AionFX Lumin hiss

[zachlovescoffee]

Howdy!

I just built this pedal (full kit from AionFX) and while it definitely improves the tone in amazing ways (seriously the clarity is awesome) it also adds a noticeable amount of hiss to my output signal. Could it be placement or a bad component in the pedal?

I have it very last in my signal chain:

Eric Johnson Strat > Sun Face > POG 2 > TC Spark Mini > Joyo Comp > QTron+ > Polytune > Caline Pure Sky OD > AquaPuss MKII > MXR Phase 90 > EHX Small Clone >Ammoon Pockverb > Ammoon Stereo Looper > Lumin > 69' Fender Princeton Reverb

[ElectricDruid]

Bad component sounds very unlikely to me.

I'd guess that after such a long chain of pedals, you've got a fair bit of noise in the signal. And then you're adding an enhancer, which basically boosts the treble and makes that hiss really obvious. So I doubt there's anything wrong, except that it's enhancing something you didn't want enhancing!

The Lumin doesn't include a noise gate, does it? Didn't some versions of the original BBE gizmos also include noise gating, or am I remembering that wrong?

Test it. Use the Lumin on its own. If it's really *producing* the hiss, it should still do it on its own. If the hiss disappears in that situation, it's probably just emphasising hiss from further up the chain (and which might not be objectionable without that emphasis).

[zachlovescoffee]

Ahoy! It's there whether there are any pedals in front of it or not. I think it's just slightly boosting the hiss in the treble channel of my amp. I may need to pull the chassis and check the specs on the resistors in there. I just got it about 8 months ago and gave it an overhaul but I left as many components that were still in spec in it. So there are likely a few 50 year old carbon comps that's are contributing to it. Honestly, this is just me being nit picky since I'm playing at bedroom levels right now. You wouldn't notice this hiss on stage.

I can totally recommend this kit. It has literally brought the guitar to life in ways I thought wasn't possible. It takes the fender clean sound to a new level. It's amazing.

[aion]

A bit of hiss is inherent to the Sonic Maximizer circuit, a byproduct of the type of high frequency state-variable filter like Tom mentioned. I put about as much filtering on there as possible, with each opamp having its own local supply decoupling in addition to the main filter capacitor, but there is still a bit. It will definitely vary by rig though.

You could swap out the op-amps for something lower-noise, like the OPA2134 - though current consumption will go way up, if batteries are involved.

[zachlovescoffee]

Thank you Kevin! Great suggestion. I have some OPA2134s coming this week for another pedal build. If the supplier I'm using is good I'll buy more and test them out in the Lumin. Bad ass pedal. It has really brought the rig to life. Fender clean is my favorite tone, just pushes into light saturation. And the Lumin pedal has added clarity to all of that now. I loved playing it clean and a little sagged but it has such new characteristics now. It's a real joy.

Just locked up a Klon PCB from you for my next build! The Dinosaural is next. I can't find a dang translucent gold 125b enclosure for the Klon though. Super bummed.