FYI, the Iron Curtain is the Behringer gate, just in a metal case and slight tweaks. TC is owned by Behringer. All of the TC Smorgasbord series are rehoused and tweaked Behringer pedals.
Very informative video 👍. Especially to know how most of the gates were letting that last bit of string or spring noise through when using the Floyd Rose. Who wants to bet Ben switches to the sentry real soon?
I remember introducing a friend of mine to noise gates. He had never heard of a gate before and he was playing lots of high gain stuff. Showed him how it works and what it does and literally the passion was reborn in him, it was wild. His girlfriend said she had never seen him this happy or inspired ever before. I let him keep my gate because I just loved seeing him so happy. He was playing for hours and hours nonstop. He still tells me how excited he is to play and this all happened like 4 years ago. It was a Sentry.
I had a similar experience! A guy who was filling in on guitar in my band had yet to use a noise gate. I had already moved on to modeling and had all the FX I needed in my modeler but I had a crap ton of pedals left over from my 6505 rig. I gave him my old BOSS NS-2 and he was astounded by the difference in clarity.
I used to have that behringer one. It basically ADDS NOISE to your chain when its not active so it can then eliminate said noise when you activate it and give you the illusion it did something.
I have a behringer EQ. Works fantastic in send/return loop. When I hooked it up in the boss daisy chain with other pedals it made so much noise it was unbelievable. On it's own separate power supply it works brilliantly
I bought it without knowing anything about it, there were only 2 gates at my music shop, the NS-2 that I already had, and Sentry. It's night any day difference, wish I never got the NS-2, but it was still a necessary experience. I'm not upgrading from Sentry. It kicks in when needed, it keeps sustain when it's needed. I'm proud you got it dude, congratulations! :)
Y'all need to take note from the king of staccato riffing: Dino Cazares from Fear Factory. I read an interview where he said he used two noise gates: one between the guitar and amp input and then one in the FX loop. I applied this to my TriAxis. I have an MXR Smart Gate pedal between the guitar and the TriAxis, set to about 2 o' clock. Then I have a Rocktron Guitar Silencer after my TriAxis and before my FX/Poweramp sections. This gives me the most tweakability to obtain stop on a dime gating, with zero after-mute chirping (as was highly evident in this video) and still allows for long held cord sustaining. And trust me, the TriAxis has just as much gain as the JP-2C can get. One pedal will not do the trick if you're running super saturated gain.
I have had the Sentry for years, it’s great. I find that running it with the send to my amp input and the return of the pedal getting the send from the loop gets amazingly tweak-able results into any amp I run into.
I used the NS2 in the X pattern for years... Then changed to the Sentry (in X pattern). They're both great in that configuration; NS2 is simple, and works... The Sentry is more customisable... Just depends what you want
I had the BOSS NS-2 when I played live through a Randall Solid State 100W head into a 4 X 12 cabinet live. It didn't make it totally silent when I wasn't playing but it got the job done well enough that I never dealt with annoying feedback and it never shortened the sustain of a note or chord.
Having said that… if they’d nudged either of the D1 or D2 up just a hair, they might have done it. But based off this vid, #1 Sentry, #2 D1 and D2 tied
Used all of them, and then some. Best gate I have used has been the Lone Wolf Audio Endless Blockade. I also have the dual gate pedal for a stereo setup called the “Taunhausser.”
This vid also illustrates that the cost of pedals is not necessarily indicative of its "goodness". For example, the Sentry at $109 is as good as, if not better than, the top price at $143 (Decimator 2); and yet the MXR at $130 isn't near as good at the Sentry & Decimator 2. It drives me nuts! But, luckily, we have guys like Fluff and Uncle Ben to help us weed through these prices. Thank you, gentlemen!
The Sentry is the best. I use it, and i use his loop, that is a super option ! Just after the tuner. Then a tube screamer, and the preamp of my amp tube, back to the Sentry, and then delay/reverb and go to the power amp. Optimal chain ! 😉 🤘
@@alexanderlumberjack Yes, the point is to use the loop of the noise gate. He must receive the purest signal from your guitar, that affect the threshold. Place it at the beginning of the signal path. Then the signal goes to the pedals you have of the front of the amp, and the preamp (use "send" on the Sentry). And then use the loop of your amp (the send) to connect the sentry in the return. Then the output of the sentry to modulation effects, and back to the return of the amp. I hope it's more understandable ^^ You can can find helpful schematics on the internet Does it work ?
This was really good guys. Thanks so much! I've had an NS-2 for years. Did not understand the differences in the various units until your presentation today. Very informative. After listening to this, I'm with you guys on the TC Sentry.
The best gate I have is a $25 one-knob wonder from China. You can set the threshold just right so you remove the hiss under your playing. Very nice. The Behringer adds noise when engaged on a quiet circuit, but works well with high gain pedals in its send-return loop.
The ns2 has to be hooked up with 4 cables to get the tightness, it’s the only way I run it and haven’t had any issues. It’s actually the only pedal I use right now lol. But I want to a/b it with a sentry at some point
Totally. That’s how I run mine and it eliminates all noise that way. No amp hum or hiss, no noise from the pedals in the loop and no squealing from my TS either.
How do you run your sentry on 4 cable? Beginning of chain? Could I run it after my drive section into the front and then loop my time based effects into FX loop?
@@JC-nu5io You could certainly do that. The whole idea behind the 4-cable method is being able to gate only certain parts of your loop using whichever stage of the sound as the 'blueprint'. I use mine right after my tuner, so effectively it gets my dry signal straight from the instrument to get the clearest picture of when I am actually playing. I only gate my distortion, so from there I loop mt OD and pre-amp and send my effects loop out to the return of the Smart Gate so that it doesn't touch my other effects. Basically for me I only want to get rid of the extra noise from the gain stages, but you can gate any pedals you want.
Been using a Decimator ProRackG for a while now for my wet/dry rig and absolutely love it to be able to hit my two amps differently with just the single unit, but always have been curious about stomp options. Thanks for the video!
@@shekador It works great and was the “simplest” option for my main rig which is supper complicated with routing. Not for chugga. My bass rig has a deci-mate and it works great. Currently putting together a chugga rig I’m going to try it on, and I might look into these other options.
I'd like to hear a similar shootout with pedals that have the guitar trigger them, but the gate goes in the effects loop, which you didn't do with the Boss NS-2/ TC Sentry here, including the MXR Noise Clamp, the Fortin Zuul, EHX The Silencer, Decimator II G-String, REVV G8, etc.
I bought a behringer 'cause it was cheap and I wanted to try it out. I kept trying to mess with it and I was not impressed. But this vid sold me on the Sentry. Thanks so much!
Hello !! my noise gate is a Mooer noise killer with 1 knob for threshold and a swtich hard-soft and that's it ! it's working very well and not expensive 39€ .thanks for the video !
The Sentry has been a no-brainer for any metalhead since the day it was born. It is hella powerful. 3-band gating, and the TonePrint tweakability. It’s amazing. Yes Uncle B, there are 3 knobs, but they are fully usable and powerful in their own way. But wait, there is more. It also has the ability to filter out what is guitar noise and what is fx-noise. If you go guitar directly into it, then through all your fx, then loop back through it before hitting the PA, it will know not to cut the fx-noise. I.e. delay trails, reverbs and things of that nature! It is truely amazing!
I gave my friend Mubalu in Uganda a cheap guitar and amp. I returned one day and gave him a Boss noise gate. His village were so moved by the sound they were brought to tears and sang songs about it. They named their newest offspring Gate Boy
IMO the sentry is the best especially if you run your fuzz and overdrive pedals through the sentry’s loop using the 4 cord method. Single coils, high gain everything is controlled and or eliminated with a natural decay when set properly.
I find most folks don't know how to use noise gates, and as a result are generally disappointed with their function and impact on sound. Most analog gates make their "decision" about turning on and off based on level. Some may employ a more elaborated sensing arrangement, like the TC described here. HOWEVER, the thing to keep in mind is that a) *where* the noise is being sensed, and b) what sort of content the "noise" consists of, will matter, as will level and S/N ratio. When your guitar hits the first pedal the most noise that will accompany it will likely be hum/EMI. At the end of your pedal chain, particularly since so many of us will cascade high-gain pedals, "noise" will consist of accumulated (and amplified) hiss, in addition to whatever hum got exaggerated over the various pedals. So what a gate needs to eliminate is different at the start than at the end of your signal path. My ideal system is a gate that would cut out content below 100hz when you stop playing, so that there is no hum to amplify, and a second gate that attenuates hiss at the *end* of the signal chain. As well, since the gate interprets low-level things as unwanted "noise", and higher-level things as "signal", you want the greatest contrast in *level* between wanted signal and unwanted noise. That's why many gates will include a send/receive loop that the rest of pedal chain gets inserted into. What that does is give the sensing circuit the best dynamics and contrast to work with, in order to more accurately detect periods of non-playing, but *APPLY* the noise reduction *after* all the other pedals. Keep in mind that anything which compresses your signal dynamics, be it a compressor or seriously overdriven gain pedals, will make it harder for the gate to tell the difference between what you want and what you don't want. This is why I say many players get frustrated with gates, because they don't know how to use them. If you stick a gate at the end of your chain, and it is sensing your compressed noisy final signal, you'll end up having to set the turn-on threshold so high that it will cut out the natural decay of notes. So if you're going to be seeking the tones found in this video, you'll definitely want something with a send/receive loop, where you can plug the guitar straight into it, and use the gate to clean up the mess near or at the end. I say *near* the end, because there may be some things, like the tail end of a reverb, where you don't want it to cut out, but you don't want the cumulative noise to be part of that tail. In that case, you'd have the gate do its thing *after* the high-gain pedals, but *before* the reverb pedal. Capishe?
haha, stumbling across mark hammer on youtube giving some straight dope on guitar electronics! it's been a few years since ampage, old buddy... ;) -~KG~
@@ride5000 Good to hear from ya. Those who remember ampage, remember! These days, of all things, I'm working at a national science & tech museum on a repro of the world's first voltage-controlled synthesizer, from the late '40s. A real hoot, and a precursor of things that wouldn't emerge in music gear for another 25-30 years.
I use the smart gate for metal. Its amazing. Just dial it in. Blows all the other ones out of the water. You don't have to use it on full. The lightest setting works very well if you have a high gain amp. The pedal senses that and compensates for it. Hints the name "SMART" gate. = )
I think that last lightning round might have sold me on the Sentry as well. I've used the NS-2 for about as long as I've been playing guitar but I never realized there were "faster" gates out there!
Sentry may be faster but I noticed at times it fails tor recognize the noise and leave the noise pass thru, like the decay was setted higher for just a moment. Might be the digital nature of it.
I have the Big Muff Deluxe. When I first got it the noise gate was set to eleven and I couldn’t figure out why it wasn’t working. I never dealt with a noise gate before and didn’t know what it was all about. It’s now my favorite feature on the pedal.
Hahaha one of the greatest things in the world of a guitarist is wondering why the hell something isn't working, only to find out its bc this one knob HERE needed to be turned...
Quick note the MXR smargate is the only true direct copy of Rockman item they decided to bring to market. It is the the Rockman smartgate in pedal form.
I’ve used the NS-2, decimator and the Sentry and the Sentry by far was the better of the three. Having the extra controls to tighten the gate plus being able to isolate all my drive pedals in the send and return makes life so much easier especially playing live.
How often do you stomp on a noise gate during a gig? Seems like you would set it up before you start and kinda leave it there, maybe just a couple adjustments between songs?
I'd love to see you do a shootout with gates/suppressors using the 4-cable method. I switch between clean, crunch, and massive gain frequently on my Marshall JVM410H, so I needed a set-it-and-forget-it gate that wouldn't choke out when switching channels. The MXR Smart Gate didn't cut it, so I picked up the TC Sentry and hooked it up with the 4-cable method. Unfortunately, it couldn't handle the level in the JVM410H's loop and the volume dropped precipitously with it on, even when it wasn't gating. I ended up grabbing an ISP Decimator II G-String (the Decimator version with jacks to hook up using the 4-cable method), and that solved the problem.
I’ve been watching Noise Gate/Noise Suppressor videos for the last few days, and was ready to pull the trigger on the BOSS NS-2 this morning (admittedly I’m a big BOSS fan). But I’m going to go look at some TC Electronic Sentry videos before I make the call. That was an impressive display. And thanks to two of my favorite guitar TH-camrs for the great video!
The micro ISP Decimate G has a loop that tells it when to open and close,but so do some of these….it’s $100 more than the Decimate on this board,but it’s worth it…but…that Sentry was awesome…I may have to check out one of those…
I currently use a combo of the MXR smart gate and the ISP decimate. I basically use the smart gate going directly into my pedals and front end of my amp and the decimate out of the fx send on my amp. I found this to work well being able to keep sustain and minimize noise.
I use a Decimator G string one one board and the T.C. Sentry on another. Both 4 cable method and both work great. Bought both pedals used for for a great price.
1. The Decimator II was designed to be used in pairs.. the G-string is the one for just the loop. 2. The NS-2 (like all Gates with a Send and Return) works best in front, or with the "4CM" X pattern.
I've owned virtually every noise gate and the Highwind Phalanx is the best noise gate I've ever used. Unfortunately it's no longer in production. If you're serious about noise gates for metal you need to run it into the fx loop, with a Fortin Zuul or ISP Decimator G string. If you just need to cut some basic hum, the stock ISP Decimator is great. The rest of those options work but have a very small margin of compromising between cutting out the things you don't want to hear, and keeping the tone you don't want sucked out.
Excellent video. Thanks! I understand for demoing purposes why you chose to use these in the loop, but it’s important for people to know that the string chirping we’re hearing needs to be tackled by a gate in front of the amp not the loop. After that’s done you can use almost any gate in the loop. Loop gates are easy sauce. Would have made more sense to just have a simple ns2 running in the loop and to demo all of these in FRONT. But obviously a sock on the headstock is the best first step regardless lol
Tom Scholz/Rockman actually sold the MXR smart gate as half rack unit with the Rockman modules back in the day. Dunlop made it into pedal version when they acquired rights to the Rockman name. Great circuit!
Used ISP for years, a handful of tours, because it is absolutely rock solid, however, I think my next gift to myself will be a Sentry. Y'all sold me on it.
I switched from the Zuul to the Sentry 3 years ago and couldn’t be happier. Still wish Fractal would release a standalone dual gate pedal. The Fractal gates are still the best I’ve ever used
We are the bois…. WHO GATE THE NOISE
Stop it
I just bought a Sentry on Reverb after 15 years with the NS-2 based off this video. Thanks for contributing to my GAS!
FYI, the Iron Curtain is the Behringer gate, just in a metal case and slight tweaks. TC is owned by Behringer. All of the TC Smorgasbord series are rehoused and tweaked Behringer pedals.
Very informative video 👍. Especially to know how most of the gates were letting that last bit of string or spring noise through when using the Floyd Rose.
Who wants to bet Ben switches to the sentry real soon?
@@LotharOfTheHillPeople fuckin top notch profile name and pic. *Chef's kiss
💋🤌
I remember introducing a friend of mine to noise gates. He had never heard of a gate before and he was playing lots of high gain stuff. Showed him how it works and what it does and literally the passion was reborn in him, it was wild. His girlfriend said she had never seen him this happy or inspired ever before.
I let him keep my gate because I just loved seeing him so happy. He was playing for hours and hours nonstop. He still tells me how excited he is to play and this all happened like 4 years ago.
It was a Sentry.
You are an awesome friend !
I had a similar experience! A guy who was filling in on guitar in my band had yet to use a noise gate. I had already moved on to modeling and had all the FX I needed in my modeler but I had a crap ton of pedals left over from my 6505 rig. I gave him my old BOSS NS-2 and he was astounded by the difference in clarity.
This is still a better love story than twilight 🤣🤣
And you got a little smile and wink from god
Wish I still had my sentry. This is why all the line 6 amps that people love to hate had noise gates! Noise can be a distraction!
Both the NS2 and the Sentry are designed to be used with 4 cable method. If done correctly they are both excellent, probably the best options.
2:43 “you just turn it up until the noise goes away”
This is the same way I deal with my parents telling me my music is too loud.
Another TCE Sentry sold today thanks to this and many other videos... Thank you content creators!
I used to have that behringer one. It basically ADDS NOISE to your chain when its not active so it can then eliminate said noise when you activate it and give you the illusion it did something.
Yeah I tried it out in a store once it's terrible
This is the most Behringer thing I have ever read.
Exactly my problem with Behringer. The send-return loop seems to help that a bit.
I have a behringer EQ. Works fantastic in send/return loop. When I hooked it up in the boss daisy chain with other pedals it made so much noise it was unbelievable. On it's own separate power supply it works brilliantly
Lmao
With the great gate, customizable tone print, and reasonable price, that Sentry sounds like the best for my needs! Thank you!
The reaction to the Sentry made me order one straight after the video finished.
I bought it without knowing anything about it, there were only 2 gates at my music shop, the NS-2 that I already had, and Sentry. It's night any day difference, wish I never got the NS-2, but it was still a necessary experience. I'm not upgrading from Sentry. It kicks in when needed, it keeps sustain when it's needed. I'm proud you got it dude, congratulations! :)
This video is so great. No one on TH-cam has something this comprehensive, especially for metal.
uh,JHS? he has an even more in depth one....by far
@@alexcorona FOR METAL?
Jeee. My boy won. Really happy with the sentry and absolutely recommend it.
Y'all need to take note from the king of staccato riffing: Dino Cazares from Fear Factory. I read an interview where he said he used two noise gates: one between the guitar and amp input and then one in the FX loop. I applied this to my TriAxis. I have an MXR Smart Gate pedal between the guitar and the TriAxis, set to about 2 o' clock. Then I have a Rocktron Guitar Silencer after my TriAxis and before my FX/Poweramp sections. This gives me the most tweakability to obtain stop on a dime gating, with zero after-mute chirping (as was highly evident in this video) and still allows for long held cord sustaining. And trust me, the TriAxis has just as much gain as the JP-2C can get. One pedal will not do the trick if you're running super saturated gain.
I have had the Sentry for years, it’s great. I find that running it with the send to my amp input and the return of the pedal getting the send from the loop gets amazingly tweak-able results into any amp I run into.
Love the Decapitated riff🤘🤘🤘I've used a Sentry for years now. For the price and features and how well it just works you can't beat it.
Love that Pantera - Domination riff. 7:47
Arghhh. ! 🎉
The BOSS NS-2 in 4 cable "x pattern" mode in conjunction with your amp's input & FX loop works much, much better.
Night & day.
Sentry also does the x pattern. Just sayin.
@@Aphercotropes i think the behringer too
I used the NS2 in the X pattern for years... Then changed to the Sentry (in X pattern). They're both great in that configuration; NS2 is simple, and works... The Sentry is more customisable... Just depends what you want
Love the Sentry. Great vid Buoys!
You didn’t put them ALL on at once! Thanks Fluff, great video.
Hell yeah Ben playing Spheres of Madness...that riff in the middle of the song is so hard
Ah, I'm glad I'm not the only one loving the TC sentry!
Love the spheres of madness riff! :)
I had the BOSS NS-2 when I played live through a Randall Solid State 100W head into a 4 X 12 cabinet live. It didn't make it totally silent when I wasn't playing but it got the job done well enough that I never dealt with annoying feedback and it never shortened the sustain of a note or chord.
"This is the one Moses used back in the day".
Excellent!
Spheres of Madness by Decapitated! Good choice, Ben!
EYYYYYY
I thought the exact same thing!! 🤘😎🤘
Thanks guys. I just ordered the Sentry
Listening closely with headphones and the Decimator 2 was the only one to really eradicate that pingy spring sound effectively.
Bang on
I still hear it. I hear it less on the Sentry. Decimator 2 is 2nd place after the Sentry to my ears.
There’s a quaver of it on the D2. I don’t think you could cut it tighter than the Sentry… unless Neural Link start bringing out guitar pedals.
Having said that… if they’d nudged either of the D1 or D2 up just a hair, they might have done it. But based off this vid, #1 Sentry, #2 D1 and D2 tied
Sentry is killing the pingy spring way better, IMHO
You guys are great. Would enjoy seeing you two do an attenuator/load box shootout.
Ha, I bought a used Boss NS-2 yesterday. Looked at almost all of these pedals. Boss is always a safe buy.
Used all of them, and then some. Best gate I have used has been the Lone Wolf Audio Endless Blockade. I also have the dual gate pedal for a stereo setup called the “Taunhausser.”
I've heard the Endless Blockade works wonders Joe builds awesome pedals
i sold my ISP decimator and got a Sentry after watching Fluff's review back in 2016 or 17... Never looked back. thanks Dad!
Was just about to pull the trigger on the new NS-1X, but now I want the Sentry. Thanks!
Spheres of Madness - perfect riff for this test !
Just got the sentry and if you are using any sort of gain especially high gain this definitely is the best noise gate! Highly recommend
This vid also illustrates that the cost of pedals is not necessarily indicative of its "goodness". For example, the Sentry at $109 is as good as, if not better than, the top price at $143 (Decimator 2); and yet the MXR at $130 isn't near as good at the Sentry & Decimator 2. It drives me nuts! But, luckily, we have guys like Fluff and Uncle Ben to help us weed through these prices. Thank you, gentlemen!
I have 3 graphic EQ's and the one that works best for my tone is the 15 year old $40 Behringer cheapie 😆
@@mrksdlx 😀It just seems so random, right?!
Marketers have long known that customers see price as a surrogate indicator of quality.
@@lueysixty-six7300 Quite true. I believe the saying is, "there's a sucker born every minute".
The Sentry is the best. I use it, and i use his loop, that is a super option ! Just after the tuner. Then a tube screamer, and the preamp of my amp tube, back to the Sentry, and then delay/reverb and go to the power amp. Optimal chain ! 😉 🤘
I may be dumb but can you reword this a little more clearly? I just got one today and want to try all the options
@@alexanderlumberjack Yes, the point is to use the loop of the noise gate. He must receive the purest signal from your guitar, that affect the threshold. Place it at the beginning of the signal path.
Then the signal goes to the pedals you have of the front of the amp, and the preamp (use "send" on the Sentry).
And then use the loop of your amp (the send) to connect the sentry in the return. Then the output of the sentry to modulation effects, and back to the return of the amp.
I hope it's more understandable ^^
You can can find helpful schematics on the internet
Does it work ?
This was really good guys. Thanks so much! I've had an NS-2 for years. Did not understand the differences in the various units until your presentation today. Very informative. After listening to this, I'm with you guys on the TC Sentry.
The best gate I have is a $25 one-knob wonder from China. You can set the threshold just right so you remove the hiss under your playing. Very nice. The Behringer adds noise when engaged on a quiet circuit, but works well with high gain pedals in its send-return loop.
The ns2 has to be hooked up with 4 cables to get the tightness, it’s the only way I run it and haven’t had any issues. It’s actually the only pedal I use right now lol.
But I want to a/b it with a sentry at some point
Totally. That’s how I run mine and it eliminates all noise that way. No amp hum or hiss, no noise from the pedals in the loop and no squealing from my TS either.
Works perfectly like that on the mute setting and you don't get any of tone suck or volume drop that everyone complains about.
The Sentry is an amazing pedal. Especially when you start messing around with the toneprint software.
✅ Boss NS2🤓 with cables in X pattern and the Behringer ✅ cool 😎 video 👍
I have the TC Sentry in a 4-cable setup and it's absolutely immaculate. It's tied for most critical pedal in my rig with my Horizon Precision Drive.
How do you run your sentry on 4 cable? Beginning of chain? Could I run it after my drive section into the front and then loop my time based effects into FX loop?
@@JC-nu5io You could certainly do that. The whole idea behind the 4-cable method is being able to gate only certain parts of your loop using whichever stage of the sound as the 'blueprint'. I use mine right after my tuner, so effectively it gets my dry signal straight from the instrument to get the clearest picture of when I am actually playing. I only gate my distortion, so from there I loop mt OD and pre-amp and send my effects loop out to the return of the Smart Gate so that it doesn't touch my other effects. Basically for me I only want to get rid of the extra noise from the gain stages, but you can gate any pedals you want.
love my the key and the gate pedal by litchlaern audio, totally worth it
Been using a Decimator ProRackG for a while now for my wet/dry rig and absolutely love it to be able to hit my two amps differently with just the single unit, but always have been curious about stomp options. Thanks for the video!
I loved my ProRackG but there are better options available nowadays, at least if you play chugga chugga
@@shekador It works great and was the “simplest” option for my main rig which is supper complicated with routing. Not for chugga. My bass rig has a deci-mate and it works great. Currently putting together a chugga rig I’m going to try it on, and I might look into these other options.
Love the Pantera domination riff!!! Over and over
I'd like to hear a similar shootout with pedals that have the guitar trigger them, but the gate goes in the effects loop, which you didn't do with the Boss NS-2/ TC Sentry here, including the MXR Noise Clamp, the Fortin Zuul, EHX The Silencer, Decimator II G-String, REVV G8, etc.
I bought a behringer 'cause it was cheap and I wanted to try it out. I kept trying to mess with it and I was not impressed. But this vid sold me on the Sentry. Thanks so much!
No love for the Isp Hum extractor + Decimator G, best noise gate ever.
Hello !! my noise gate is a Mooer noise killer with 1 knob for threshold and a swtich hard-soft and that's it ! it's working very well and not expensive 39€ .thanks for the video !
Fluff and Uncle Ben?? Yeah!!
Thank you for your help. I am going to buy one right now. Great video Fluff and chug guy.
The Sentry has been a no-brainer for any metalhead since the day it was born. It is hella powerful. 3-band gating, and the TonePrint tweakability. It’s amazing. Yes Uncle B, there are 3 knobs, but they are fully usable and powerful in their own way.
But wait, there is more. It also has the ability to filter out what is guitar noise and what is fx-noise. If you go guitar directly into it, then through all your fx, then loop back through it before hitting the PA, it will know not to cut the fx-noise. I.e. delay trails, reverbs and things of that nature!
It is truely amazing!
I wonder if you can use it in the fx loop of an amp? I.e. Guitar>sentry>amp>fx send>effects(delays)>sentry> fxreturn?
@@jamesprosser7236 you can, it's designed to work perfectly that way.
If only they weren't so hard to find in Canadia
I gave my friend Mubalu in Uganda a cheap guitar and amp. I returned one day and gave him a Boss noise gate. His village were so moved by the sound they were brought to tears and sang songs about it. They named their newest offspring Gate Boy
Dig the TC Electronic Iron Curtain. I also have Decimator X micro Gstring, and Boss NS-2.
"it's a blue one, specifically a blue one"... man, classic Ben Eller!
IMO the sentry is the best especially if you run your fuzz and overdrive pedals through the sentry’s loop using the 4 cord method. Single coils, high gain everything is controlled and or eliminated with a natural decay when set properly.
I find most folks don't know how to use noise gates, and as a result are generally disappointed with their function and impact on sound. Most analog gates make their "decision" about turning on and off based on level. Some may employ a more elaborated sensing arrangement, like the TC described here. HOWEVER, the thing to keep in mind is that a) *where* the noise is being sensed, and b) what sort of content the "noise" consists of, will matter, as will level and S/N ratio.
When your guitar hits the first pedal the most noise that will accompany it will likely be hum/EMI. At the end of your pedal chain, particularly since so many of us will cascade high-gain pedals, "noise" will consist of accumulated (and amplified) hiss, in addition to whatever hum got exaggerated over the various pedals. So what a gate needs to eliminate is different at the start than at the end of your signal path. My ideal system is a gate that would cut out content below 100hz when you stop playing, so that there is no hum to amplify, and a second gate that attenuates hiss at the *end* of the signal chain.
As well, since the gate interprets low-level things as unwanted "noise", and higher-level things as "signal", you want the greatest contrast in *level* between wanted signal and unwanted noise. That's why many gates will include a send/receive loop that the rest of pedal chain gets inserted into. What that does is give the sensing circuit the best dynamics and contrast to work with, in order to more accurately detect periods of non-playing, but *APPLY* the noise reduction *after* all the other pedals.
Keep in mind that anything which compresses your signal dynamics, be it a compressor or seriously overdriven gain pedals, will make it harder for the gate to tell the difference between what you want and what you don't want. This is why I say many players get frustrated with gates, because they don't know how to use them. If you stick a gate at the end of your chain, and it is sensing your compressed noisy final signal, you'll end up having to set the turn-on threshold so high that it will cut out the natural decay of notes. So if you're going to be seeking the tones found in this video, you'll definitely want something with a send/receive loop, where you can plug the guitar straight into it, and use the gate to clean up the mess near or at the end.
I say *near* the end, because there may be some things, like the tail end of a reverb, where you don't want it to cut out, but you don't want the cumulative noise to be part of that tail. In that case, you'd have the gate do its thing *after* the high-gain pedals, but *before* the reverb pedal.
Capishe?
haha, stumbling across mark hammer on youtube giving some straight dope on guitar electronics! it's been a few years since ampage, old buddy... ;) -~KG~
@@ride5000 Good to hear from ya. Those who remember ampage, remember! These days, of all things, I'm working at a national science & tech museum on a repro of the world's first voltage-controlled synthesizer, from the late '40s. A real hoot, and a precursor of things that wouldn't emerge in music gear for another 25-30 years.
I use the smart gate for metal. Its amazing. Just dial it in. Blows all the other ones out of the water. You don't have to use it on full. The lightest setting works very well if you have a high gain amp. The pedal senses that and compensates for it. Hints the name "SMART" gate. = )
I think that last lightning round might have sold me on the Sentry as well. I've used the NS-2 for about as long as I've been playing guitar but I never realized there were "faster" gates out there!
Sentry may be faster but I noticed at times it fails tor recognize the noise and leave the noise pass thru, like the decay was setted higher for just a moment. Might be the digital nature of it.
@@lovecraftmusic8717 Is that the case when using four cable method too?
I think the move with the NS-2 is to use it in the "X" configuration that gets it into the amps fx loop, or something?
The Mxr Smartgate is really great! You can definitely use it for metal. I've got one and the knob is at lowest setting and it's perfect
Anthrax use the smart gate.
With that spring noise most people damp the springs with a piece of sponge.
@Future Deadguy well, its more expensive, in it?
I just switched from the Behringer NS300 to the Electro Harmonix Silencer and it’s a HUGE difference in sound and tone sustainment.
I have the Big Muff Deluxe. When I first got it the noise gate was set to eleven and I couldn’t figure out why it wasn’t working. I never dealt with a noise gate before and didn’t know what it was all about. It’s now my favorite feature on the pedal.
Hahaha one of the greatest things in the world of a guitarist is wondering why the hell something isn't working, only to find out its bc this one knob HERE needed to be turned...
Quick note the MXR smargate is the only true direct copy of Rockman item they decided to bring to market. It is the the Rockman smartgate in pedal form.
I love mine
I’ve used the NS-2, decimator and the Sentry and the Sentry by far was the better of the three. Having the extra controls to tighten the gate plus being able to isolate all my drive pedals in the send and return makes life so much easier especially playing live.
16:56 "I'm glad you've seen the light"
That is metal.
Just got the G8 and love it
How often do you stomp on a noise gate during a gig? Seems like you would set it up before you start and kinda leave it there, maybe just a couple adjustments between songs?
YES, thank you I asked for more and you DELIVERED. I'm sure a lot of viewers wanted to see more father fluff and Uncle Ben.
Thank you Ryan and Ben, my favorite gate is the ISP Decimator G String II. Dead quiet and dead simple
I'd love to see you do a shootout with gates/suppressors using the 4-cable method. I switch between clean, crunch, and massive gain frequently on my Marshall JVM410H, so I needed a set-it-and-forget-it gate that wouldn't choke out when switching channels. The MXR Smart Gate didn't cut it, so I picked up the TC Sentry and hooked it up with the 4-cable method. Unfortunately, it couldn't handle the level in the JVM410H's loop and the volume dropped precipitously with it on, even when it wasn't gating. I ended up grabbing an ISP Decimator II G-String (the Decimator version with jacks to hook up using the 4-cable method), and that solved the problem.
Another trick is to use the ISP in the fx loop of the JVM, and the TC Sentry (or even the beringer) in front of the amp.
That Boogie sounds incredible though. The sentry sounds like the best bang for the buck
You didn’t include the Zuul? That’s my favorite gate out there.
I love these videos featuring the two of you. Thank you for the lovely videos!
Thanks a lot for a great and very useful review, can you also please share your experience with Donner noise killer, if you have used it ?
wow, i need that Sentry... by far the best one
I use the behringer, very delicately, in my 6505+ fx loop just to tame amp noise. Gonna get a sentry for the front.
I’ve been watching Noise Gate/Noise Suppressor videos for the last few days, and was ready to pull the trigger on the BOSS NS-2 this morning (admittedly I’m a big BOSS fan). But I’m going to go look at some TC Electronic Sentry videos before I make the call. That was an impressive display. And thanks to two of my favorite guitar TH-camrs for the great video!
I've had the ISP 2 & the Boss NG-2 in the past. Recently i got the Revv G8 and it destroys all of them.
cool video!
The micro ISP Decimate G has a loop that tells it when to open and close,but so do some of these….it’s $100 more than the Decimate on this board,but it’s worth it…but…that Sentry was awesome…I may have to check out one of those…
i have both and the g string is the sauce.
TC is the alltime winner for me price + toneprint = unbeatable
I currently use a combo of the MXR smart gate and the ISP decimate. I basically use the smart gate going directly into my pedals and front end of my amp and the decimate out of the fx send on my amp. I found this to work well being able to keep sustain and minimize noise.
great choice
I use a Decimator G string one one board and the T.C. Sentry on another. Both 4 cable method and both work great. Bought both pedals used for for a great price.
1. The Decimator II was designed to be used in pairs.. the G-string is the one for just the loop.
2. The NS-2 (like all Gates with a Send and Return) works best in front, or with the "4CM" X pattern.
Been shopping for a noise gate, and never found any reviews like this.
I appreciate you guys.
SPHERES OF MADNESS
T.C Electronics "Sentry" definitely won.Money is no object when it comes to good sound.
KMA Machines Pylon Noise Gate looks really versatile. Nice demo guys. oNe LoVe from NYC
I've owned virtually every noise gate and the Highwind Phalanx is the best noise gate I've ever used. Unfortunately it's no longer in production. If you're serious about noise gates for metal you need to run it into the fx loop, with a Fortin Zuul or ISP Decimator G string. If you just need to cut some basic hum, the stock ISP Decimator is great. The rest of those options work but have a very small margin of compromising between cutting out the things you don't want to hear, and keeping the tone you don't want sucked out.
I feel so validated that people have their noise gates cranked that much. I always thought I was crazy going pass 12 oclock
The faces of two grown up men in search of noise. Hilarious! :D
Excellent video. Thanks! I understand for demoing purposes why you chose to use these in the loop, but it’s important for people to know that the string chirping we’re hearing needs to be tackled by a gate in front of the amp not the loop. After that’s done you can use almost any gate in the loop. Loop gates are easy sauce. Would have made more sense to just have a simple ns2 running in the loop and to demo all of these in FRONT. But obviously a sock on the headstock is the best first step regardless lol
I wonder if they'll ever read this and if so, I'm curious what their answer to it would be.
You are right, the best one for the loop is not necessarily the best in front.
what do I do if I have a delay and reverb already in my loop
@@INVERTEDBUKAKI place the gate 1st in your loop. Tames amp noise and lets delays/reverb tails ring out uninterrupted.
@@cmcp975 ty👌
This was an excellent shootout, because it doesn't mess around but does exactly what I would do in a shop.
This is the perfect video, going through each one and adjusting the thresholds is exactly what was needed. Thank you guys.
Saved me some money since I own the sentry and was about to buy a decimator!
Respect for the Spheres of Madness
Tom Scholz/Rockman actually sold the MXR smart gate as half rack unit with the Rockman modules back in the day. Dunlop made it into pedal version when they acquired rights to the Rockman name. Great circuit!
I’m using a Stone Deaf effects Noise Reaper, love the design and the one knob controll
The content we all need!
wHeRe iS tHe *Noise Gate That Sweetwater Doesnt Carry Nor Would Have On Hand*
Some of the coolest gear isn't carried by them sadly
Used ISP for years, a handful of tours, because it is absolutely rock solid, however, I think my next gift to myself will be a Sentry. Y'all sold me on it.
I switched from the Zuul to the Sentry 3 years ago and couldn’t be happier. Still wish Fractal would release a standalone dual gate pedal. The Fractal gates are still the best I’ve ever used
What made you switch? I have a sentry but have been interested in the zuul