The war of the octaves...(For beginners)

IguanaFish

IguanaFish

May 28, 2018
29
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4,606
Guadalajara, Mexico
#1
Well, I´m about to buy a new octaver (actually my first one), but I really don´t know which to choose, my budget is around the Boss OC-3 and the TC electronic Sub n Up, I already have the SpectraComp from them, and the toneprint option is amazing, but I´m not sure if its better than the OC-3,I´ve seen reviews and everything but I keep getting confused, I would love to hear which one you prefer among these 2, and if you have a suggestion for another one, it would be great! Thank You!
 
#3
I vote for the Sub n Up because it has the octave up option. Most octavers have 2 octaves that are both lower, and I find the lowest octave to be somewhat of a waste and not as useful to me as having the ability to go to the upper registers if I want.
 
#4
TC Sub n Up if you want more then just an octave down, the OC-3 seems solid but is also digital so I'd recommend an analog octave down if you want something simpler. The EHX Multiplexer is solid as is the chinese clone the Eleca Black Hurricane (which is dirt cheap) Only complaint I've heard about the Multiplexer is it cuts volume a bit at some settings, but IME it also boosts at others and can be set fairly neutral with the blend. And there's a mod for a volume control/boost.

I really like the Black Hurricane for the price, a bit simple but the dual low/high filters give it a nice range of sounds. And it has a really warm/thick analog tone, complete with glitchy goodness when playing polyphonically.
 
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#5
For a ‘first’ octaver I’d say the Sub n Up out of those options. You’ll want the best tracking one you can get, my first octave didn’t track well at all and I put them off for a long time because of it.

I absolutely love the Boss OC-2 but it’s such a touchy pedal.
 
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#8
The Sub'nUp have amazingly good tracking and a really low latency.

I use the Sub'n'Up Mini, which is cheaper and smaller and has fewer physical control knobs but uses the same octave engine as the Sub'n'Up.
I only use the octave up though.
That the Boss OC-3 won't do.

And as both the OC-3 and Sub'n'Up are digital and you'll have much more control over the tone of the Sub'n'Up, I'd say the Sub'n'Up wins by a mile.

If you are in love with the analog octave down tone nothing really beats an analog octaver though, which neither of those you mention are.
An analog octaver won't do polyphonic tracking though and generally it won't track as well as most digital octavers would.
 
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#10
For me it is still between t16 and octron III
Cubic is another one that has been on my 'interesting' list for a long time.
Palmer Unterton may also be interesting- I remember it tracking well and being inexpensive.
 
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#11
Of the two, I'd take the OC-3. IMO the low octave attack just wasn't there on the TC, which is a deal breaker for me. I have an OC-2 and Copilot Cubic - both are muuuuch better options for everything but octave up sounds and can be generally had pretty cheap used.
 
#12
To my ears there's nothing better than an OC-2. I've tried the OC-3 and find it's OC-2 mode pretty darn close. So close I'd bet I wouldn't notice a difference in a band context. I have a TC SpectraComp and HelixPhaser. Based on the flexibility of those, I wouldn't be surprised that you could get a good OC-2 approximation with the Sub N' Up. The inexpensive TC Nether looks like an analog option worth a try. The Behringer Ultra Octave might be worth a listen at $25. Most multi-effects pedals offer octaves. The Bass Octave in my Zoom MS-60B isn't an OC-2 but gets the job done on a bar gig.
 
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#17
Karlson541 said:
If you are in love with the analog octave down tone nothing really beats an analog octaver though, which neither of those you mention are.
An analog octaver won't do polyphonic tracking though and generally it won't track as well as most digital octavers would.
Click to expand...

I have used the Boss OC-2, which is analog, on bass since the mid 90's and I love it. I don't use the 2nd 8ve down at all (which I would highly recommend) and play higher on the neck so it doesn't get too low. Obviously, you should be able to go as low as an octave higher than the range of your instrument (E easily or B). If you watch out for that it sounds excellent and tracks well. I'd like to try some of the newer stuff but haven't really been to motivated to change.
 
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#18
You should check DOD FX35 Octoplus! Really affordable, I am using one right now
"Only" one octave down + it has TONE knob for the octave
It's more bottom heavy than a OC-2 (as far as I can remember)
 
#19
Wasn't going to post, but then I saw Black Hurricane/Multiplexor mentioned.


Can be set to be suuuuper subby

Works better in a mix lightly blended in to beef up higher notes

The eleca one is painted kinda cool, but is not "solid". Count on replacing sockets and switches. Still worth it, though.
 
#20
MattZilla said:
Wasn't going to post, but then I saw Black Hurricane/Multiplexor mentioned.


Can be set to be suuuuper subby

Works better in a mix lightly blended in to beef up higher notes

The eleca one is painted kinda cool, but is not "solid". Count on replacing sockets and switches. Still worth it, though.
Click to expand...

I've had my black hurricane for awhile without any issues, though I don't use it a ton and it mainly sits in my chain. But yeah that's always a risk with Chinese pedals, but for 30$~ it seems worth it for the enclosure/parts alone.

Was getting some incredible guitar tones last night with a split signal like so : Fuzz Factory > Wah > Mixer > FX loop with Black Hurricane >More dirt > Stereo delay.

Had the Fuzz > Wah signal playing through the mixer as well as going through the FX loop, so I could stack that signal with the octaver/ stereo delay signal. Was tons of fun.

But I really love how the Multiplexer sounds with dirt, can get some super thick synthy sounds or some subtler "fattened" stuff.
 
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