Xotic Effects

The Xotic BB+ preamp is based on the popular BB preamp which is one of the best overdrive pedals on the market. The "plus" is basically two pedals in one housing, adding a second footswitch and circuit. The term "preamp" is used loosely here, as this is merely a stomp box, but a great one! The pedal is organized into two "sides" or channels; A (red) which is based on the original BB, and B (blue) which has a three band eq section and a wider range of gain. This channel acts as a transparent clean boost with the gain rolled down and has a barky plexi character with the gain turned up. These two sounds can be selected separately, or stacked together for many different tonal options. Also included is a switch that reverses the flow of the signal, so A can be run into B, or vice versa. Each channel also has its own compression switch, which cuts a predetermined amount of your frequency. I rated this section a '9' because the ONLY thing I could think of to make this a perfect unit would be a second footswitchable gain control, because it can be difficult deciding where to keep the gain on each channel as it sounds great no matter where it's set! UTILIZATION The BB+ has so many tonal options and settings, that the only way to get fully acquainted with it is to spend a lot of time dialing it in with your own amp/rig. As with any pedal, results will vary drastically based on your guitar, pickup, amp and speaker selection. I can say that it's very easy to dial in a good tone with this unit. This pedal sounds great on almost any setting. A very musical pedal! Just listen to Andy Timmons:) SOUND QUALITY Many players use overdrive units to "boost" their overdriven tube amps into high gain territory or to add a tighter low end response (due to the od cutting the low end) After using many overdrive units for this purpose, I can say that I haven't found a better boost than the BB+. It beats out the TS9, 808, OCD, Lovepedal Eternity, and many others that I've tried. Of course this is based on my preference and your tastes may vary, but I can say I haven't heard a boost that keeps the amp's tone intact better than the BB. It doesn't change the amp's gain structure, it just adds more punch to it! This pedal sounds great boosting most amps' dirty channels, and sounds equally great with its own gain through a nice clean channel. I especially like it through Bogners and Boogies. Because it is difficult to review the effect a boost has on an already distorted amp, I will review the BB+ as a stand alone pedal through a clean amp: The right side of the pedal, or Channel A is your standard BB pedal with a single tone control and a compression button. When this button is engaged, the compression becomes hard and the bass response becomes a little different. The low end is more "full" with it engaged. When the button is up or off, there is still some compression present, but it is soft with less low end, and a touch more "open" sounding. This is not a high gain sound, but can get into mid-gain bluesy breakup. It sounds sweet and 'bouncy', with just the slightest bit of grit to give it a somewhat amp-like feel and tone. It doesn't sound or feel as amp-like as say, a Fulltone OCD, but more like a cross between that pedal and a Tube Screamer.(a REALLY good one at that) It's hard to get a bad sound out of this thing, and only with the tone knob set very high does it show any hint of sounding harsh. The left side or channel B with its own compression button and 3 band eq is a clean boost and a drive. It is punchy and has a bit more gain on tap than ch A. This side is very sparkly and with the gain set low to mid and the level up, it provides gorgeous semi-clean and in-between gain tones. This could be used for pop or country, or to give rawkers a very shimmering "almost clean" tone. With the gain dimed on this side, you can get some nice plexi-ish tones. I actually prefer to use this channel as a boost for high gain amps as it softens the feel nicely without taking away the 'balls'. I like this channel in itself more than channel A and more than the regular BB pedal. It has a huge range of tones with the eq and comp button, and a wider range of gain. Experimenting with the routing button that I mentioned earlier can get a large variety of sounds. For example, if you have channel A set up as your "distortion" channel, and B as your clean boost, you will get a hot-rodded lead tone running B into A, similar to boosting a gained up amp with an overdrive pedal with the gain rolled down and the level maxed. Reverse the flow so A feeds B, and you've got a compressed and loud Gilmour-esque type of sound that is very mid heavy and compressed. OVERALL OPINION I've been through many big-production stomps (MXR, TC, Boss etc.) as well as many boutique drives over the past few years. Many have gone and few have stayed, but the BB+ is one of those few. No matter if I'm playing a multi-amp rig with rack gear, or just plugging into a Deluxe Reverb, this pedal is always on my board. I can't recommend it highly enough!

(Originally written by Rivera75/translated from Audiofanzine FR) - What kind of effects or effect types are available? Good question... This pedal produces the effect you send in the loop. To put it in other words, this pedal is a high-quality looper AND a mixer. You can boost and equalize the signal going through the loop. - Which technology is used? Good analog technology, no noise, high-quality buffer, effective bass and treble EQ. - Connections? In/Out and Send/Return for the loop. Both switches allow you to bypass the pedal and to switch between looper and blender (mixer) modes. UTILIZATION It's very easy... Just use the loop... SOUND QUALITY It's a Xotic... It could be better but it's always very musical... OVERALL OPINION I personally use it to mix my Eventide Time Factor. I keep the DRY signal and I mix with the TF (Kill Dry function ON). The big knob can be controlled with the foot so it's like an expression pedal for the delay mix... The sound turns cleaner... I recommend this pedal to people who don't want to color the signal with digital effects like the Boss DD20 for example. I also tested it with an overdrive pedal... The result was great with the following settings: dry/wet mix = 20/80. The sound gained more punch and clarity thanks to that small amount of dry signal... People looking for a mono mixer for their pedalboard don't have many options but this one is a high-quality solution...

Well this one isn't rocket science folks. It's a clean boost. There's one knob. It boosts your amp signal. Obviously this is a high quality pedal coming from Xotic. I have used a few of their pedals and never have trouble. Great stuff. UTILIZATION A lot of people seem to think this is just a regular clean boost but in reality it isn't. The circuitry, however small it may be is based on an old Echoplex preamp that Jimmy Paige used to use. To most people that won't matter. What it means in the real world is that while the EP booster does act as a regular clean gain booster, it also imparts a bit of its own sound. Xotic seems to be aware of this and they fully disclose that fact. They know it's not just another boost pedal. The expected downside to this is that if you don't like what the EP does to your sound, there's nothing you can do. Not tone knobs or any such of that nature. Hey...the footprint is small. Deal. SOUND QUALITY The EP booster in addition to being a solid clean boost, give your signal a kind a saturation and clarity too. This extra tone trickery isn't for everyone but most people tend to love it. I know a few guys who treat this as an always one pedal because they love what it does to their sound. Honestly I just use it for what it is...a boost. I like what it does to the tone in addition to that. It's a nice sound. Some people use these to match inputs with different guitars, which I guess makes sense. OVERALL OPINION If you want a genuine clean boost then look elsewhere. There's cheaper options. The EP booster to my ears is a sweeter boost pedal than most because of the extra tone improvements it brings to the table. A lot of people are disappointed with this pedal because they expect it to sound dry. This is not that pedal. It's more of a gamechanger really. Value is decent for what it does. The quality meets the price I think.

The Xotic Effects AC Booster is a compact pedal for electric guitar that serves as an overdrive and overall signal booster. It has a simple set up with ¼” connections for your input and output and it gains power from a 9 volt power supply. It’s also a true bypass pedal which is something that can’t be taken for granted. It’s not rackable since it’s a stomp box. UTILIZATION The make up of the Xotic Effects AC Booster is fairly simple but still maintains enough controls to give you plenty of options. The basic controls that it has include knobs for gain, volume, treble, and bass. That’s all there is to it so all users should be able to understand this without reading a manual. SOUND QUALITY The Xotic Effects AC Booster can give you a nice array of sounds and is the perfect boost/overdrive pedal to have at the beginning of your signal chain. It’s ideal for a bit of overdrive as it’s a really transparent sound. It’s also great for even less boost to use just as a simple treble booster for lead parts. It’s not going to give you a thick and chunky sound like a real tube overdrive pedal but it can come close when you turn the gain up a bunch. OVERALL OPINION You’re going to be hard pressed to find a more complete booster pedal than the Xotic Effects AC Booster. There are a lot of great choices out there to fill this need as a simple Tube Screamer or the Seymour Duncan pick up booster can achieve similar effects, but this one is more versatile than both of those and most boosters out there. It’s not the cheapest out there but it’s worth the extra dough if you’re the kind of player looking for a nice boost/light overdrive pedal to use on a daily basis in the studio or on the stage.

# It's active Treble, Bass ,Gain and Volume controls allow for limitless tone shaping . # The RC Booster offers a super transparent 20db+ clean boost and a +- 15db 2 band active EQ without ever compromising the integrity of the original TONE. # It provides a solution to sound degradation, caused by long instrument cables and/or long effect chains between guitar and amp, by strengthening the original signal. # True bypass for eliminating any signal interference when switched off. The RC is basically a clean boost pedal that allows you to further shape the EQ with treble and bass knobs. Depending on the original guitar signal it can add the slightest amount of clipping or 'dirt' to the signal. UTILIZATION Of course, very simple to use. 4 knobs that will help guide you into creating some very lush and thick boosted guitar tones. Plug in, tweak just a bit, and play. SOUND QUALITY The RC has a great thing about it, that it's transparent. Very transparent. So transparent in fact, that if one were to set the knobs correctly you can pretty much not even hear that it's been engaged. And once you adjust the knobs accordingly, you can either fatten the sound of a single coil, or slightly push the amp into the SLIGHTEST bit of overdrive to get a bluesy tone. It's a great pedal and very low gain. As a high gain overdrive, it's spectacular. Not only does it provide complete transparency, it pushes the amp into overdrive just enough to get that saturated overdrive tones that most hi gain players are looking for. Of course this also depends on the amount of gain one uses. Some like to add gain from the overdrive pedal itself which helps but I've always liked things to be a bit clearer, tighter and try not to overdo it with the gain. OVERALL OPINION I think this is my new favorite pedal out of the xotic line. It's so clear and yet subtle but can provide a lot of different textures depending on how you set it. It's very sublte mind you but it definitely does make a difference. It's most likely my most favorite clean boost so far. I've heard many other users and have been nothing but impressed of the tones I've heard from them whether it was blues or jazz or what have you. Yes, this pedal is mainly geared to more lower-gain styles of music, but it is not to say that the RC can't be used as a hi-gain overdrive as I've stated before, it definitely can depending on the context and the amp that you have of course. I generally like to use non-made-for-metal pedals for metal. It just seems to work better than most pedals that are actually designed for metal. I can't quite put my finger on why or how. Overall, great clean boost. Very uncompressed, transparent sound. Great!!

Xotic decided to partner with one of the est guitarists in that last 20 years and produce a signature preamp pedal. This is the Andy Timmons signature BB booster pedal. If you don't know Andy he is the guitarist from the famous band Danger Danger. He is also famous for his solo albums and tours. He is one of the best guitarist that incorporates blues with the modern style of guitar playing. The BB Preamp offers awide variety of sounds. It's capable of a 30dB+ clean boost with an adjustable ±15dB two band active EQ which adds a wide range of harmonic content to your ideal sound. The BB also utilizes a pre-gain stage which allows the Pedal to go from a very pristine clean to a very smooth,compressed, overdriven sound. True bypass for eliminating any signal interference when switched off. Can be used with AC adaptor (optional) or 9V Battery. UTILIZATION Specs Dimensions (W/D/H): 4.39" x 2.38" x 1.98" (112mm X 60mm X 50mm) Weight: 0.6 lbs. (280g) True Bypass Switching Power Consumption: 9VDC/6mA Battery Type: 9VDC (006P) x 1 AC Adapter (Optional): 9VDC, Negative Tips (Regulated recommended) Input Impedance: 500k ohm (min) Output Impedance: 10k ohm SOUND QUALITY I have to say I can't tell much difference in the tone from this pedal to the regular BB preamp pedal from Xotic. I think they probably just slapped his name on the front and painted to box red to give it a cosmetic change. The pedal does sound phenomenal and very useful in many applications. This pedal is not going to be an over the top type of booster or gain pedal. It will push your amp to give it that necessary drive and sustain that the regular amp cannot produces. It pushes the front end to make it easier to squeal out and really dig into those natural harmonics. It has a great touch and feel to the distortion and sustain. You get a few control to really tailor it to your liking and guitar needs. OVERALL OPINION You can pick these pedals up new for right at around $169. not a bad price for a solid sounding booster pedal. this woulnd't be the only pedal in your chain unless you are just boosting an already over driven amp. these pedals work well with other pedals in conjunction such as the Ac booster or Ep booster from Xotic effects. they make some of the world's best pedals and this is certainly one of them.

Xotic's BB preamp is a dirt box capable of providing compressed, fluid gain for elegant leads, crunchy blues style distortion or for pushing a good tube amp into saturated high gain bliss! I previously reviewed the BB+, and after having spent time with the BB, realized that it is different enough to deserve its own review. As with the + the term "preamp" is used lightly (or perhaps incorrectly), since this unit is nothing more than a dirt box. But it does sound phenomenal! UTILIZATION The BB runs on the standard 9volt battery or adapter. This unit is very easy to use. SOUND QUALITY Xotic created a unique gain pedal with the BB. It has qualities reminiscent of some other pedals (tube screamers, blues driver, etc) but it has its own unique voicing that shines through with most amps. What really makes this thing a blast to play is the bouncy, compressed nature of the attack and sustain. Crank this up through a nice clean channel and just try not to wank for extended periods of time! The voicing of the original BB has a slightly different flavor than the BB+. The + (on Channel A, which is supposed to be the regular BB channel) has gain and output controls, a compression cut switch and only a tone control for eq. In comparison the BB has gain and output, as well as active treble and bass controls for finer adjustment to your tone and low end response. Perhaps this is what gives the BB circuit a slightly more hi-fi and smooth tone (at least in my opinion). As a boost, the BB is one of the better units I've used. The original character of the amp is able to shine through, and it is pushed in all the right places resulting in more of what you love about your amp. This is where the BB+ has the advantage however, as its "blue" channel is even more transparent and sparkly, and is what makes the + version worth buying over the original in my opinion. OVERALL OPINION If you're looking for an overdrive/clean boost pedal that doesn't squash your tone or have an exaggerated mid-hump, check out the Xotic BB. The simple yet versatile active eq, addictive feel and great clean boost capabilities make this one of the best choices in the saturated pedal market.

The Xotic Effects Robotalk 2 is a filter/wah type of pedal designed for use with electric guitar.<span> </span>The pedal has standard characteristics, as you’ve got ¼ inch connections and I powered the pedal with a power supply that was made for it.<span> </span>This isn’t rack mountable as it is a stomp box. UTILIZATION <p class="MsoNormal">Using the Xotic Effects Robotalk 2 isn’t a hard thing to do, but there are a lot of different parameters to get used to.<span> </span>Since this effect is pretty unique, all it takes is a bit of messing around with it to get accustomed to it.<span> </span>The pedal has main parameters for sensitivity and decay in two different instances to control different frequencies, as well as smaller knobs for resonance, bell volume, direct volume, ach volume, and another resonance, again for a different set of frequencies.<span> </span>As you can tell from this list or by looking at the pedal, you’ve got plenty of control over your sound with Robotalk 2.<span> </span>I’ve never had access or a need to look at a manual, so I can’t say anything about its make up. SOUND QUALITY <p class="MsoNormal">The Xotic Effects Robotalk 2 is really unlike any other pedal that I’ve used.<span> </span>While it does fit into the filtering and wah effects category, the sounds that are possible with this pedal are definitely not your typical tones.<span> </span>The sound is hard to describe, but if you can take a hint from the name, that it is a pretty good starting point.<span> </span>I’ve used the pedal for a recording session a few times with a Gibson SG and a Marshall JCM 800 amp, and I felt that this was a pretty good set up for this pedal to get the thickest tones possible. OVERALL OPINION <p class="MsoNormal">This isn’t the most readily available pedal out there, but you can definitely get one at a number of online stores. Xotic Effects Robotalk 2 isn’t the cheapest pedal out there, but it is really made for effect hounds looking for a unique sound regardless of the price.<span> </span>I would check out some of the videos online of this pedal to get a better idea about if it will fit into what you are trying to do…