Hello fellow Boogers :mrgreen: I simply love the clean channel on my Express 5:25 (1st gen), except for that pesky background shhhhhhhhhhhhhhh (hiss). I've been assured by Mesa that this is a normal "feature" of these amps, and seen a lot of grief posted here regarding this. It really hasn't been anything but a pet peeve up to this point, but I am getting more into accompanying acoustic musicians (amplified-acoustics, that is), jazz, and a bit of home recording, so having a lower noise floor is becoming more important.
Now, I've heard some say the hiss is gone in the 5:25+, while others say it is there. Note, I'm specifically referring to the 5:25+, and specifically the clean channel - I expect some amount of noise on the higher gain channels/modes. If there is consensus that this issue has been resolved in the plus, I'd actually be inclined to to "trade-up", as it were.
Of course the other (much cheaper) option I have seen recommended is to put a noise gate in the loop. This seems like a no-brainer solution when it comes to high-gain scenarios, but I'm curious how this might work on the clean channel. Will it affect dynamics? (think atmospheric volume swells with delay and reverb where the decay is really long). My understanding of noise gates is that they are only engaged when not playing, so it wouldn't do anything for the background hiss when playing / recording.
I'd really appreciate to hear anyone's experience using a noise gate in this type of low-gain scenario.
I guess I just want my cake, and eat it too.
Cheers all!
J
Now, I've heard some say the hiss is gone in the 5:25+, while others say it is there. Note, I'm specifically referring to the 5:25+, and specifically the clean channel - I expect some amount of noise on the higher gain channels/modes. If there is consensus that this issue has been resolved in the plus, I'd actually be inclined to to "trade-up", as it were.
Of course the other (much cheaper) option I have seen recommended is to put a noise gate in the loop. This seems like a no-brainer solution when it comes to high-gain scenarios, but I'm curious how this might work on the clean channel. Will it affect dynamics? (think atmospheric volume swells with delay and reverb where the decay is really long). My understanding of noise gates is that they are only engaged when not playing, so it wouldn't do anything for the background hiss when playing / recording.
I'd really appreciate to hear anyone's experience using a noise gate in this type of low-gain scenario.
I guess I just want my cake, and eat it too.
Cheers all!
J