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Post new topic Earth Drive plus Revelation?
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Author Topic:  Earth Drive plus Revelation?
Paul Stauskas


From:
DFW, TX
Post  Posted 21 Jan 2024 9:07 am    
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Hello, I have been trying to use the Earth Drive in conjunction with the Revelation pre-amp by connecting guitar -> Earth Drive -> Rev "Input." Additionally I have the Rev "Send" and "Return" connected to the input and output on my Telonics VP. The issue is that I am getting a high frequency artifact with this configuration regardless if the Earth Drive is on or off. If I remove the Earth Drive from the chain, the artifact is absent. Has anyone used a similar set-up or experienced this? Thanks!
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Charlie Thompson

 

From:
South Carolina, USA
Post  Posted 21 Jan 2024 9:49 am    
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What Power Supply are you using for the Earth Drive?
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Paul Stauskas


From:
DFW, TX
Post  Posted 21 Jan 2024 10:50 am    
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Hi Charlie, I am using a Blucoil 9V 670 mA AC/DC power supply adaptor
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Tucker Jackson

 

From:
Portland, Oregon, USA
Post  Posted 21 Jan 2024 12:31 pm    
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Hmmm... time to swap out some things. Do you have any other stompbox that you could put in the chain to replace the Earth Drive? I'm curious whether you would still get the noise when that box was off. If so, the power supply would be the next thing to swap out.

You can get the kind of noise you're describing when a power supply is either overloaded, or it's being shared with other devices where each one is not isolated (i.e., they're daisy chained). Is the Earth Drive the only unit being powered by the Blucoil?

I'm assuming that everything is plugged into the same AC outlet/circuit, or power strip, right? Yeah, probably... but I had to ask.
.


Last edited by Tucker Jackson on 21 Jan 2024 12:49 pm; edited 3 times in total
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Fred Treece


From:
California, USA
Post  Posted 21 Jan 2024 12:39 pm    
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Swap cables too.
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Charlie Thompson

 

From:
South Carolina, USA
Post  Posted 21 Jan 2024 1:11 pm    
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Paul you could also power the ED with a 9V. and see if you still have the noise
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Paul Stauskas


From:
DFW, TX
Post  Posted 21 Jan 2024 8:26 pm    
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Thanks for the helpful advice. I will try out what has been mentioned and report back.
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Michael Hill

 

From:
Arizona, USA
Post  Posted 22 Jan 2024 7:31 pm    
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Maybe try the earth drive in the loop the volume pedal is in.
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Tommy Boswell

 

From:
Virginia, USA
Post  Posted 29 Jan 2024 7:21 am    
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I also have a Revelation and an Earth Drive. I don't use them together, but if I did I would hook up this way:

guitar-->Rev input

Rev send-->Earth Drive-->volume pedal-->Rev return

The Rev input needs to see the guitar pickup in order for the Vari-Z to do its job.


Last edited by Tommy Boswell on 29 Jan 2024 6:17 pm; edited 1 time in total
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Fred Treece


From:
California, USA
Post  Posted 29 Jan 2024 10:27 am    
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I agree with Tommy. So does the online manual, Page 4 Item C.
https://www.sarnomusicsolutions.com/resources/Product-Manuals/RTP-Manual-FEB2022.pdf

Normally I would go guitar>overdrive pedal>preamp and put the VP in the loop, but the Vari-Z control is probably the “Black Box” unit that is incorporated into the Revelation.
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Paddy Long


From:
Christchurch, New Zealand
Post  Posted 29 Jan 2024 5:14 pm    
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I run my Earthdrive with the 9v battery - it lasts forever, and I don't get any extraneous noises or frequencies from my setup - worth considering !

Gtr > Earthdrive > VP > everything else
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Fred Treece


From:
California, USA
Post  Posted 29 Jan 2024 6:06 pm    
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Paddy Long wrote:
I run my Earthdrive with the 9v battery - it lasts forever, and I don't get any extraneous noises or frequencies from my setup - worth considering !

Gtr > Earthdrive > VP > everything else

We’re pretty sure this is a Revelation amp signal path issue, and probably not an Earth Drive problem. It’s even been addressed in the Revelation manual.

Actually, I wish someone would explain the suggested method of connecting effects to this particular amp a little better. The generally accepted wisdom is to run an OD/Dst unit ahead of the preamp input, as Paddy and the OP do. Usually an effects loop is placed after the preamp in the signal chain, so you would expect that running a unit like the Earth Drive in the loop would overdrive a power amp connected to the Revelation preamp. That isn’t terribly uncommon, but I would not want it as the only option.

Hope I’m not sorry I asked. My eyes glaze over when I see electronic schematics.
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Tommy Boswell

 

From:
Virginia, USA
Post  Posted 31 Jan 2024 5:49 am    
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Using the owner's manual recommendations from page 4 item C, signal path would look like this:

guitar-->Rev input

Rev send-->"Overdrive or distortion type pedals"-->volumn pedal-->"delay, reverb, or modulation effects pedals"-->Rev return
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Fred Treece


From:
California, USA
Post  Posted 31 Jan 2024 10:24 am    
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Yes, Tommy, I read the manual and I understand how the connections go. I also gather that it’s the Revelation’s “Vari-Z” that necessitates this configuration. What I don’t understand is why a preamp would be designed so that an overdrive unit could ONLY be routed to a power amp (via the fx loop). Unless I am missing some magic in the signal chain routing, that is what appears to be the case, and I would consider that a limitation, and possibly a hazard to an external power amp. Ultimately, it’s the sound that matters, so if this routing works and sounds good and causes no harm then there is nothing to discuss on that level.
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Tommy Boswell

 

From:
Virginia, USA
Post  Posted 31 Jan 2024 6:44 pm    
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Fred, the volumn pedal loop is where the effects pedals go. That's different from the effects loop, which apparently is for a multi-effects unit. I think anything in the volumn pedal loop feeds into the preamp.

I'm no expert, just a very satisfied Revelation owner.
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Fred Treece


From:
California, USA
Post  Posted 31 Jan 2024 8:49 pm    
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Tommy Boswell wrote:
Fred, the volumn pedal loop is where the effects pedals go. That's different from the effects loop, which apparently is for a multi-effects unit. I think anything in the volumn pedal loop feeds into the preamp.

I'm no expert, just a very satisfied Revelation owner.

This is GOLD! Thank you Tommy. The front panel loop feeds into the preamp, just like a Peavey Nashville, and the FX loop is on the back panel and goes out to a power amp. That is where I would put chorus, digital delays, and reverb units. And overdrive units right before the VP, like you said, into the front panel loop. All is right with the world now!
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Brad Sarno


From:
St. Louis, MO USA
Post  Posted 16 Feb 2024 8:32 am    
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Paul Stauskas wrote:
Hi Charlie, I am using a Blucoil 9V 670 mA AC/DC power supply adaptor


Those have been reported to bleed their "switching noise" into the audio for a lot of users. It's powerful enough to power 100 Earth Drives, so kinda overkill. To keep that high frequency artifact out of our audio we can try more traditional transformer based wall-wart power supplies. They don't have any of that high frequency switching noise. Just a good old Boss or Ibanez type does great in this situation.

And speaking about placement of an Earth Drive in the Rev's path. I find the easiest and neatest is to plug guitar right into the Rev's Input, then take the SEND to the floor and go thru a drive pedal, then into the Volume pedal, then to the RETURN. This keeps the drive pedal BEFORE the volume pedal so you never lose full control over volume, and the drive stays the same at any volume.

But some people want the drive to behave like an overdriven tube amp that gets more dirty the harder you hit it. In that case you can place the Earth Drive right after the volume pedal and before the RETURN. It's a different but totally viable approach, but less popular and harder to control the master volume.


Brad Sarno
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Paul Stauskas


From:
DFW, TX
Post  Posted 26 Mar 2024 10:55 am    
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Thanks everyone including Brad for the helpful advice. Swapping out the power supply and using the suggested signal path eliminated the issue.
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