Idea: DIY Noise Gate like ISP Decimator RackG

Started by cheezit, January 26, 2008, 01:53:44 PM

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cheezit

The ISP Decimator RackG system uses a cool approach to noise reduction, where they sense the guitar signal at one point in the chain (right at the guitar output) and apply the noise reduction later on in the chain, after high gain pedals and preamps.

http://www.isptechnologies.com/DECIMATORTECHNOLOGYPRIMER.pdf

I had the same idea years ago, and I'm considering trying a DIY version of the sense-early/reduce-late approach, using a simple gate that can accept an external trigger.  Here's what I'm thinking:

guitar->splitter/buffer
splitter/buffer output A->fuzz/gain/etc.->noise gate->amp
splitter/buffer output B->noise gate trigger input

In this system, the noise gate makes decisions about when to clamp down based on a clean signal from the guitar that goes into the trigger input, but the actual gating is done after all the fuzz/distortion etc.  I've only found two DIY circuits that handle a trigger input, and I'm leaning toward gaussmarkov's Gator clone:

http://gaussmarkov.net/wordpress/index.php?s=gator

This is a simple noise gate, not an expander, but I'm hoping the clampdown effect is not going to be noticeable if the gating decision is accurate.

Anyone tried such a thing?