Karaoke chorus

[Thewintersoldier]

Hi kids do you like chorus? I do, and here is a cool one. While not an exact clone of the big box ce-1, the karaoke chorus is the reimagined diy version and upon listening to demos, has the core sound minus the pitfalls of the original. I've never played or owned an original ce-1 and I can say that that itch has been scratched and am super happy with it. So what's up with the karaoke Chris? the build doc breaks it down perfectly-

"So what's changed? - The circuit now runs from a standard +9V DC supply, internally boosted to +15V, so no need for expensive power bricks or AC supplies to achieve the originals split +/-14V supply. - A relatively cheap and easily obtained MN3007 is used in place of the original's expensive and hard to come by MN3002, run at twice the clock frequency to achieve the same delay times, this also substantially reduces noise in the circuit by improving the sampling rate. - No noise gate required! Due to the aforementioned noise improvement from doubled clock frequency, the improved S/N ratio of the MN3007 and no longer necessitating an 8dB+ signal recovery as with the MN3002, the noise gate circuit was easily removed, simplifying the circuit while keeping the noise levels as good or better than many other chorus pedals. - The transistor based clock circuit has been replaced with a CMOS based design that works on the same principle but is much simpler, again reducing the circuit complexity while being more efficient at driving the MN3007 BBD. - The input level control is removed and fixed at a suitable level for most pickups while simultaneously, input impedance has been improved, preventing the high roll off the keyboard focused original had when used with guitar, but not so high as to become obnoxiously bright.

What's the same? - The LFO design, apart from a minor tweak to accommodate the new supply voltage & clock is essentially unchanged, providing the originals triangle & sine wave LFO shapes. - The audio filtering remains the same as the original, with a few minor additions to help simulate the original's overall sound. - The same lush chorus & vibrato sounds. What's new? - The depth control now acts as a master depth, allowing you to use it in both chorus & vibrato mode (as opposed to the original only employing it in vibrato mode). - A dry lift vibrato mode. The original vibrato mode simply switched to a faster sine wave LFO circuit, this option is retained and an additional 3rd mode offering true pitch vibrato is now included via the toggle. - Buffered output, more suitable for a modern pedal board."

How does it sound? Compared the the CE-2 this is deeper sounding, more watery with more movement. The whole speed range is shifted a little higher, and is more swirly sounding, in a good way with a little more brightness to my ears. I like that I'm not fighting the preamp in the original as it seems to introduce noise and distortion no matter what you do. If you really wanted to have that particular sound @PedalPCB offers a ce-1 preamp board. Overall It's a nice compliment to the more pedestrian ce-2 sound. setup was very simple, bias the mn3007 for least distortion and adjust volume to taste.

I went with a matte dark grey enclosure with UV print. The color scheme is based on the original ce-1 colors with the Shang-Chi and the legend of the ten rings logo. Why Shang-Chi on a chorus pedal named karaoke? Some of the most awesome drunken karaoke scenes ever, that's why. So If you are looking for yet another cool chorus then here is another one to add to the pile of boards.

[jimilee]

Nice review and demo. I'm digging the graphics.


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[Bio77]

Oh man, that's freak'n sweet    The write up is giving me the FOMO, big time.   I'm going to get to this one someday.

I have a voodoo lab analog chorus, and I'm wondering if they were excommunicated from any clubs for saying it was a CE-1 clone 

[Thewintersoldier]

Oh man, that's freak'n sweet    The write up is giving me the FOMO, big time.   I'm going to get to this one someday.

I have a voodoo lab analog chorus, and I'm wondering if they were excommunicated from any clubs for saying it was a CE-1 clone 

lol is the voodoo lab noisy? I read a lot of reports of noise. I think it's a really cool pedal and worth building. I wish finding a better quality type 1 on/on/on switch was easier because they only one I found was the tayda one and it feels kind of sub par. the one from LMS is the same switch as the tayda one fwiw.

[thesmokingman]

the karaoke was one of the highlights of the last year for me ... well worth building.

[Thewintersoldier]

the karaoke was one of the highlights of the last year for me ... well worth building.

It was one of this things that really surprised me. Ive never seen a real CE-1 in person but always wanted one because Dean Deleo used one. Highly recommend this one, Keefe and Scruffie did a hell of a job on it.

[Bio77]

lol is the voodoo lab noisy? I read a lot of reports of noise. I think it's a really cool pedal and worth building. I wish finding a better quality type 1 on/on/on switch was easier because they only one I found was the tayda one and it feels kind of sub par. the one from LMS is the same switch as the tayda one fwiw.

I never noticed noise from it.  It sounded sweet playing alone but was completely lost in a band mix.  My type of music uses chorus alone and that peel just didn't cut through. 

I've been using the Tayda switches for awhile and haven't had any problems.  If you are worried about it get the Taiway ones from LMS.  I used to use those exclusively, but Tayda has a lot of cool options, like the flat lever, that seduced me 

[Thewintersoldier]

lol is the voodoo lab noisy? I read a lot of reports of noise. I think it's a really cool pedal and worth building. I wish finding a better quality type 1 on/on/on switch was easier because they only one I found was the tayda one and it feels kind of sub par. the one from LMS is the same switch as the tayda one fwiw.

I never noticed noise from it.  It sounded sweet playing alone but was completely lost in a band mix.  My type of music uses chorus alone and that peel just didn't cut through. 

I've been using the Tayda switches for awhile and haven't had any problems.  If you are worried about it get the Taiway ones from LMS.  I used to use those exclusively, but Tayda has a lot of cool options, like the flat lever, that seduced me 

I usually use the tayda premium switches also, but the type 1 on/on/on at lms is the same as the tayda one and it doesn't feel as nice. Type 2 switches are easy to find. Either way you should cure the fomo and build it!

[Bio77]

It's on my radar 

[Thewintersoldier]

It's on my radar 

This is my kind of chorus tone. Here is a super quick and dirty comparison of the karaoke and a CE-2

[jimilee]

Wow, there's quite a difference. I'm digging the Karaoke.

[Paradox916]

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[Bret608]

Thanks for the comparison vid! I would be curious to know what the clock frequency is like on the Karaoke. I hear a bit of flange-i-ness which I like a lot, so I wonder if it's a slightly higher frequency like the CS-9. I'll be finishing up one of Jon's boards for that soon, so I got curious and measured the clock on my Pork Barrel just to gain more understanding of how this works. Looks like the CE-2 comes out to 108 kHz compared to the 80 kHz cited in the CS-9 manual. The Flintlock (A/DA) sounds most chorus-like with the manual knob counter-clockwise, which is 69.6 kHz if you set it up per the instructions. Sorry for the geekery!

[jwin615]

lol is the voodoo lab noisy? I read a lot of reports of noise. I think it's a really cool pedal and worth building. I wish finding a better quality type 1 on/on/on switch was easier because they only one I found was the tayda one and it feels kind of sub par. the one from LMS is the same switch as the tayda one fwiw.

I never noticed noise from it.  It sounded sweet playing alone but was completely lost in a band mix.  My type of music uses chorus alone and that peel just didn't cut through. 

I've been using the Tayda switches for awhile and haven't had any problems.  If you are worried about it get the Taiway ones from LMS.  I used to use those exclusively, but Tayda has a lot of cool options, like the flat lever, that seduced me 

I usually use the tayda premium switches also, but the type 1 on/on/on at lms is the same as the tayda one and it doesn't feel as nice. Type 2 switches are easy to find. Either way you should cure the fomo and build it!

First, that is an awesome sounding chorus. The low mids have some much clarity, very unique.
On switches, NKK makes great stuff, but at a price. You're looking at ~$4 ea minimum. I bought one each of a single and double pole last year out of curiosity and they did have a different feel to them than the tayda/dailywells I had. Hard to put to words though. Felt like there was more surface area it was engaging with internally, in a good/solid way.
I e been listing over the black ones like M2024BB1AW01 but can't bring myself to drop $10-12 on a single pole switch. Maybe for a build full of unobtanium that will one day be passed down to my great grandchildren...
I do see NKK used commonly in a lot of the medical equipment I work on as well. Generally them and alps though I think alps got out of the switch game long ago.

[gordo]

That video totally nails it.  When I did my little audio clip it hadn't occurred to me that when you hear them side by side you get a feel for how different the CE-1 is/was.  The CE-1 lived in a tighter, almost flangey realm (check out the band Max Webster's tune Waterline for a good recorded version) where as the CE-2 was thicker and wider, if that makes sense.  Well done Chris!