TC Plethora X5 Advice

Unless it is on in your DAW. In GB, when I start something new, it is default ON, so I have to turn it off, otherwise, I would be using a noise gate for recording.

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In the Zoom, the Znr Noise gate is very useful, especially playing thru the zoom, to other pedals, to the amp, to my headphones. it is a night and day difference when using it after a compressor and drive pedals. the threshold settings can be tricky, and open / close feels a bit clumsy compared to my actual gate pedal, but if the P5 is anything like the Zoom, using the Sentry might be helpful in some scenarios, but it might only really be effective to the other pedals within the P5. Since Modulation pedals are not always, if ever very noisy pedals, and there are no drive pedals in the P5, that might make the sentry useless, unless it does a decent job with the rest of the chain.

I have a TC Spectra comp, and as far as a compression pedal, it was relatively quiet, to almost silent, and if the other compressor that is in the P5 is that quiet, you probably wonā€™t need the noise gate.

If I stood and practiced a few feet away from my amp, I would not really use mine.
I sit next to it, and use headphones 90% of the time. you really hear the compressor and drive pedals hiss thru the headphones.
I may also have some feedback as I sit really close to everything in a corner, so that plays into it too. For my use it is really helpful, not necessary for many other users for sure, you probably wonā€™t ever NEED one. But you did put one on your list, so I was happy to explain how I use mine and loop the compressor and drives thru it, leaving the other pedals alone.

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I donā€™t run 3 compressors all the time, this is not what I meant, but I have played around some, and have ended up with 3 compressors on at the same times, and getting great sound.

1 - I have my always on San June, along with some light drive,
2 - Kick on a chorus patch I built on Zoom MS-60b w/ a Comp in the chain
3 - kick on my Boss-Bass Comp BC-1X which is a nice comp with a boost.

I also may play with putting the Boss at the end of the chain, so that I feed a compressed signal at the start of the chain, thru the San June Optical, feeding the chain with a light compressed signal. After adding some drive and modulation, I could re-comp the signal prior to going to the Amp.

This may suck, and it may be really cool. so far, more then one compressor had sounded good sometimes, so I may play with it further, but it will mostly be for experimentation and learning mostly, but I may end up with something I really like, there are no fails.

I doubt that I will actually have the MS-60b on my main pedalboard for much longer, once I have a chorus and reverb, I may not need it, unless I want amp and cab sims, but with my Alpha Omega Ultra, and the ability to load IR files for cab sims, I may not need even this, so the 3rd compressor may be gone soon anyway.
I love both my compressors, and have gone into it in some detail on my pedalboard thread, as to why I like them both so much, and decided to keep them both, so I will always have 2, but wonā€™t use them together much.

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actually hearing how you use yours it makes a lot of sense now, works for you obviously.

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i think the ONLY thing that i found underwhelming about DG so far is their cab sims. i actually find most cab sims underwhelming, they all seem to be pretty subtle to the point that iā€™m not sure i hear a difference in most of them. i actually like the zoomā€™s cab sims the most of any iā€™ve heard. not that a cab sim should be blaringly in your face, but it should give you a different sound i think. from watching some youtube stuff it seems as some of DG downloaded cab sims are better.

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Yeah, the DarkGlass Cab Sims are not great, Sorry to say, but I can barely tell that they are on, and hardly tell any difference between them.
But
I found a free download of some IR files, and loaded them in the pedal, and they are awesome.
I can certainly tell when they are on, and I can dell between them. Some of them are for my SWR amp, and it sounds good thru the computer, sounding like my amp.

I created a thread about IR files and linked to the free give away patch that I downloaded. It was from a company that put together a FREE download to get people by during COVID, and they are very good IR files IMO.

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It is this thread here that has the info to get the IR files from Dr. B

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The Zoom amp and cab sims are great.

I just apply amp and cab sims in the DAW now, though. No need for anything special on the gear. Very flexible, great selection out there, and I found a couple free ones I love. The IR cab sim I use can load any IR files you want but the ones that come with it are great.

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Hey folks, My son, who just started gigging, was in need of pedals and a decent board. I decided to give him 5-6 of my tried-and-true stomp boxes and I bought him a CIOXS DC7 and a Pedaltrain Metro24. Not a bad start for his first board.

I decided to replace the pedals I gave him with a digital effects pedal/board.

After looking at the pros/cons of the Line 6 HX Effects (FX) and the TC Electronics PlethoraX5, I decided to go with the ā€œTC Electronics PlethoraX5ā€ ā€” Some of the reasons why I went with the PlethoraX5:

  • Ease of use, UI and overall design ā€”Seems dead simple! ā€“ but, flexible enough to do ā€œmostā€ everything Iā€™d need. - Love the color displays

  • Has ā€œmostā€ of the effects that I need as a bass player. Iā€™ll be adding an Big Muff Bass Nano Fuzz pedal, right away. ā€“ later an envelope filter

  • Iā€™ve always been a fan of TC Electronics pedals, TonePrint, etcā€” SOOOO yup.

  • $150 cheaper than the Line 6 HX Effects (FX)

  • Since Iā€™m usually only playing at home, I really wonā€™t need pedal board + power supply ā€” ā€œUntil I start adding more pedals and giggingā€ :wink:

  • For me, I feel that this unit will have a-lot of room for growth by way of software/firmware updates. It came out in early 2020; so, relatively new tech.

Technically, I know that the Line 6 HX Effects (FX) unit has more effects and ā€œstuffā€; but, just something about the PlethoraX5 that does it for me. Keeping my fingers crossed that Iā€™m right. Worst case, I can send back if itā€™s totally horrible.

Annnnyway, if anyone is looking at the PlethoraX5, let me knowā€¦ Iā€™ll be getting up to speed on it ASAP. I think Iā€™ve looked at 999 Youtube videos about both effects boards. :slight_smile:

Iā€™ll be posting pics of my current bass rig, my sonā€™s new pedal board that we are putting together, Annnnnnd my new right w/PlethoraX5
Cheers,
Will

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i have had both the hx stomp and the x5 (and every other effect on earth :rofl:). i was happy with both and would say itā€™s really a matter of personal choice.

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Oh, I totally agree! It was really hard to decide between the HX FX and the X5ā€¦ BOTH are really awesome platformsā€¦ Also, I really did like the HX Stomp,too! :slight_smile: Buuuuut, for me, the X5 made better sense. Iā€™ll post some pics later todayā€¦ Have a great weekend! -Will

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Sooooo the PlethoraX5 came in today! Ohhhhhhh my! Yeah, Iā€™m happy. So far so good. Big Muff Bass Nano comes in tomorrow and I think Iā€™ll have a good rounded setup. Thanks folks.

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