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Do you know that there are thousands of envelope filter pedals being produced every year?
Many of these pedals have introduced new technologies and features that have not been seen before.
This definitely makes purchasing quite difficult without having the resources to test each one individually.
So what do you do?
For one, you can go buy each particular envelop and test it out before settling on the one you fancy the most.
Or you can go the easy way by reading our detailed buyers guide here and following the recommendations that we talk about.
In this article, we will be looking at the top 5 best envelope pedal in the market today, their pros and cons, things to consider before you make a purchase and how to ensure you get the best from your latest purchase.
What is an Envelope Filter Pedal?
As a guitarist or someone who has interest in playing the guitar, then you must be familiar with the wah wah effect.
This is one of the most recognizable effect in the guitarist’s arsenal
The Envelope pedal is simply a filter in your guitar chain that produces an effect which is quite similar to the wah effect.
Most people often confuse both and do not understand what the filter can do before they purchase any.
Basically a filter changes the shape of your guitar sound. By changing the shape, we simply mean that it changes the relative level of the frequencies in relation to each other.
Envelope filter do the same thing to your guitar sounds
It increases the resonance of the attack, sustain and delay notes, bringing out the frequencies of the note and giving it a distinctive swell.
In simple terms an envelope filter will amplify the sounds that you already have, giving it a much more pleasing feeling.
Most envelope filters have switches and dials which gives you wide choice when picking your tones and sounds.
What to look for before buying you purchase an envelope filter
1. Is it volume controlled or time controlled?
This is a very important factor to consider before you make your decision.
Why?
This is because they both play different roles in the type and quality of sound that you get from your pedal.
The volume controlled is more suited towards a bass guitar while a time controlled is for use with all other types.
Which ever one you choose is simply a matter of preference and what you are comfortable with.
2. Are there any additional settings?
You also want to check and make sure that the pedal has options for more than one filter, resonance and sweep direction.
Doing this will ensure that you have a lot of options when using the pedal
3. What kind of timbre does it have?
One thing you should be aware of is that different pedals have different timbres.
Some are suited more for disco/funk while others are more inclined towards synth driven electro.
You just need to try out a few to see which one suits your style perfectly.
Our Top 5 Best Envelope Filter Pedals
1. MXR Bass Envelope Filter Effect Pedal
This is probably one of the most common and popular envelope filter pedals in the market today.
This pedal gives you a classic analog envelope filtering in a pedalboard friendly pedal.
It has a bypass footswitch with LED lighting for easy
It has dry and fx control which helps in tweaking your sounds to sound awesome
It also has decay and “q” control which also control how your sound comes out when setup.
It comes housed in a rugged casing which makes it very durable
If you are looking for a good quality envelope pedal for bass, then this is the ideal choice for you.
2. Electro-Harmonix Enigma: Q-Balls for Bass Envelope Filter
This is an awesome and powerful envelope filter that is specially fine tuned for bass frequency response.
It has a 40Hz to 3KHz frequency response that is tailored for bass guitars giving it that twang effect most bassist crave
It has an expression control pedal which helps in controlling the expression sound and is fully optional
It has a fully analog circuit which gives it a unique sounding experience
It has a switch selectable analog distortion that is designed for bass
This is an awesome envelope pedal that gives you nice sounding and is ideal for bass guitar
3. Source Audio SA143 Soundblox Pro Bass Envelope Filter
This is an absolute gem of a pedal which delivers smooth, warm effects.
It has 22 filter sounds with different options and effects to take your sounds to another level.
It has a wet and dry mix knob which helps to preserve your sound frequency avoiding delays and distortion.
It has 4 modulation sources including envelope, LFO, expression pedal and hot hand which adds some unique effects to your sound
It has three footswitches which can hold six customizable presets
This is a simple but powerful pedal with lots of options and filter effects
4. Pigtronix EP2 Envelope Phaser Guitar Effects Pedal
This is a univibe style rotary phaser that brings special sauce to your guitar sounds
It can be easily controlled using your envelope, LFO or a combination of both.
It has a staccato function which is ideal for fast picking, funk bass and tight rhythm guitar.
It has an LFO smooth switch which helps in reducing resonance and delay when playing
It has expression pedals for both sweep and speed which helps in getting that unique modulation.
5. Maxon 9-Series Auto Filter
This is a pedal that takes the desirable auto wah and sweep filter effects and packages them in a friendly compact device
It has an opto coupler circuitry which produces shimmering, watery filtering of legendary vintage units
It has threshold and peak sliders which control the degree of effect, with Range and Drive switches that determine the range and direction of the filter sweep.
It has 3 selectable filter types (Low, Band and Hi pass) with a frequency range of 100 Hz to 4KHz.
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