Thanks for this demo! Reading the manual left me curious about which frequencies the Koko Boost centres the mids around. Your demonstration with a spectrum analyzer is exactly what I was looking for :)
Is there a tonal difference between both "mid boosters"? I have the reloaded and I have always noticed a drop in output when engaging the mid boost and also a bit of a drop in lows and highs. I still like the pedal but always wondered if I would like the original better...
There could be a slight tonal difference, but nothing worth swapping over. The main difference is just that the clean boost side of the reloaded is your 'lead' / 'louder' side, whereas its the other way around with the original version. So it all comes down to whether you prefer a mid-heavy lead tone a more full range lead tone. That being said, compared to many boost pedals, the reloaded still has a lot of output in both modes, and can be set up to be louder in mid mode, its just that it doesn't go as loud in mid mode as version 1, although I did see a few people complaining about too much output with version 1 anyway, so maybe this is why they designed the new one this way.
I really don’t see what’s wrong here. The test is done with maximum settings. But the left knob sets the amount of boost on the “clean” section, the right knob sets the amount of clean boost on the “mid” section. They’re independantly from each other. So you can set for example the “clean” boost (left) at 12 O’clock and the “mid” boost (right) at 3 O’clock which gives you 2 seperate clean boosts with the “mid” boost as the loudest. Next to that you can push the mids of the “mid” boost using the middle knob and the toggle switch. Perhaps you can not have a boost difference in the maximum setting as the “clean” and “mid” boost have the same amount of maximum boost. But then, do you really need to use this pedal at a maximum setting? Having written this, it is still a great test you did, thanks.
Rolf Hartogs you make a very good point! There are few genres where either version of koko would sound its subjective 'best' when maxed out. Thank you for pointing that out!
Rolf Hartogs I was thinking that having used both, that I would never used either of these maxed out. However having the added level control on the mid boost side is a great addition to this pedal. What I would love to see is more detail on the mid boost side comparing the voicing options, since Suhr has stated they revoiced the reloaded version. Thank you for doing this video as it has helped me understand what the Q pot is doing.
Thanks for the great video and explanation. I'm after a (or two) boost pedals to boost my stereo live setup. I definitely need a good EQ section with strong mids and possibly different areas of the mids (low/mid/high). I narrowed it down to the Friedman Buxom Boost which has 3 band EQ (bass and mid are only additive and the treble is both cut and add) plus it has a handy tight knob which works great. But I'm also interested in the Koko Boost as it seems it sounds wonderful (texture wise). What are the good built (I'm a live player need durable stuff, especially appreciate the dust resistant ones! if there is such a thing) units with good EQ sections boost pedals out there to tailor the sound in your opinion? (I'm not after OD/Dist units btw). Cheers, EDIT: the amps are Friedman Small Box, Boogie Lone Star for this setup.
Suhr are hard to beat for rugged build quality. The enclosures and switches are rock solid and some of the best in the business. You really can't go wrong with either version of the koko boost. V1 is great for simplicity. I also like the BOSS GE-7 and SD-1.
I tried the waza at a shop for quite a while - really wanted to like it; but the 'custom' mode really doesn't bring much extra to the table IMHO. Some standard SD-1's have bypass bleed where the effected sound comes through very slightly whilst the pedal is in bypass (my current one does not seem to do this.) Standard mode in SD-1w sounds the same which is all I use it for anyway, level max, treble noon, gain close to zero.
I m a little bit confused... How should i use it in order to have a boost on the crunch and a little bit of more mids with a slightly volume up for solos? Thanks
That was a fantastic video. I have the "Reloaded." The sad part is, you cannot get a clear answer from Suhr regarding the manual. Your demonstration clarifies a lot. Though I like the pedal, the instructions and subsequent interface is a big step backward as compared to the original. From the graph, it looks like the original boosted the mid signal from where you set the clean boost. On the Reloaded, it looks like it dropped the bass and high frequencies instead. Have you tried the same test with the Reloaded, kicking the mid-boost in while the clean boost was at the 12 o'clock position rather than at full boost? Wondering if there was simply nothing left to boost, so the pedal dropped the other ends of the tone instead? Also, with the clean and mid-boost all the way up, the toggle switch had no effect at all- which might support the idea that the pedal was simply maxed out.PIA [I know], but could you try the same with the clean at the half-way mark?Thanks for a great vid. Subbed.
Thanks for your comment and watching. 100% agree regarding the somewhat misleading instructions for the reloaded; still a great pedal but I bought it expecting it to operate as the manual implies, and upon finding out it didn't, failing to get a clear answer from Suhr (I still have the utmost respect for the company and the equipment they make) led me to re-buy v1 and make the video. Regarding the specifics of your comment, yes, the original boosts the mids on top of the full frequency boost from the clean boost side (left knob + footswitch). Whilst it appears as though the reloaded cuts highs and lows when switching to mid boost mode, what is actually happening is that the amount of available clean boost drops significantly compared to the 36dB pure clean boost side - and the major deal breaker is that mid boost mode on the reloaded has less available boost than the original. If it had the same amount of volume, I could live with it because you could simply set the clean side lower so that when you switch to mid mode everything gets louder just like v1. To be completely clear, the left knob on the reloaded has zero effect in mid mode. The right knob brings up the level across all frequencies in mid mode, and the middle knob adds mids. I feel like what Suhr failed to do with this pedal is simply market it and describe it for what it is and how it is best used. It has the obvious size advantage over the v1, along with the extra clean boost level - so the approach is different to v1 - with the reloaded; if you wanted to really utilise the pedal to its full potential, you would use mid mode to get a very fat, cutting clean tone and then use the clean boost mode to get a really saggy, almost fuzzy lead tone with the amount of boost available. So you are more likely to go from mid mode to clean mode when you want 'more,' which is the opposite to version 1. Hope that makes sense!
Yes. Perfect sense. We're in accord with the Suhr company. I didn't get a very good answer when I contacted them, albeit Tristan was very nice on the phone. I ended up order a set of Thornbuckers for my LesPaul too. Unfortunately, that was another disaster. The pickups took more than 8 weeks to be delivered to the retail store from which I ordered [Music Zoo]. They shipped the wrong pickups, then the correct pickups sat in the shipping department for a week [with no explanation]. But, the pickups are outstanding. I'm with you on the versatility front as well. Seems you really have to decide if you want a boost or midboost in your rig. I find [my opinion only] it takes too long to move from boost to mid. Though the delay may seem relatively short, in reality it can seem like for ever...then if you slip off of it...you've turned it off. I purchased the pedal, primarily, to put some mids back in my Deluxe Reverb when desired. So, my settings are quite low to begin with. There is so much clean headroom on the amp, the clean boost actually goes far beyond my own needs. In retrospect, I would have preferred the original, or, a simply Boss GE pedal. It's a toss up between which pedal I use less, my compressor or this one. Thanks for the reply. Best of luck with the channel.
Doesn't the original one have a Q knob? I never use the clean boost, so it makes a more sense for me to use the Reloaded. I don't have no use for a clean boost. Any reason for me to get the original? Thanks.
There is no problem here !! What you've forgotten is that the original Koko only had +20dB max clean boost, whereas the Koko reloaded has +26 dB on the clean side. (They stated in the manual that they increased the overall max boost available!) HOWEVER, it seems that the Red Midboost mode doesnt have the extra avaliable boost on tap like the clean side. So that 'drop' in boost you see here is just the output reducing back to +20dB on the red mode. In other words... as long as the Clean boost side is dialed back to around midway or even 2 o clock, you will still get an increase in output and gain when switching to the midboost side. As Rolf says below, testing the pedal at the MAX settings wasn't the right thing to do in this instance as the Green Mode has 6dB more available gain than the Red Mode. Solution?? Keep the Midboost pot turned up a bit more and turn the Clean boost pot down a little. Now you can continue to use it like the original koko pedal!! I have both because I actually like the variety and options (I leave the original koko to the Left 600Hz, and the reloaded in the Centre 2khz)! I actually think (as stated in the manuals) that Suhr slightly changed the Centrre frequency points in the reloaded version. If you look closely, it seems that: Original Koko: L= 1.25 kHz C = 2kHz R = 600 Hz Reloaded: L = 1 kHz C = 1.6kHz R = 500-550 ish Hz The Original seems to have the Centre frequency points voiced a little higher and more cutting overall with a narrower more aggressive Q/bandwidth (perhaps more pissed off sounding, lead/shred usable) yet the Reloaded seems to be a little darker/sweeter and neutral /reserved with a spread out range + slightly less specific wider Q ??
Perhaps the centre frequency change and addition of the slightly misleading Q knob is why most people prefer the sound of the original koko and they are still more pricey than the newer ' upgraded' reloaded pedals ?????
Dr Stav Santis Thank you for your comment, I agree with your point! The main thing I was getting at in the video was just that if you are comparing just the MID mode on both pedals, the original has a higher overall output, which is a shame as I used to occasionally run it with the boost knob set to max! Both pedals are great though, just different strokes.
7thString blimey!! All the way up? When I use the clean boost side I can't have it up more than 9 o clock!! Haha too much gain/bass!! But I'm using it in an already dirty amp ...
Thanks for this demo! Reading the manual left me curious about which frequencies the Koko Boost centres the mids around. Your demonstration with a spectrum analyzer is exactly what I was looking for :)
fantastic! thanks so much for showing the 3 frequencies of mid-boost!
This was a brilliantly helpful video!
Is there a tonal difference between both "mid boosters"? I have the reloaded and I have always noticed a drop in output when engaging the mid boost and also a bit of a drop in lows and highs. I still like the pedal but always wondered if I would like the original better...
There could be a slight tonal difference, but nothing worth swapping over. The main difference is just that the clean boost side of the reloaded is your 'lead' / 'louder' side, whereas its the other way around with the original version. So it all comes down to whether you prefer a mid-heavy lead tone a more full range lead tone. That being said, compared to many boost pedals, the reloaded still has a lot of output in both modes, and can be set up to be louder in mid mode, its just that it doesn't go as loud in mid mode as version 1, although I did see a few people complaining about too much output with version 1 anyway, so maybe this is why they designed the new one this way.
I now know I like the original over the reloaded...
DanielG0m3z
Which one is better?
I really don’t see what’s wrong here. The test is done with maximum settings. But the left knob sets the amount of boost on the “clean” section, the right knob sets the amount of clean boost on the “mid” section. They’re independantly from each other. So you can set for example the “clean” boost (left) at 12 O’clock and the “mid” boost (right) at 3 O’clock which gives you 2 seperate clean boosts with the “mid” boost as the loudest. Next to that you can push the mids of the “mid” boost using the middle knob and the toggle switch. Perhaps you can not have a boost difference in the maximum setting as the “clean” and “mid” boost have the same amount of maximum boost. But then, do you really need to use this pedal at a maximum setting? Having written this, it is still a great test you did, thanks.
Rolf Hartogs you make a very good point! There are few genres where either version of koko would sound its subjective 'best' when maxed out. Thank you for pointing that out!
Rolf Hartogs I was thinking that having used both, that I would never used either of these maxed out. However having the added level control on the mid boost side is a great addition to this pedal. What I would love to see is more detail on the mid boost side comparing the voicing options, since Suhr has stated they revoiced the reloaded version. Thank you for doing this video as it has helped me understand what the Q pot is doing.
Thanks for the great video and explanation. I'm after a (or two) boost pedals to boost my stereo live setup. I definitely need a good EQ section with strong mids and possibly different areas of the mids (low/mid/high). I narrowed it down to the Friedman Buxom Boost which has 3 band EQ (bass and mid are only additive and the treble is both cut and add) plus it has a handy tight knob which works great. But I'm also interested in the Koko Boost as it seems it sounds wonderful (texture wise).
What are the good built (I'm a live player need durable stuff, especially appreciate the dust resistant ones! if there is such a thing) units with good EQ sections boost pedals out there to tailor the sound in your opinion? (I'm not after OD/Dist units btw). Cheers,
EDIT: the amps are Friedman Small Box, Boogie Lone Star for this setup.
Suhr are hard to beat for rugged build quality. The enclosures and switches are rock solid and some of the best in the business. You really can't go wrong with either version of the koko boost. V1 is great for simplicity. I also like the BOSS GE-7 and SD-1.
Thanks for the response mate. Is there any difference between the Boss SD-1w Wazacraft and just the standard SD-1 sound-wise?
I tried the waza at a shop for quite a while - really wanted to like it; but the 'custom' mode really doesn't bring much extra to the table IMHO. Some standard SD-1's have bypass bleed where the effected sound comes through very slightly whilst the pedal is in bypass (my current one does not seem to do this.) Standard mode in SD-1w sounds the same which is all I use it for anyway, level max, treble noon, gain close to zero.
konnektlive
Which version is better?
I m a little bit confused... How should i use it in order to have a boost on the crunch and a little bit of more mids with a slightly volume up for solos? Thanks
That was a fantastic video. I have the "Reloaded." The sad part is, you cannot get a clear answer from Suhr regarding the manual. Your demonstration clarifies a lot. Though I like the pedal, the instructions and subsequent interface is a big step backward as compared to the original. From the graph, it looks like the original boosted the mid signal from where you set the clean boost. On the Reloaded, it looks like it dropped the bass and high frequencies instead. Have you tried the same test with the Reloaded, kicking the mid-boost in while the clean boost was at the 12 o'clock position rather than at full boost? Wondering if there was simply nothing left to boost, so the pedal dropped the other ends of the tone instead? Also, with the clean and mid-boost all the way up, the toggle switch had no effect at all- which might support the idea that the pedal was simply maxed out.PIA [I know], but could you try the same with the clean at the half-way mark?Thanks for a great vid. Subbed.
Thanks for your comment and watching. 100% agree regarding the somewhat misleading instructions for the reloaded; still a great pedal but I bought it expecting it to operate as the manual implies, and upon finding out it didn't, failing to get a clear answer from Suhr (I still have the utmost respect for the company and the equipment they make) led me to re-buy v1 and make the video.
Regarding the specifics of your comment, yes, the original boosts the mids on top of the full frequency boost from the clean boost side (left knob + footswitch). Whilst it appears as though the reloaded cuts highs and lows when switching to mid boost mode, what is actually happening is that the amount of available clean boost drops significantly compared to the 36dB pure clean boost side - and the major deal breaker is that mid boost mode on the reloaded has less available boost than the original. If it had the same amount of volume, I could live with it because you could simply set the clean side lower so that when you switch to mid mode everything gets louder just like v1. To be completely clear, the left knob on the reloaded has zero effect in mid mode. The right knob brings up the level across all frequencies in mid mode, and the middle knob adds mids.
I feel like what Suhr failed to do with this pedal is simply market it and describe it for what it is and how it is best used. It has the obvious size advantage over the v1, along with the extra clean boost level - so the approach is different to v1 - with the reloaded; if you wanted to really utilise the pedal to its full potential, you would use mid mode to get a very fat, cutting clean tone and then use the clean boost mode to get a really saggy, almost fuzzy lead tone with the amount of boost available. So you are more likely to go from mid mode to clean mode when you want 'more,' which is the opposite to version 1.
Hope that makes sense!
Yes. Perfect sense. We're in accord with the Suhr company. I didn't get a very good answer when I contacted them, albeit Tristan was very nice on the phone. I ended up order a set of Thornbuckers for my LesPaul too. Unfortunately, that was another disaster. The pickups took more than 8 weeks to be delivered to the retail store from which I ordered [Music Zoo]. They shipped the wrong pickups, then the correct pickups sat in the shipping department for a week [with no explanation]. But, the pickups are outstanding.
I'm with you on the versatility front as well. Seems you really have to decide if you want a boost or midboost in your rig. I find [my opinion only] it takes too long to move from boost to mid. Though the delay may seem relatively short, in reality it can seem like for ever...then if you slip off of it...you've turned it off.
I purchased the pedal, primarily, to put some mids back in my Deluxe Reverb when desired. So, my settings are quite low to begin with. There is so much clean headroom on the amp, the clean boost actually goes far beyond my own needs. In retrospect, I would have preferred the original, or, a simply Boss GE pedal. It's a toss up between which pedal I use less, my compressor or this one.
Thanks for the reply. Best of luck with the channel.
Doesn't the original one have a Q knob?
I never use the clean boost, so it makes a more sense for me to use the Reloaded. I don't have no use for a clean boost. Any reason for me to get the original? Thanks.
Nope, I'd go with the reloaded in that case!
why do all australian guys sound the same
haha 🙃
Sorry I lost you inbetween like you don't get to the point
Ok, maybe lay off the tiktok until your attention span comes back 👍
@PedalScience 😂😂😂👍👍👍
There is no problem here !!
What you've forgotten is that the original Koko only had +20dB max clean boost, whereas the Koko reloaded has +26 dB on the clean side. (They stated in the manual that they increased the overall max boost available!) HOWEVER, it seems that the Red Midboost mode doesnt have the extra avaliable boost on tap like the clean side. So that 'drop' in boost you see here is just the output reducing back to +20dB on the red mode. In other words... as long as the Clean boost side is dialed back to around midway or even 2 o clock, you will still get an increase in output and gain when switching to the midboost side.
As Rolf says below, testing the pedal at the MAX settings wasn't the right thing to do in this instance as the Green Mode has 6dB more available gain than the Red Mode.
Solution?? Keep the Midboost pot turned up a bit more and turn the Clean boost pot down a little. Now you can continue to use it like the original koko pedal!! I have both because I actually like the variety and options (I leave the original koko to the Left 600Hz, and the reloaded in the Centre 2khz)!
I actually think (as stated in the manuals) that Suhr slightly changed the Centrre frequency points in the reloaded version. If you look closely, it seems that:
Original Koko: L= 1.25 kHz C = 2kHz R = 600 Hz
Reloaded: L = 1 kHz C = 1.6kHz R = 500-550 ish Hz
The Original seems to have the Centre frequency points voiced a little higher and more cutting overall with a narrower more aggressive Q/bandwidth (perhaps more pissed off sounding, lead/shred usable) yet the Reloaded seems to be a little darker/sweeter and neutral /reserved with a spread out range + slightly less specific wider Q ??
Perhaps the centre frequency change and addition of the slightly misleading Q knob is why most people prefer the sound of the original koko and they are still more pricey than the newer ' upgraded' reloaded pedals ?????
Dr Stav Santis Thank you for your comment, I agree with your point! The main thing I was getting at in the video was just that if you are comparing just the MID mode on both pedals, the original has a higher overall output, which is a shame as I used to occasionally run it with the boost knob set to max! Both pedals are great though, just different strokes.
7thString blimey!! All the way up? When I use the clean boost side I can't have it up more than 9 o clock!! Haha too much gain/bass!! But I'm using it in an already dirty amp ...
fair enough! I used it into a tweed bassman mostly, with the amp set quite clean - hence the different settings I guess!