Strymon Riverside - Very quiet. What else has such a low noise design?

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Strymon Riverside - Very quiet. What else has such a low noise design?

Post by S.Crow »

I started a thread recently asking how noisy a Big Muff is and It turned out not to be as bad as I thought in the end.
Since then I have acquired a Strymon Riverside and I’m surprised just how quiet it is.
Even with single coils with the drive up high it is very quiet.
Dramatically quieter than the other 3 distortion/drive/fuzz pedals that I have.
It did cost me almost 3 times more than those other three did in total, but at least I am seeing some very noticeable improvements. It has other benefits as well of course.

From the blurb for the pedal:
“ultra low noise, discrete, class-A JFET circuit.”

So it’s got me wondering whether any other manufacturers have similarly low noise drive pedals?
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Re: Strymon Riverside - Very quiet. What else has such a low noise design?

Post by Wonks »

It's a digital pedal, so apart from that JFET input buffer to provide a high input impedance for the guitar's benefit, it's then straight into an A/D converter, processing and a D/A. So it's got no other analogue components to produce noise. So it could model the effect of distortion on the incoming waveform, rather than having to actually provide loads of virtual gain and then clip it off in order to get the right wave shape. So it doesn't need to amplify any background or upstream noise that's got into the pedal.

I have no idea how their software works, so they may well model analogue circuits and gain boosts etc, but do something clever to keep the noise down or ignore low level noise signals in the boost calcs. Or they may just model the end result, or do something between the two. It probably adds some gain at some point or it would probably feel rather lifeless.

But it is a digital, not an analogue pedal, which is the main reason why it's so quiet.
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Re: Strymon Riverside - Very quiet. What else has such a low noise design?

Post by S.Crow »

Of course. :headbang:
Thanks for reminding me, as I knew that it's digital but hadn't considered the implications.

I wonder what the Boss OD-200 is like in terms of noise with its hybrid analog/digital design?
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Re: Strymon Riverside - Very quiet. What else has such a low noise design?

Post by Wonks »

It may well depend on what models you chose and which configuration. But it's got a noise gate built-in, so it's not going to be super-quiet all the time. Had a look at the manual but there's no schematic (apart from the basic block one) that shows what parts are analogue and what are digital. Without hearing one in the flesh, I'd expect a near-standard amount of noise with the noise gate off.
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Re: Strymon Riverside - Very quiet. What else has such a low noise design?

Post by al_diablo »

I noticed a massive drop in the noise level of several pedals when I started using a properly isolated power supply. Even things like my boss EQ that had always had a bit of hiss is now silent.

In terms of quiet analogue pedals the j rockett drive pedals are very low noise.
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Re: Strymon Riverside - Very quiet. What else has such a low noise design?

Post by SecretSam »

Compared with the fan noise of a Peavey Classic 50, the following pedals are undetectable:

Way Huge Saucy
TC electronic mojo mojo
Marshall guvnor
Marshall jackhammer

The first two are absolutely quiet. I haven't tried the others on a quieter amp, so can't say.
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Re: Strymon Riverside - Very quiet. What else has such a low noise design?

Post by TheLegit »

al_diablo wrote:I noticed a massive drop in the noise level of several pedals when I started using a properly isolated power supply. Even things like my boss EQ that had always had a bit of hiss is now silent.

In terms of quiet analogue pedals the j rockett drive pedals are very low noise.

I agree a quality PS really has a big impact on pedal noisiness
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