibrium-fizzle") I never saw the need for linking or the G-string. I was always super happy with my ISP and only bought the Sentry for its multi-band and tunability features.
However, I wonder what is the actual difference between Decimator 1 and 2? I always thought it prunes down to the link functionality?
Since I never intended to use any loop-gating (never had super noisy equip or the need to go below that "equilibrium-fizzle") I never saw the need for linking or the G-string. I was always super happy with my ISP and only bought the Sentry for its multi-band and tunability features.
TheShreddinHand
Uber Stringer
Yeah I'm not sure either. I've just got the D2 in front of my amp and it does a perfect job. No need for another one in the loop.
MattThePenguin
Well-Known Member
Glad my Sentry is doing good! I can do 4CM for $100 (dat holiday sale) so I'm happy! It lets my guitar sustain forever with very natural decay. Anything but the NS-2.. I wouldn't even run a gate live with that trash.
jc986
Tone Enthusiast
Perhaps that has something to do with them being owned by Behringer now. I have a couple of TC pedals and haven't had any issues whatsoever though.
NinjaRaf
Well-Known Member
I still love the NS2. After owning a few decimators, a couple of g strings, a decimator 2, rocktron hush, mxr smart gate, pigtronix gatekeeper, a couple others, and the TC Sentry, I still find the NS2 to be the best pedal noise gate around. I get no tone suckage (I never understood this claim because I have never heard it, and Ive owned about 10 NS2s haha), 4CM lets me completely silence my rig, and the cut off always seems more natural to me than most others.
I didnt notice the white noise thing with the Sentry that I had, but I couldn't get past the fact that their marketing implied that it did 4CM, but it doesn't actually do that. So it went back.
I didnt notice the white noise thing with the Sentry that I had, but I couldn't get past the fact that their marketing implied that it did 4CM, but it doesn't actually do that. So it went back.
Zeriton
Well-Known Member
The NS-2 was terrible for tone suck for me, but mine was a newer one. Supposedly the solder changed in the newer ones makes a huge different and people say the older NS-2s are better.
The TC Electronic Sentry had the problem described in this thread for me (the white noise) and the decay just never ever felt quite as natural as a Decimator (the first Decimator version mind you as well).
The MXR Smart Gate I've never understood how to use haha. It was either too hard-gated or not gated enough. I could never find that middle ground through tons of tweaking.
