Any speculation on the new Polyphase LFO?

[Dave_B]

I was going through the thread on the new EHX lineup at HC and saw the pic of the new Polyphase.  I'm trying to guess how the "Start" and "Stop" knobs work.  Unless I'm misunderstanding, they set the minimum and maximum control voltage coming off the LFO. 

If I was given this assignment, I'd do it this way.  I doubt you'd find a worse solution since the controls would interact like crazy.  That's assuming it even works.



In my mind, the Start knob adds a DC voltage to the LFO input, raising the minimum voltage.  The Stop knob simply reduces the overall voltage, controlling the high end of the LFO in a very poor way.  Anyone have any thoughts on what EHX may have done? 

[Rodgre]

I'm going to assume that it's not the LFO that the "start" and "stop" are controlling. There is a setting for Envelope control, like the original Polyphase. I am going to guess that it sets the points in the phase shift that the envelope follower triggers, similarly to how the envelope-controlled filter on the Microsynth works. With those two controls, you would be able to set the Start high and the Stop low to get the envelope to go high to low, or vice-versa for a traditional low-to-high "wah" type of envelope follower sound. You could even set it for a really narrow range for a subtle effect.

I'm liking the looks of that pedal nonetheless!

Roger

[StephenGiles]

Perhaps they too my advice!

[StephenGiles]

That's took!

[tiges_ tendres]

where is the info with all the new EHX stuff on it?  I spent about 3 hours last night crusing around harmony central, and couldnt find it.
By the end of that 3 hours, having read what felt like a million dumb posts, I was glad to come back here and not be confused by peoples signatures being larger than their posts.

[Dave_B]

where is the info with all the new EHX stuff on it?

Right here.  I probably should have included that in the beginning, eh?

[tiges_ tendres]

where is the info with all the new EHX stuff on it?

Right here.  I probably should have included that in the beginning, eh?

bless your heart! thank you

[puretube]

[Mark Hammer]

They may be called something different, but I doubt they are anything different.  "Start" is functionally identical to the "Manual" or "Initial" control found on *some* phasers and flangers historically.  "Stop" is functionally identical to "Depth" or "Width" controls.

For me, a "real" phaser or flanger has an core of 5 control knobs: rate and regen, initial/start point for the sweep, endpoint/depth of the sweep, and wet-dry blend.  Various manufacturers over the years have elected to omit one or more of these controls, partly because end-users weren't sure what to do with them, so why spend the money on providing them?

The "gain" control here is ambiguous to me.  I'm not sure if it is a blend/mix control (the "5th pot" often left off) or something intended to inject harmonic content (which normally provides for richer or more pronounced filtering sound, whether wah, autowah, flanger or phaser).

Typically, in the "universe-of-the-5-pots", LFO rate is the "desert island" control.  The one you'd save if you were forced to eliminate everything but one control at gunpoint.  Next on the priority list is often either regen or sweep depth since they both make substantial differences in the quality of the sound/effect.  Blend/mix and initial/manual/start are often at the bottom of the heap, largely because many musicians (especially beginning ones with fewer dollars to spend) find these less obvious to use, and less obvious in their impact on the effect.  They are more in the order of "nuance" controls.  That's why you tend to see them used sparingly.

Happily, the Polyphase provides (at least) 4 of the classic 5.  Given that the opportunity for nuancing the effect is provided for by the various modulation options, I don't think the missing 5th knob is missed all that much.  For all we know there is a trimpot inside that provides for setting optimum wet/dry balance and someone who bought the pedal and doesn't mind monkeying around will have figured out how to make wet/dry blend a chassis-mount control in the years ahead.

[puretube]

SOUNDCLIP
of the new PolyPhase...

caution: 10Mb!

[toneman]

Hey Mark!!  What about the "even/odd"  phaser feedback switching??
I'm sure a lot of would-B-engine-eers would want to know      

[Dave_B]

SOUNDCLIP
of the new PolyPhase...

Thanks!