Anyone tried the MXR Poly Blue Octave?

JiveTurkey

Goatlord
TGF Recording Artist
Messages
13,107
I want a new octave pedal. Last dedicated one I had was the Mooer Tender Octaver V1. Spectacular pedal. Mainly because they just stole the POG circuit. I don't want to buy another one of those and I don't want to buy an EHX. So I am looking elsewhere when I came across the MXR. Looks good, but also looks like 10lbs of :poop: in a 5lb bucket so not sure if I want to give it a go.
 
I want a new octave pedal. Last dedicated one I had was the Mooer Tender Octaver V1. Spectacular pedal. Mainly because they just stole the POG circuit. I don't want to buy another one of those and I don't want to buy an EHX. So I am looking elsewhere when I came across the MXR. Looks good, but also looks like 10lbs of :poop: in a 5lb bucket so not sure if I want to give it a go.

Yep I have one.

I’m gonna be really lazy here and copy and paste something I posted on TGP….

I have a whammy V, a helix, a pog2, and an mxr poly blue octave.

Here’s how they compare, listed in order of tracking effectiveness and sound (lack of weird/harsh stuff).

- Helix/HX stomp/HX FX - you can select between multiple quality levels between very high quality which has more latency and very low latency which has more tracking issues and artifacts. The tracking here is the best I’ve ever found anywhere, plus it does stuff other than octaves if you wanted to drop it down to simulate a baritone guitar for instance. It has an auto eq feature that is variable which automatically adjusts for the eq stuff that happens with poly pitch shifting which is super handy the further you’re pitch shifting. You can also control the mix of pitch/dry however you want. Obviously the unit does tons of other things well too, so it can do other things in your rig.

- Whammy 5 - great quality pitch shifting, more latency and not quite as good pitch shifting as the helix. No control over the eq, it is what it is. Mix is 100% or 50% only. Chorus sound is cool too. Has other intervals beyond octaves but maybe not the ones you want unless you have midi.

- MXR poly blue octave - latency is pretty good, tracking is pretty good but not as good as the whammy or helix. However, it does 4 octaves at once…. Also includes usable modulation and some cool fuzz tones plus a bonus monophonic mode that has a unique sound and feel (think blue box). No eq control. Tiny footprint.

- Pog2 - I know I put it at the bottom of the list, but it’s tracking and latency isn’t quite as good as the others listed. It’s still great though. The envelope control gives it some really cool options, and it has a filter to tame the highs which is useful.

You can’t go wrong with any of these. If you need multiple poly octaves at once, you clearly have to go with the MXR or POG depending on which feature set you like better. If you only need one octave at a time, I’d recommend an HX device.

D
 
Yep I have one.

I’m gonna be really lazy here and copy and paste something I posted on TGP….

I have a whammy V, a helix, a pog2, and an mxr poly blue octave.

Here’s how they compare, listed in order of tracking effectiveness and sound (lack of weird/harsh stuff).

- Helix/HX stomp/HX FX - you can select between multiple quality levels between very high quality which has more latency and very low latency which has more tracking issues and artifacts. The tracking here is the best I’ve ever found anywhere, plus it does stuff other than octaves if you wanted to drop it down to simulate a baritone guitar for instance. It has an auto eq feature that is variable which automatically adjusts for the eq stuff that happens with poly pitch shifting which is super handy the further you’re pitch shifting. You can also control the mix of pitch/dry however you want. Obviously the unit does tons of other things well too, so it can do other things in your rig.

- Whammy 5 - great quality pitch shifting, more latency and not quite as good pitch shifting as the helix. No control over the eq, it is what it is. Mix is 100% or 50% only. Chorus sound is cool too. Has other intervals beyond octaves but maybe not the ones you want unless you have midi.

- MXR poly blue octave - latency is pretty good, tracking is pretty good but not as good as the whammy or helix. However, it does 4 octaves at once…. Also includes usable modulation and some cool fuzz tones plus a bonus monophonic mode that has a unique sound and feel (think blue box). No eq control. Tiny footprint.

- Pog2 - I know I put it at the bottom of the list, but it’s tracking and latency isn’t quite as good as the others listed. It’s still great though. The envelope control gives it some really cool options, and it has a filter to tame the highs which is useful.

You can’t go wrong with any of these. If you need multiple poly octaves at once, you clearly have to go with the MXR or POG depending on which feature set you like better. If you only need one octave at a time, I’d recommend an HX device.

D
Honestly; the more I think about it; the more I prefer to avoid any more D/A conversions. I don't have the HX in the right spot (or enough processing power), the GR55 I have does it now but not too enjoyably. Maybe I should just look for an analog octaver (which is a different vibe altogether) and not worry about clean, dual octave pitch shifting. Thanks for the breakdown!
 
Honestly; the more I think about it; the more I prefer to avoid any more D/A conversions. I don't have the HX in the right spot (or enough processing power), the GR55 I have does it now but not too enjoyably. Maybe I should just look for an analog octaver (which is a different vibe altogether) and not worry about clean, dual octave pitch shifting. Thanks for the breakdown!

Check out the mythos argonaut, I think it’s really cool for octave up stuff. I’ve almost bought one several times. I need another octave unit like a hole in the head though…

D
 
Check out the mythos argonaut, I think it’s really cool for octave up stuff. I’ve almost bought one several times. I need another octave unit like a hole in the head though…

D
Octave down is usually where I live. The octave up is icing on that cake.
 
Back
Top