Dimebag CFH Noise Gate Filter

[ar1994]

One of the items in the CFH collection I wanted the most was the noise gate but honestly I got a little bit disappointed when using it after purchasing the collection because there is no way to just use the noise gate function by itself, you must choose a frequency in the filter knob that in my opinion has too much of an affect in the tone, it either adds too much high end or chokes the tone too much when using it, and that's unfortunate because it'd help me a lot because I could use the pedal by itself in the end of the chain on AT5 (and not a noise gate in the beginning of the chain in my DAW, as it is today) as I'd be able to execute volume swells and more organic dynamics.

I don't know if there is anyone else is having this problem but I'd suggest a push-pull-like bypass in the filter knob (just like in the AmpliTube Mesa Boogie Mark IV head front panel) to give an option to the player to use the filter or not, just a simple way to give more control over our tones, you know, just an idea to throw out...

[carlaz]

It may also be worth trying the Star Gate (specially designed for the Brian May collection), the Gate (part of the Slash collection and based on the MXR Smart Gate), and the Noise Gate (which I think is basically the same noise gate feature that was built in to earlier versions of AmpliTube, but split out as a stomp model in AmpliTube 5). Along with the Dime Noise Gate, they all have different characteristics and may affect the overall tone more or less in different ways, depending on the gear and settings you are using. I often flip through a few of them when designing presets to see which works best in a given context; if I am recording in my DAW for a project, I may also automate a gate on/off depending on what works at different points in a song.

[zedd]

And this is exactly why it is probably worth grabbing all the collections while you can do it now for such a great price.

You'll probably never get a better opportunity to cover your bases.

For the record, in the new MAX gear that was added to the Group Buy there is no Noise Gate, so your best option for having another one is to grab that Brian May Collection which has other awesome gear as well.

Hopefully one of the 3 available noise gates will suit your purposes!

[zedd]

I don't know if there is anyone else is having this problem but I'd suggest a push-pull-like bypass in the filter knob (just like in the AmpliTube Mesa Boogie Mark IV head front panel) to give an option to the player to use the filter or not, just a simple way to give more control over our tones, you know, just an idea to throw out...

I should also say that your suggestion is good... if they can improve the existing gear in an upcoming version to make it more versatile, then that would be great!

[pat.osterday]

I'd also recommend demoing before buying. You can try out any item for 72 hours.

[ar1994]

It may also be worth trying the Star Gate (specially designed for the Brian May collection), the Gate (part of the Slash collection and based on the MXR Smart Gate), and the Noise Gate (which I think is basically the same noise gate feature that was built in to earlier versions of AmpliTube, but split out as a stomp model in AmpliTube 5).

I actually tested the standard "Noise Gate" stomp that comes with AT5 and it is really nice actually, I did some A/B and phase cancelling and it has zero effects in the tone!... But the lowest release time is 20ms, which is a bit too much for me, I'm a metal player and I want my gate to be really quick and responsive, and the only way I was able to be satisfied was having a AT5 Gate stomp in the beginning and in the end of the stomp chain...

So if anyone from IK reads this, please just tweak the standard AT5 Gate stomp release time to at least 1ms minimum so players have more choice!

[rspst14]

I know this topic is a few months old, I found it when I was trying to figure out how to best dial in a noise gate. I like the Dimebag noise gate but was unsure what setting to use for the filter.
Someone please correct me if I'm wrong, but my understanding is that you can essentially bypass the filter frequency of the gate by turning it down to the lowest point. At 40 hz, you're pushing the lower bound of the auditory spectrum that most adult humans are capable of detecting. The gate would be applied to all sounds above 40 hz, which is pretty close to not having a filter frequency at all. The only reason I can think of for setting the filter to a higher frequency would be if you were trying to focus on gating a high-pitched squeal or unwanted harmonic type noise. If you look at the presets included in the Dimebag package, most of them have that filter set to 40 hz.

[ar1994]

I know this topic is a few months old, I found it when I was trying to figure out how to best dial in a noise gate. I like the Dimebag noise gate but was unsure what setting to use for the filter.
Someone please correct me if I'm wrong, but my understanding is that you can essentially bypass the filter frequency of the gate by turning it down to the lowest point. At 40 hz, you're pushing the lower bound of the auditory spectrum that most adult humans are capable of detecting. The gate would be applied to all sounds above 40 hz, which is pretty close to not having a filter frequency at all. The only reason I can think of for setting the filter to a higher frequency would be if you were trying to focus on gating a high-pitched squeal or unwanted harmonic type noise. If you look at the presets included in the Dimebag package, most of them have that filter set to 40 hz.

Not really unfortunately, the filter is quite literally a LPF that affects the tone that comes out of the chain, if you A/B 2 copies of the same AT5 patch and flip the phase of one of the tracks (cancelling them out) and then insert a CFH Gate on one of them, you can hear that the lower the filter setting is, the more it takes away from the top end of the chain it's in.

[rspst14]

So I gave it a try, and it turns out you're right. On a low filter setting, there is a noticeable loss of treble. I did find that for most of my presets, there is a sweet spot in the 400-800 hz range where I don't detect any significant treble loss. Below 400, I hear less treble getting through. Above 800, I hear more low end hum and buzz on high gain presets, without an increase in treble. So that would be my suggestion if you're going to use the Dime gate, set it somewhere in that range as a starting point. I did switch some of my clean and lower gain presets to the star gate, I find that it doesn't color the tone in any way.

Maybe I just don't understand what that filter is actually doing, because a typical noise gate that has frequency parameters will only filter noise in the range specified, and anything below the lower bound or above the upper bound will be ignored by the gate and allowed through.