boss rps-10 background clicking noise

[sarv]

Hi all,

I've recently purchased an RPS-10 and overall am loving it, but I've noticed there's a kind of clicking sound present in the background only with the Pitch Shift modes (A, B, and INV). I'm using electric guitar as input. Not the end of the world, but definitely noticeable and so I just wanted to check whether anyone else has noticed this, to make sure I don't have a faulty unit.

thanks

[MindMachine]

You may just be hitting it a little heavy? I've used synths into it without any notice, but they may have covered any issues up.

Just gave a try on my RPS-10 with a cheap Epiphone Les Paul Special II (great quality for little $). I did notice some clock noise in the Reverse/Inverse Delay buy nothing out of whack in the PS modes.

These are great units. The whole range is pretty good. For the cost they are as good as it gets. I also have the RSD-10 and would like a few others.

If you can you can post some audio it would help. A lot of these early digital units had noise or clock bs, but I find this series to be pretty reliable.

[sarv]

Please see attached sample. I don't think it's a level thing, because I still get the clicking on the sustains of the notes, and also it's still there when I turn the volume way down on the guitar. I've got the input switch on back set set to -20dbm btw; the clicking is still there at -10dbm, with the noise floor being raised as well.

Sounds to me like the processor may be overloading or something like that. I actually had a similar problem with the AUX port on my car radio funnily enough. The theory of it being processor-related may also be supported by the fact that it seems to be slightly less prevalent on the 'B' mode setting than the 'A' (I think the B gets extra processing time since it has increased latency).

[sarv]

an update for any future readers that may have a similar issue:
I did end up returning the unit, and managed to get another one relatively quickly. On this new one, the clicking on A and B Pitch Shift modes is completely gone, so something was indeed faulty with the previous one. However, there's still some pretty bad clicking on the reverse modes (both for the normal delay and the pitch shift). Well, I'm not gonna push my luck going for a third one - I'm mainly interested in the pitch shifting with this thing anyway - but I do find it interesting in that I'd say that the clicking sounds pretty similar to what I was hearing on the other unit, so maybe there is some type of predictable failure that happens with these things. I know MindMachine mentioned having some clock noise in the reverse modes, but what I'm hearing doesn't sound like what I'd expect would pass for acceptable coming out of Boss.
I'm planning on opening it up to do the mods outlined here:http://www.experimentalistsanonymous.co ... pic=1186.0
So while I'm at it I might have a look a replacing the electrolytic caps and see if that makes any difference. Will update if I find anything else out.

[elkcloner]

I did those mods a while back... super pain, but worth it. Good luck!

[sarv]

Finally got around to looking into this further. I did the mods (which are indeed awesome!), and then while I was at it I replaced a few caps just to see about getting rid of the clicking in reverse modes. I've also attached a couple samples to show what I'm getting. Sample 1 is in 'INV' mode with no pitch shift; the 'clicking' is in time with the delay time (i.e. shorter delays speed up the clicking). Sample 2 is 'INV' with pitch shift. This mode gives faster clicks and seems to be worse with higher freq notes for some reason.

So I found the schematic here, which was a huge help: http://www.univertron.com/SAS/manuals/B ... 0RPS%2010/

I basically tried replacing most of the electrolytic caps that I saw that seemed to either be doing some kind of filtering or providing some bulk capacitance on power rails. I replaced the following: C14, C104, C79, C81, C76, C75, C52, and C53. Unfortunately, none of that made any difference.

Not really sure of anything else to try (definitely open to suggestions though if anyone has any ideas). I can live with it, with a synth input it's really not a big deal, but it would be nice to have the option of using those modes cleanly for guitar as well. I'm still curious as to whether this is even a fault with my particular unit, or just 'normal' behaviour? I'd be really interested if anyone could comment on that as well.

[IR]

Not really sure of anything else to try (definitely open to suggestions though if anyone has any ideas). I can live with it, with a synth input it's really not a big deal, but it would be nice to have the option of using those modes cleanly for guitar as well. I'm still curious as to whether this is even a fault with my particular unit, or just 'normal' behaviour? I'd be really interested if anyone could comment on that as well.

The clips you posted sound fine to me, I have one too.

I mean the backwards ones sound fine, I have no idea what I'm supposed to be hearing in the forward one. It kind of sounds like you dialed up some very dissonant interval, but even then I'm not sure that is the case. Are you moving the whammy bar on the guitar?

[sarv]

They're both reverse - 'clicking 2 is in pitch shift mode, and 'clicking 1' is in delay mode.

Definitely more noticeable with headphones.

In 'clicking 2' it's like a bunch of thumps in quick succession after the reversed (and pitch-shifted) note plays out.
'Clicking 2' is a similar kind of thumping sound but in time with the delay time, so quite a bit slower in the sample I posted since the delay time is long

[Fallen_lassen]

Nothing wrong imo. That is the sound of reverse/inv.

[IR]

They're both reverse - 'clicking 2 is in pitch shift mode, and 'clicking 1' is in delay mode.

I was referring to all 3 of your samples.

Sorry, I was a bit unclear for only quoting one and not both of your posts.