Which Noise Gate / Suppressor for me?

[Toe-Knee]

I've built both the decimator and a modded smartgate with additional controls such as threshold, attack, decay.

They modded smartgate was far better in my opinion. More natural feeling very transparent and it killed more noise but openened quicker. The stock smartgate was pretty similar to the decimator.

The decimator overall was far too eager to close cutting off notes and felt really unnatural when opening i guess it would be perfect for djent in that respect it had a very processed feel as did the boss ns2 whilst not really cutting that much noise out(NS2)

[Dave Sloven]

I haven't had this problem with the G-String when kept below 1 o'clock on the sensitivity dial.  I can see how the regular version might do this tough

[dave_mc]

I haven't tried the smartgate.

I like the decimator. If you want to use it both in the loop and out front, though, that gets expensive pretty quickly. If you need to do both, the boss more or less does the job (not quite as good as the decimator, but it works) if you use the x-pattern method for a lot less money.

Nah, no loop for me at all. My amps don´t have that. This is front of amp only.

ah ok. i'd get the decimator (bog standard, not g-string) then. maybe i was doing something silly, but i found the ns2 didn't really cut noise that well unless you used the x-pattern.

as i said, though, i haven't tried the smat gate, it may well be worth considering, too.

I've built both the decimator and a modded smartgate with additional controls such as threshold, attack, decay.

They modded smartgate was far better in my opinion. More natural feeling very transparent and it killed more noise but openened quicker. The stock smartgate was pretty similar to the decimator.

The decimator overall was far too eager to close cutting off notes and felt really unnatural when opening i guess it would be perfect for djent in that respect it had a very processed feel as did the boss ns2 whilst not really cutting that much noise out(NS2)

that's interesting :)

[gwEm]

I've tried all three, and would forget the Boss in this day and age.

I think you've already summed it up quite well. If you had something like a Strat, with a noisy rig, and you wanted a natural noise gate, I would reach for the Smartgate. I see the ISP, in front of the amp (not tried an rack item in the loop) as more of an effect for that br00tal cut off thing.

Now, its not really that clear cut, you can sound natural with the ISP, and get a close to that kind of cut off with the MXR.

Just my two pence. I brought an Decimator in the end myself.

[Kiichi]

Yeah, NS-2 is pretty much out for me at this point. Heavily leaning towards the ISP. I think setting that on the lighter side will get me there. The MXR is still interresting though, seems pretty tweakable with the frequency selector and all.

If I was just doing metal riffing I would have less of an issue just going ISP. Still I will, especially cause I got a good deal on one of those. Final decision tomorrow!

[Alex]

I think if you don't want it whisper quiet, but just get rid of the feedback, the Boss is fine. I used it to very good results.

I had a Rocktron The Hush Pedal, which I sold along with my 5150. It worked really great with the 5150, I probably should have never sold it!

EDIT: This is the one. I don't know why people never recommend it, but I liked it and thought it worked really well.
http://www.thomann.de/de/rocktron_hush_super_c_bodenpedal.htm

[Kiichi]

I think if you don't want it whisper quiet, but just get rid of the feedback, the Boss is fine. I used it to very good results.

I had a Rocktron The Hush Pedal, which I sold along with my 5150. It worked really great with the 5150, I probably should have never sold it!

EDIT: This is the one. I don't know why people never recommend it, but I liked it and thought it worked really well.
http://www.thomann.de/de/rocktron_hush_super_c_bodenpedal.htm

Feedback is not the main issue I am after. Just general noise floor for the most part. Ofc feedback is hardly ever welcome, but I am mostly just fighting what a comp into a klone into a boobtube into an amp with a good amount of drive on its own produces. Add to that that I not just use HBs but also SCs and P90s that can amount to quite a bit of base noise.
I would not mind whisper quiet (I think), but mainly I just need a good noise reduction. Clean things up a bit, you know?

The Rocktron reviews are not bad. Makes me really wonder what the differences between all these pedals are. Are the Rocktron, ISP and Smartgate basecally all just gates but they react differently due to different values, so you got different attack and release? Are the differences beyond that? I know the smartgate has the EQ on top, but they do all work by the same principle (cutting of signal under a certain strength), right?

[Alex]

I don't know either, except the Rocktron goes in the effect loop and the Boss in front of the amp. Maybe the ISP is based on the Rocktron in part (the Hush technology is quite old, the ISP is newer).

If you order it with Thomann you have 30 days to return them. You could, in theory, order both and see which one works better with your rig.

[JimmyMoorby]

I've tried all three, and would forget the Boss in this day and age.

Actually the vast majority of pros are still using ns2's in this day and age......... mastodon, metallica, killswitch engage, machine head, steely dan, dillinger excapeplan, slipknot, periphery, symphony x the list is huge and its still the most popular noise gate amongst the pro's.  Tone is subjective but I dont think noise gates are so ill go along with the pro's sure a few use ISP but who even uses the mxr noise gates??

I've had the ISP and the NS2 and MAYBE the ISP is ever so slightly better but for the money it really isnt worth it. Were talking about the smallest amount of noise reduction and does it matter when youre playing guitar any way?  For pedal hum and a hi gain there may be a little noise but turn your volume down too and its gone and youve saved your self some money!

The things isin fairness I get you only need some thing in the front of your amp which saves on cost but if anyone wanted a noise gate for the input / fx loop the boss ns2 is £69 new (Cheaper 2nd hand I got mine for £30) and the isp decimiator g string ii is an extra £100 which is just robbery imo !!!

That being said if money isnt an issue go with the isp

[JimmyMoorby]

I don't know either, except the Rocktron goes in the effect loop and the Boss in front of the amp. Maybe the ISP is based on the Rocktron in part (the Hush technology is quite old, the ISP is newer).

If you order it with Thomann you have 30 days to return them. You could, in theory, order both and see which one works better with your rig.

+1

[Dr.Pain]

I use an NS-2 and it works great.  My Strat and Les Paul are noisy with high gain so I just roll back the volume and the pick noise goes away.  On the Strat I have the volume on 8 and the Les Paul on 9.  With the Strat I can hear the hum, it's really obvious, when I play with the volume on 10.  Roll is back and it goes away.  A better humbucker would fix this.  With actives it's balls to the wall in volume.  I don't even use the send and return.  Doesn't alter the tone on anyway.

[Dmoney]

I used to to always use an NS2 and have it on all the time.
Then I got some good pickups and realised I didn't need it at all unless I had to play loud in a tight space, and even then, turning it off when it isn't needed to curb feedback when a guitar part stops dead was the best plan for me in the end.

My amp has no loop, I was playing with a lot of gain. I used hardly any pedals and ran them all on batteries. The NS2 will last a good while on a 9V battery. I don't think the NS2 reduced the noise on the signal into the amp, the amps are the biggest source of noise anyway I find. I've never tried an ISP or Smart Gate, but then I try and use gates as little as possible and rely on a quiet guitar with solid pickups, simple signal path and a nicely laid out amp. I sceptical as to whether any of the pedals do any fancy noise reduction. I think they just cut the signal at a predetermined threshold, I've never heard my NS2 reduce noise while it was passing a signal. It does impact tone too but not in a way most people listening would notice.

My tip would just be whatever you get in the end... to remember you can switch it on and off. A lot of people don't.

[Dave Sloven]

Actually the vast majority of pros are still using ns2's in this day and age......... mastodon, metallica, killswitch engage, machine head, steely dan, dillinger excapeplan, slipknot, periphery, symphony x the list is huge and its still the most popular noise gate amongst the pro's.  Tone is subjective but I dont think noise gates are so ill go along with the pro's sure a few use ISP but who even uses the mxr noise gates??

By this logic we should all be using Duncans, Di Marzios, or EMGs.  The 'pros' love getting free shite, and if it's free and it works they'll take it over something that they have to pay for every time.  I'm assuming that both work, just that Boss/Roland has a lot more economic weight behind it than ISP.  ISP didn't even make it onto Pedaltrain's pedalboard planner app - I wonder if you have to pay to get on that??

[JimmyMoorby]

Actually the vast majority of pros are still using ns2's in this day and age......... mastodon, metallica, killswitch engage, machine head, steely dan, dillinger excapeplan, slipknot, periphery, symphony x the list is huge and its still the most popular noise gate amongst the pro's.  Tone is subjective but I dont think noise gates are so ill go along with the pro's sure a few use ISP but who even uses the mxr noise gates??

By this logic we should all be using Duncans, Di Marzios, or EMGs.  The 'pros' love getting free shiteeeeeeeeeeeeeeee, and if it's free and it works they'll take it over something that they have to pay for every time.  I'm assuming that both work, just that Boss/Roland has a lot more economic weight behind it than ISP.  ISP didn't even make it onto Pedaltrain's pedalboard planner app - I wonder if you have to pay to get on that??

I wasnt using logic I was stating a fact and I doubt Boss pays any thing at all to them let alone give out free stuff to those bands.  Those bands dont endorse Boss they just use them because they want to besides I dont think Metallica or Slipknot need any free fx pedals.

If you were to say that pro musicians who are trying to make a living would use the ns2 to save money then yeah id agree but also they might just prefer them its not for us to speculate it might be better to just take it at face value.

The major brand pickups argument isnt the same. Tone in pickups subjective, noise gates less so i.e which cut down on noise.

Also thats not fully what I said andits out of context it was a response to the statement that the ns2 was some how vintage or redundant...... In short what I was trying to say that the ns2's arent 'dated' and that ISP pedals shouldnt be any more expensive than Boss for what they do as theres barely any thing between them except a big price tag.  The ISP may cut out a little more noise but imo its neigligible and not worth 40-100 quid more.

[Dave Sloven]

Fair enough.

Like I said, they both work, just that one is cheaper than the other.

I only have experience with the ISP Decimator G-String II, which once you work out where it needs to be and have a decent power supply for it is pretty much flawless, although as I said above you only have a small window on the dial where it is working and still sounds good.  When you turn it up more it clamps the signal and sounds terrible; below say 11.30 is doesn't get rid of the dreaded 'Peavey fizz'

What I like about the G-String is that the sensitivity feature really does seem to work.  I don't know about the regular Decimator and the NS-2, I'm guessing they are on a par.

All that said, I can't imagine that a noise reduction pedal would be much use to me if I could only use it on the front-end.  My pedalboard is very quiet (I think due to the T-Rex power supply more than anything else) with the exception of the compressor (which makes a small amount of noise) and the 10-band EQ (which is before the ISP In the loop anyway). 90% of the noise in my rig seems to be generated within the gain circuits of the Peavey pre-amp, so the ISP is only useful if it goes after that.