# Cataclysm Delay - Some noise when engaged



## martcus2727 (Dec 14, 2019)

Hi Guys,

I just finished building the Cataclysm delay and I am experiencing what I would call white noise or a slight hiss when the pedal is turned on. It isn't drastic so I'm not sure if that is normal or not... If anyone with this pedal could chime in that'd be awesome.

Thanks


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## BurntFingers (Dec 14, 2019)

Depends on your settings. Eqd themselves will say the pedal can get noisy.

"Tone: Most delay pedals are heavily filtered at the output to remove the clock noise and other unwanted hash that is common from extending the range of the delay time beyond the limit of the circuitry. This usually leaves the delay sounding dark, muddy and disappear when hitting it with dirt. The Disaster Transport has done away with a lot of the heavy filtering and replaced it with a tone control which allows the user to choose their desired sound and results in more natural tape-like repeats. The tone control is at it’s darkest fully counter clockwise and brightens as you turn it clockwise. A good rule of thumb is to leave the tone control between off (fully counter clockwise) and noon at longer delay times. This will remove all the common noise from hyper-extending the circuit"

Same is true for the level control which is effectively a gain control. 

Run in it the loop, don't run any drive pedals before it, watch the settings.


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## phi1 (Dec 14, 2019)

Also, pick up some more pt2399 chips when you have a chance (hopefully you socketed it), some chips are noisier than others and I’ve heard several companies will sort based on noise and reject a significant number of chips.


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## Nostradoomus (Dec 14, 2019)

phi1 said:


> Also, pick up some more pt2399 chips when you have a chance (hopefully you socketed it), some chips are noisier than others and I’ve heard several companies will sort based on noise and reject a significant number of chips.



This 100%.


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## moonlightpedalbuilds (Dec 16, 2019)

Pt2399 from tayda worked well with my cataclysm. I have some cheap pt2399 from other sources that are hissy.


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## Chuck D. Bones (Dec 16, 2019)

phi1 said:


> Also, pick up some more pt2399 chips when you have a chance (hopefully you socketed it), some chips are noisier than others and I’ve heard several companies will sort based on noise and reject a significant number of chips.



I'm surprised that the noise would vary from chip-to-chip, but I'll take your word for it.  I have a few PT2399's from different sources, so my next delay using those gets a socket installed.


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## falzhobel (Dec 16, 2019)

Also, power supply can be an issue. I had trouble with some Sea Machine and the trouble was always an isolated power supply, daisy-chaining helped.


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## phi1 (Dec 16, 2019)

Chuck D. Bones said:


> I'm surprised that the noise would vary from chip-to-chip, but I'll take your word for it.  I have a few PT2399's from different sources, so my next delay using those gets a socket installed.



I’ve only made a few delays with it and I bought a couple extra chips each time. I’ve noticed some differences with both noise and tone (though none of mine have been horribly nois, but a couple I'd prefer not to use).  As you could guess, the ones that have a warmer tone (in the same circuit of course) tend to have less noise from my limited experience.


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## Dirty_Boogie (Dec 16, 2019)

martcus2727 said:


> Hi Guys,
> 
> I just finished building the Cataclysm delay and I am experiencing what I would call white noise or a slight hiss when the pedal is turned on. It isn't drastic so I'm not sure if that is normal or not... If anyone with this pedal could chime in that'd be awesome.
> 
> Thanks


I have a very low level hiss/white noise on mine when engaged.  Nothing that bothers me, but I can hear it if not playing.  My noise gate would normally get rid of it, but since it's better to not put delays before noise gates, it doesn't get the noise gate treatment.  I tried a couple of different chips (using it for over a year now) - zero difference.  I just think it's inherent to this circuit. Here's a SoundCloud recording of this pedal, where you can hear the slight background noise.  Is yours the same?

Click for sound samples on SoundCloud


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