Thor Comb filter vs Complex-1 Comb delay

Have an urge to learn, or a calling to teach? Want to share some useful Youtube videos? Do it here!
Post Reply
User avatar
SebAudio
Posts: 362
Joined: 08 Mar 2015
Contact:

16 Nov 2022

Hi !
I’ve got hard time at using the comb delay in Complex-1.
Whereas I find it easy to have a « nice » phasing or low rumbling resonances with the comb filter in Thor, I’m not able to obtain controlled sounds from the comb delay in Complex-1.
Are those « combs » different beasts (and I should let down to have them sounding the same) or do they have some overlapping (with Complex-1 having a superset comb) and if so what are the « Thor-like » settings in Complex-1’s comb delay ?
Thank you !

User avatar
Loque
Moderator
Posts: 11176
Joined: 28 Dec 2015

16 Nov 2022

Yea, they all sound different.

I mostly use the comb filter from Pulverizer, because it is easy to hook up and does it's job.

In Complex-1 you should check the pitch following and frequency of the filter. Often it is too high and just sounds metallic.

Btw, you can have similar effects with a Flanger or Phaser if you like the higher feedbacks or resonances.
Reason12, Win10

User avatar
selig
RE Developer
Posts: 11685
Joined: 15 Jan 2015
Location: The NorthWoods, CT, USA

16 Nov 2022

I just did a quick comparison between four different Comb filters in Reason and found it really easy to get them to sound very similar. The exception was the darker sounding Complex-1 effect which rolls off the highs significantly.
You have to do the settings by ear since they are not all the same. One area of difference is the feedback, which only means you can’t just match the knob settings and expect to get the same exact sound.

The four I compared, all at A=55 Hz:
Complex-1, Pulveriser, Thor, ColoringEQ.
Advantages of Complex-1 and ColoringEQ are the ability to hit precise semitone tunings if desired. Advantages of Thor and ColoringEQ are the ability to use positive or negative feedback. Advantages of all are the ability to add a filter post Comb to tame the high frequencies.
A disadvantage of Complex 1 is that even when driving the built in LP filter above the highest knob setting it still doesn’t allow opening up all the way. Raising the peak at the default max cutoff reveals a frequency of 7-8 kHz. Driving it higher with a Mix section CV lets you open it all the way up but it’s gentle slope requires adding ‘peak’ (resonance) to fill out the top octave, however this is at the expense of loosing low end!
All but Thor can go down to around 20 Hz range (Thor only goes to 39 Hz), sounding almost like a slap delay at that point. All but Thor can use CV to drive the frequency even lower, with Complex-1 and ColoringEQ tying for lowest frequency.

Technical notes: a Comb filter is simply a short delay, so there’s no reason for them to sound all that different other than feedback ranges and any additional filtering like with Complex-1.
And of course for ME, ColoringEQ is the clear winner, but I had the advantage of designing it to do exactly what I wanted from the start, and was able to add features missing on some of the other options at the time like semitone tuning, extra range via CV, and MIDI key tracking
Selig Audio, LLC

User avatar
SebAudio
Posts: 362
Joined: 08 Mar 2015
Contact:

17 Nov 2022

Thank you for your answers and advice ! I’ll spend some more time to learn about comb filters !

Post Reply
  • Information
  • Who is online

    Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 13 guests