Guardians of the analog
Well-known member
- Build Rating
- 5.00 star(s)
Hi kids do you like chorus? I do, and here is a cool one. While not an exact clone of the big box ce-1, the karaoke chorus is the reimagined diy version and upon listening to demos, has the core sound minus the pitfalls of the original. I've never played or owned an original ce-1 and I can say that that itch has been scratched and am super happy with it. So what's up with the karaoke Chris? the build doc breaks it down perfectly-
"So what's changed? - The circuit now runs from a standard +9V DC supply, internally boosted to +15V, so no need for expensive power bricks or AC supplies to achieve the originals split +/-14V supply. - A relatively cheap and easily obtained MN3007 is used in place of the original's expensive and hard to come by MN3002, run at twice the clock frequency to achieve the same delay times, this also substantially reduces noise in the circuit by improving the sampling rate. - No noise gate required! Due to the aforementioned noise improvement from doubled clock frequency, the improved S/N ratio of the MN3007 and no longer necessitating an 8dB+ signal recovery as with the MN3002, the noise gate circuit was easily removed, simplifying the circuit while keeping the noise levels as good or better than many other chorus pedals. - The transistor based clock circuit has been replaced with a CMOS based design that works on the same principle but is much simpler, again reducing the circuit complexity while being more efficient at driving the MN3007 BBD. - The input level control is removed and fixed at a suitable level for most pickups while simultaneously, input impedance has been improved, preventing the high roll off the keyboard focused original had when used with guitar, but not so high as to become obnoxiously bright.
What's the same? - The LFO design, apart from a minor tweak to accommodate the new supply voltage & clock is essentially unchanged, providing the originals triangle & sine wave LFO shapes. - The audio filtering remains the same as the original, with a few minor additions to help simulate the original's overall sound. - The same lush chorus & vibrato sounds. What's new? - The depth control now acts as a master depth, allowing you to use it in both chorus & vibrato mode (as opposed to the original only employing it in vibrato mode). - A dry lift vibrato mode. The original vibrato mode simply switched to a faster sine wave LFO circuit, this option is retained and an additional 3rd mode offering true pitch vibrato is now included via the toggle. - Buffered output, more suitable for a modern pedal board."
How does it sound? Compared the the CE-2 this is deeper sounding, more watery with more movement. The whole speed range is shifted a little higher, and is more swirly sounding, in a good way with a little more brightness to my ears. I like that I'm not fighting the preamp in the original as it seems to introduce noise and distortion no matter what you do. If you really wanted to have that particular sound @PedalPCB offers a ce-1 preamp board. Overall It's a nice compliment to the more pedestrian ce-2 sound. setup was very simple, bias the mn3007 for least distortion and adjust volume to taste.
I went with a matte dark grey enclosure with UV print. The color scheme is based on the original ce-1 colors with the Shang-Chi and the legend of the ten rings logo. Why Shang-Chi on a chorus pedal named karaoke? Some of the most awesome drunken karaoke scenes ever, that's why. So If you are looking for yet another cool chorus then here is another one to add to the pile of boards.
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