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I just finished building the newly released Envelope Filter w/Fix'd Wah and it sounds killer. All controls and LED working fine, very versatile pedal. The problem is when bypassed, it is seriously sucking tone from my signal line to the point where my nice tight overdrive sound is more like a muddy fuzz. taking the pedal out of the chain takes away the muddiness. Anyone else notice this? I have checked and double checked my wiring, soldering and component placement, so now I am thinking that there may be something up with my footswitch or a problem with the circuit.

Any ideas?

Well I didn't see any cold joints but I redid the switch and wiring just to be sure, no change still sucking tone badly, not the patch cables either, just replaced the pedal in the chain and the problem went away. My next attempt will be to replace the switch.

Pics would be helpful. Right now, we can only see what you tell us.

If the soldering is all good I don't see how the switch could possibly be the culprit unless you've somehow wired it wrong.

Well, I redid the wiring and the switch to no effect, going to take some pics and post cause I am stumped

Here are some pics. Please be nice the work looked way nicer before I replaced the wiring and switch trying to figure out what the issue is.

What makes cold solder joints so tricky is that sometimes its hard to tell by just looking at it if its a "cold" joint or not...Sorry to just chime on this a bit late, but I have just been busy with work, school, and unexpected family business over the past few weeks...And I am actually still out of town and away from my envelope filter, so I cannot comment any further until I get back in town and have a chance to look mine over...

wow I actually became a Dad while waiting for help

Strange. I don't seem to be having this issue with my build of the newest envelope filter kit.

Plus if it was an issue due to the circuit design, I would think more people would be having the same issue and mentioning it on the forum...

Have you tried the pedal by itself, with no other pedals in order to be certain it is the filter acting up? Fresh battery? (If using batteries)

If you have touched up all solder joints, re-wired, and double checked component placement (including the IC sockets), perhaps check out these other possibilities:

Are you certain that nothing is touching the sides or the bottom of the PCB? In one of the photos, it looks like the PCB may be in contact with the side of the enclosure, but it may just be the angle of the camera or something...Also make sure the bottom of the pots are not touching the bottom of the PCB.

In addition to making sure the input and output jacks are not touching the sides of the enclosure, make sure they also do not touch the enclosure bottom when screwed on.

Other than that, at the moment, off the top of my head, I am not sure what the root of the issue may be at this point...

Ok I just tried something new, plugged in line and power connected but not engaged it is sucking tone, but if I unplug the power to it the tone sucking leaves

If you have a DMM use it to make sure you have no continuity between lugs 4&5 of the stomp switch when in bypass mode. I'm thinking that maybe the lugs aren't completely breaking contact with each other in bypass mode. This would mean that the circuit's input is loading down the signal from your guitar causing the tone suck you're experiencing. This is just a guess on my part because I can't think of anything else that could possibly cause what you've described.

tested lugs 4 & 5 with DDM no continuity, I am stumped, I have checked and re checked, rewired, replaced switch, reflowed joints, all to no help.

Are you sure the power adapter is working right? I am totally confused by your issue...

Because if you have re-wired, re-soldered, and re-checked everything in the pedal, and its correct, then what else in the pedal could cause it to not work properly if everything has been changed out done, and then re-done, correctly? If it is a major issue with the circuit, the kit, or assembly instructions, I am surprised no one else has reported this issue...

I just built one with the same problem as the O.P.
I've got 100k from input/output to ground when in bypass. Do we know if this build has been verified?
B.

Error or defect on the PCB? Perhaps a cross connection between the incoming signal trace that connects the input jack to the 4-eyelet, to some point in the effect circuit? This might explain why the tone-sucking is only happening when the circuit is energized.

Brian, do you by any chance have a photo of the back of the new filter PCB? The "back of the PCB" diagram on page 16 of the filter instructions is NOT the filter PCB--it's the Phase Royal. I'd like to look at how the traces are run....

EDIT: Morgan has a good looking theory on what's going on, but we've called in the "Big Guy" for confirmation....

No I don't, but I can snap one if need be. I was checking that out and thought something looked a little suspect but I didn't go any further, opting to check out the forum first.
Thanks DVM.
B.

If it is indeed a PCB design defect and is present in every EF kit sold thusfar, I suspect a lot of builders will never encounter the issue because they run the pedal behind another pedal with an input buffer. This is exactly my own circumstance--I've had the new EF in my pedal chain since it came out, and have never noticed any tone suckage when in bypass mode. But I run it in the noise reduction loop of my Boss NS-2 Noise Suppressor, so it's always behind the NS-2's input buffer. That buffer keeps the input impedance high and prevents the EF from doing it's little tonal vampire act....

To confirm this tone-sucking behavior, I rigged up the following very simple signal chain:

Fender Strat (bridge pickup) --> A/B Looper Switch (Envelope Filter in A loop) -->Blues Junior amp

First I ran the guitar straight through the looper switch into the amp--tons of sparkly treble, as expected. Next, with the EF in bypass, I switched the A loop into the signal path--MONSTER TONE SUCKAGE, huge treble loss. So, as I suspected, my own EF always had this same issue, but it was just masked by running behind another pedal which was not true bypass and had an input buffer. To verify that, I then put a Boss BD-2 Blues Driver (buffered, non-TB) in the A loop in front of the EF. Suckage gone, treble restored.

I also tried the pedal with the power plugged in and disconnected. While there was somewhat less treble loss with it unplugged, it was still sucking major league tone. So I didn't see the big difference between powered/unpowered that AbeBiro reported above.

The following fix was suggested by "Mr. BYOC", Keith Vonderhulls, and my understanding is that the EF instructions are currently being updated to include it. I have just installed this fix on my own EF and have confirmed it to be 100% effective in eliminating the "tone sucking" problem:



DIRECTIONS:

1) Cut the trace on the back of the PCB where shown in YELLOW
2) Solder in a jumper wire (shown in fuchsia) between the two indicated eyelets on the PCB just above the footswitch. These are labeled "7" and "8" on the silkscreened side of the board.

That's all there is to it--carry out these two steps and enjoy your Envelope Filter sans tone suckage!

Cause of the problem: Through a design error in the layout of the traces on the PCB, the output side of the effect circuit was ALWAYS connected to the pedal output, regardless of the footswitch setting. In bypass mode, this permanent connection to the output side of the effect "loaded" the guitar signal and disproportionately affected the treble frequencies, giving that characteristic dull, lifeless sound.

Thanks so much I thought I was going insane, it feels good to be vindicated

Cheers!

Thanks again to Moderator Matt for posting this quick fix.
As I said to duhvoodooman in a PM, this circuit is well worth the minor set back.
B.

Updated instructions for the envelope filter, including directions for the "tone suck fix", are now available on the BYOC product page: http://buildyourownclone.com/filterinstructions.pdf

I thought you were insane, but I'm glad it has gotten figured out...