Noise gate - which one??

moz91

Looking for a noise gate to sit at the end of the fx loop of a high gain amp.
Only needs be subtle to get rid of some background noise on high gain channel and when there's a drive pedal kicked in. Don't want something really hard that's going to suck tone

Options seem to be
ISP Decimator
MXR Smartgate
TC Electronic Sentry
Boss NF1 (the old jap ones - see plenty on eBay)

Any opinions and experiences?
I'm thinking MXR or TC

Thanks in advance!

mike_l

My own choice is the MXR Smartgate. 

I used to used a Boss, but the MXR has a smaller footprint, and is more flexible.

The Boss can (IIRC) do to the front of the amp, and in the FX loop at the same time.

EDIT - The Boss I'm thinking of is the NS-1.

DesVegas

MXR for me too. The hiss button is very useful

timmysoft

I've always been a big fan of the boss ns2, you'll see them on a lot of pro pedal boards for a reason.

MikkiMcMurderer

I had the ns2 on my board and thought it was working fine and left it to it's thing. But over the years I was always trying to figure out where a tone suck was coming from thinking it must be a pedal or cable or something. I randomly decided to change to the isp decimator g string and I couldn't believe it but all the tone loss I'd been hunting for disappeared! How a simple gate could mess with the tone I do not know but apparently it's a well known thing with ns2 if you YouTube it. Some people like the tone change or don't care but to my ears it was not good and not what I'd expect a utility pedal to do!

MikkiMcMurderer

moz91

Thanks, that's what put me off the boss in the first place!
MXR looks like a good shout. Might be time to hit the classifieds

PolarityMan

ISP decimator is the daddy.

xwolf5150

I've got a TC electronic Sentry for sale if you're interested. Like new £60 inc postage ?