Dark Rift Delay - Distortion/Fuzz in Wet Signal

[absolvism]

Hello!

I just finished building a Dark Rift, and everything seems to be working... except the repeated/wet/delay signal has a distortion/fuzz in it..

So the first pluck always sounds normal, but then all the succeeding delay signal has a very pronounced fuzzy/scratchy undertone to the whole thing. I've tried different amps and cables and it appears that it's definitely in the pedal itself. If I set the mix to 100% dry, there is no fuzz, it's just in the wet.

Besides pulling the whole thing apart and starting over, does anyone have any ideas or directions to troubleshoot that they might be able to help point me in? I can record example audio if that would help.

Thanks so much in advance,
Ellis

 

[zzzmalo]

Hello

I had the same distorted delay problem.

I follow instruction on Reddit, I 've replaced R7 and R18 to 27K,
and R13 to 33K (user named Spectronicles suggest 29k, but I didn't have one...).
It seems to work perfectly now. Nice.

 

[Chuck D. Bones]

Hello!

I just finished building a Dark Rift, and everything seems to be working... except the repeated/wet/delay signal has a distortion/fuzz in it..

So the first pluck always sounds normal, but then all the succeeding delay signal has a very pronounced fuzzy/scratchy undertone to the whole thing. I've tried different amps and cables and it appears that it's definitely in the pedal itself. If I set the mix to 100% dry, there is no fuzz, it's just in the wet.

The usual causes of distortion in a PT2399 are:
1. Input signal too large. Is there a boost or dirt pedal before the Dark Rift?
2. Bad PT2399. There are some PT2399s that exhibit this problem and there are others that do not. Did you socket your PT2399?

Besides pulling the whole thing apart and starting over, does anyone have any ideas or directions to troubleshoot that they might be able to help point me in? I can record example audio if that would help.

Thanks so much in advance,
Ellis

Post detail photos of your board.
Describe any parts subs or mods.
Describe how your Dark Rift is connected in your rig. What is up stream & downstream?
Perform a thorough visual inspection of both sides of the board. The vast majority of pedal problems are caused by workmanship.

Hello

I had the same distorted delay problem.

I follow instruction on Reddit, I 've replaced R7 and R18 to 27K,
and R13 to 33K (user named Spectronicles suggest 29k, but I didn't have one...).
It seems to work perfectly now. Nice.

Increasing R7 reduces the signal going into the PT2399, which increases headroom at the expense of reduced SNR. Increasing R13 recovers some of the signal level lost by increasing R7. Changing R17 does nothing because EQD screwed up the two output filters (IC3). C22 is connected to the wrong side of R17. Same goes for C18.

 

[DSFX]

Hello!

I just finished building a Dark Rift, and everything seems to be working... except the repeated/wet/delay signal has a distortion/fuzz in it..

So the first pluck always sounds normal, but then all the succeeding delay signal has a very pronounced fuzzy/scratchy undertone to the whole thing. I've tried different amps and cables and it appears that it's definitely in the pedal itself. If I set the mix to 100% dry, there is no fuzz, it's just in the wet.

Besides pulling the whole thing apart and starting over, does anyone have any ideas or directions to troubleshoot that they might be able to help point me in? I can record example audio if that would help.

Thanks so much in advance,
Ellis

I had similar issues with a space spiral clone and solved it by increasing the value of the resistor feeding the pt2399 to lower the input signal. I also fiddled with the resistor in the dry signal and the last gain stage to get unity back. I can’t remember the values but I posted it in a Reddit thread somewhere.

 

[DSFX]

Hello

I had the same distorted delay problem.

I follow instruction on Reddit, I 've replaced R7 and R18 to 27K,
and R13 to 33K (user named Spectronicles suggest 29k, but I didn't have one...).
It seems to work perfectly now. Nice.

Hah! Yes that was me, fixed mine perfectly, glad it worked for you too.

 

[DSFX]

The usual causes of distortion in a PT2399 are:
1. Input signal too large. Is there a boost or dirt pedal before the Dark Rift?
2. Bad PT2399. There are some PT2399s that exhibit this problem and there are others that do not. Did you socket your PT2399?


Post detail photos of your board.
Describe any parts subs or mods.
Describe how your Dark Rift is connected in your rig. What is up stream & downstream?
Perform a thorough visual inspection of both sides of the board. The vast majority of pedal problems are caused by workmanship.


Increasing R7 reduces the signal going into the PT2399, which increases headroom at the expense of reduced SNR. Increasing R13 recovers some of the signal level lost by increasing R7. Changing R17 does nothing because EQD screwed up the two output filters (IC3). C22 is connected to the wrong side of R17. Same goes for C18.

I hadn’t noticed the issue with the output filters!

 

[Chuck D. Bones]

Any thoughts on why the PT2399 was being overdriven? Hot or active pickups? A pedal upstream of the Space Spiral with too much output?