Octave Up recommendations

[Alyn]

Sorry if this has been discussed before, I tried searching but the forum search box kept giving me an error message.

I'm looking for a really clean sounding octave up, to use with bass, which won't break the bank. Seems pedals have shot up in price a lot the last few years and so a lot will break the bank, but lets see.

Annoyingly a lot of YouTube reviews focus on the octave down, and more on guitar than bass, so hard to get reasonable comparisons.

The two I am considering, although there's a fair price difference between them, are the TC Electronic Sub n Up (or the mini version, although not much price difference used) or the Mooer Tender Octave x2 (the red one). Other cheaper options sound absolutely horrifying on the octave up. Anyone have any experience with it? Are there other better options?

Huge thanks in advance.

[BearBoy]

Only one I have first hand experience of is the EHX Micro POG. The tracking's fantastic but the octave tones can sound a bit synthetic. Not sure I ever tried the octave up with bass though.

Probably not much help, sorry.

I'm sure someone else will be able to chip in with something more useful

[Alyn]

Cheers man.

Also going to throw a wild card in the mix. On the much cheaper end of the spectrum, YouTube videos seem to make the Donner Harmonic Square seem a viable option, but again, YouTube isn't the best for comparing things. Anyone tried it?

[Doog]

Sub N Up mini is great, and feels less digital and sterile than the POG series, plus you can programme/beam other presets into it. That said, EHX just released this guy, which has a filter to allow for something a bit warmer:



I wouldn't fuck with budget pitchshifters (been there on my 'find small replacement for Micro POG' journey) - the algorithms generally sound like shit; if it's polyphonic, it'll sound mad warbly.

[Alyn]

Yeah, I looked at the Pico POG, it's not the cheapest option out there, but more than the Nano POG.

The TC is by far the cheapest viable option, and I do like the Tone Print feature (have a TC Vibrato with that feature, it's really good). At the moment it's the one I'm most likely to bite the bullet on.

Yeah, I know exactly the sound you mean with the very cheap ones, I picked up a Hotone octave back in 2016ish, it was completely unusable. Definitely don't want another like that. The Donner does sound better in the clips I hear on YouTube but you're probably right.

[Freddy V-C]

I bought a Sub 'n' Up a couple of years ago to replace my Mooer Pure Octave which had shit the bed. Admittedly I use the octave down more than the octave up, but I do use the octave up occasionally and I can say with confidence that the accuracy/tracking is way, way better on the TC pedal. Especially on bass, the Mooer had a weird thing where the octave up didn't seem to quite reach the whole way up, like it would shift everything just shy of an octave so you ended up sounding slightly flat. I think they have since discontinued the Pure Octave, but based on that experience I wouldn't trust a Mooer/Donner pitch-shifter.

[Doog]

I picked up a Hotone octave back in 2016ish, it was completely unusable. Definitely don't want another like that. The Donner does sound better in the clips I hear on YouTube but you're probably right.

There's SO much in common between the budget Chinese brands, I wouldn't be surprised if it's not the exact same algorithm in there.

The Nano POG and Pitchfork could be worth a look too; they have ever-so slightly more latency than the Micro POG*, and may come up cheap on t'Bay or Cashies.

* I've done blind comparisons, and I could still tell and it bothered me

[sunshiner]

Boss OC-5 seems to have good reviews. At the same time, people who own POGs tend to say that Pog is better in comparison.

[Doog]

Yeah, been using an OC-5 for a few years in Doghands and it's grand; less sterile than the POGgers

[sunshiner]

As far as I understand all the cheap Chinese octave pedals out there are just about a couple of shitty models that are sold under a dozen of different brands and names. None of them are good.

The most affordable quality options are TC Electronic Sub'n'Up in both regular and mini format, and Boss OC-5. I've read that the mini Sub'n'Up has problems working with the TC Electronic software because the software is made for the 4 knobs regular size pedal with 3 switchable mods and the mini version has only 3 knobs and no switch.

I watched some reviews comparing a Micro Pog and a Sub'n'Up and the Pog sounded more synthy but subjectively seemed to track better and sound bigger. Sub'n'Up sounded a bit like its cousin who is more shy.

I liked some stand alone Boss OC-5 reviews but I read that people who compared it to a Micro POG complained that it tracked worse than a POG, especially chords if I remember it well

[sunshiner]

I will probably end up getting an OC-5 anyway, because a Micro Pog is out of my price range and Sub'n'Up isn't sold anywhere within a couple thousand km from me.

[Doog]

To be fair, I've barely used the OC-5 with a normal guitar playing full chords, just the "low E only" pickup on my Strat thing

[sunshiner]

For them thick tones

Tbh, I don't know what kind of application I want to use an octave pedal for yet. I'll probably wind up just playing riffs on the low E string, but it would've been nice to be able to play some chords too.


Here's some of the videos with OC-5

[sunshiner]

To be fair, I've barely used the OC-5 with a normal guitar playing full chords, just the "low E only" pickup on my Strat thing

Is it the one with a black humbucker?

[plopswagon]

I feel likw someone should do an Octave Up! themed video series

[Doog]

To be fair, I've barely used the OC-5 with a normal guitar playing full chords, just the "low E only" pickup on my Strat thing

Is it the one with a black humbucker?

yeeee, the cheeky Wideranger innit

► Show Spoiler

Tbh, I don't know what kind of application I want to use an octave pedal for yet. I'll probably wind up just playing riffs on the low E string, but it would've been nice to be able to play some chords too.

That's as good a reason as any; it's honestly super fun, especially as the OC-5 does up and down, so you can just make this mondo huge sounds on your todd. There's also a filtery thing where it tries to track just the lowest note you're playing in a full chord, which works well enough 75% of the time; no weird pickup setup required.

I feel likw someone should do an Octave Up! themed video series

Sounds like something a jerk would do

[sunshiner]

yeeee, the cheeky Wideranger innit

► Show Spoiler

That's so sick! Both the guitar and the riff.

Tbh, I don't know what kind of application I want to use an octave pedal for yet. I'll probably wind up just playing riffs on the low E string, but it would've been nice to be able to play some chords too.

That's as good a reason as any; it's honestly super fun, especially as the OC-5 does up and down, so you can just make this mondo huge sounds on your todd. There's also a filtery thing where it tries to track just the lowest note you're playing in a full chord, which works well enough 75% of the time; no weird pickup setup required.

Thanks, that's what I needed to hear. I'll be ordering mine soon

[Alyn]

So I ended up ordering myself a TC Sub N Up. It was the Tone Print feature that ended up selling me on it. Now I just have to wait for the seller to fire it my way. I'll try to get some samples of my finished rig when it arrives.

Cheers guys. Massively appreciated.

[Doog]

Nice! Let us know how you get on with it