Empress Effects Buffer+ Walkthrough | THE GREAT CANADIAN PEDALBOARD

[@franciscofronza6838]

Have you tried the Mesa higwire buffer ? I am between the empress and the Mesa! thanks

[@woodsnstrings]

I haven't tried it, so I don't want to give an uneducated opinion of it. From the docs, it looks like the Mesa does a lot of the same stuff: loop buffer, boost, tuner out. What I don't see, that you get on the Empress, is the input load control, the 3-way switchable input levels, and the noise filtering. I wouldn't hazard a guess at how the boost sounds, but it also mutes when you hold the switch down. Price-wise in Canada the High-Wire costs about $100 more retail.

[@gabrieladdenbrooke1964]

Very confused on the routing here. Got one but idk how to connect properly. Few things: when I connect my tuner to it, does the tuner need its own power supply and does it need to connect out to another pedal? Second if I have an amp profiler such as the simplified mk2 and am currently using its effects loop, how do I connect this buffer in the chain??

[@woodsnstrings]

On this buffer, there is a line out direct to the tuner. This way, you can leave the tuner on all the time, but of course it needs its own power supply (pedals don't power each other via audio cables). The tuner pedal does NOT need to be connected to another pedal at this point. Just go from the TUNER OUT on the Buffer+ to the IN jack on your tuner. If you want to silence the chain, step on the Buffer+ switch and hold until the LED is red...that's a kill. I've tried it two ways. The simple way is to run it in-line...so, plug your guitar into the "GUITAR IN" jack, and run the line out from the "AMP OUT" to the rest of your chain. If you want to also buffer the loop on your amp or modeler, run your FX Send to the LOOP IN, and the LOOP OUT to the FX Return.

[@gabrieladdenbrooke1964]

Thank you for your reply. So my goal is to be able to buffer the effects loop on the simplifier. I run my dirt and chorus into the input of it and then the rest in the loop. Can you please help me understand the routing on this part?

[@martindelarosa5615]

Its buffer and booster?

[@woodsnstrings]

Yes. Empress makes a simple Buffer as well, but this one is the Buffer+ (plus). As you can see in the video, it's a 10dB boost, and also includes a three-way input volume, noise filter, and an input load control on the side, so it offers a few extra features you don't get on a simple buffer. And I will tell you right now that having this as a clean boost at the very front of my signal chain produces a very impressive output shift when it hits the front of the overdrive.

[@martindelarosa5615]

Thank you very much

[@user-md8yn6sn5c]

Hi! I'm considering buy this thing. 1. Do you approve its noise filter? I don't have a noise filter (and I'm pretty sure I won't). 2. What your opinion about boost there?

[@woodsnstrings]

It's a great buy, and an excellent buffer. To answer your questions: 1. The noise filter is subtle...it's not a full-on controllable noise gate with all of the features you might expect from a more advanced gate, but has a basic "more, some, less" toggle to tame some of the hiss. If you're not into noise gates at all, this won't significantly impact your high-gain noise floor. 2. The boost is quite nice. For cleaner and mid-gain chains it's a good option, because it puts a clean signal boost at the front of your path to push your overdrives a little harder. It's a very clean boost, not designed to add any gain on its own (the higher signal will create more "gain" by forcing more breakup). Boost can be cancelled by adjusting the output level on your overdrive, but that will only cancel the volume boost, not the amount of signal going into the front of the gain stack. If you want a boost to pump your solos, you'd be better looking for a clean volume boost to go after your distortion chain. The buffer belongs at the start.

[@user-md8yn6sn5c]

@@woodsnstrings thanks for the detailed answer!

[@14lamnc1]

Would this work as the LAST pedal in my effects loop before the return as a clean volume boost? Would putting it anywhere else be a better option? Thanks

[@woodsnstrings]

Well, it COULD work, but the usual rule of thumb for a buffer is to put it at the front of your chain. On the other hand, I've seen a three-buffer rig on long cable runs that put one at the front, one at the end before the amp, and one in the loop right before the return. Having said that, if your primary use for this one is as a boost, you could reasonably put it wherever you would normally put a boost, and still get a lot of the buffer value out of it. But if you're ONLY using it in the FX loop you're not going to get the full buffering power out of it, as that's going to come from placing it in the main cable run. They do recommend using it as described. Your next best spot would be after your gain pedals in the front-end chain. If you want a boost in the loop, you'd be better off with a dedicated clean boost. But as always, it's OK to just try stuff.

[@14lamnc1]

@@woodsnstrings thanks for the reply, since I want a booster to use in the FX loop for a pure clean volume boost, I might as well just buy a dedicated boost like the Spark Mini for example. I’m still curious on how it would sound using the Empress in the FX loop though.

[@woodsnstrings]

@@14lamnc1 If you want to go budget, Flamma has a nice little clean boost that actually also has a gain control if you want that's about $40 CAD (amzn.to/3KLBL62). MayFly's Bytown Boost is loud as hell too: www.mayflyaudio.com/BytownBoost/ Because the Buffer+ has a loop section in it, it can act as a buffer in your loop while also adding some noise reduction to that side of the chain.

[@14lamnc1]

@@woodsnstrings yeah I saw the MayFly Bytown Boost from your channel as well, it’s cool seeing a Canadian effects company with good products.

[@woodsnstrings]

@@14lamnc1 I'm just waiting on a Bennett Custom Audio JFET Boost to test. I'll let you know how that one plays too.

[@taxo]

Question, and sorry for my ignorance: can this buffer help in case I wanted to put pedals in an higain amp loaded with passive/interrupted loop? Or is the D-lator and everything similar another kind of device, and required for such thing?

[@woodsnstrings]

I'm not 100% clear on what you're asking or what your path looks like, but in general we like to put a buffer at the front of the signal path between the guitar and the amp. Ideally another buffer would go at the end of your pedalboard before the amp, but you may have buffered pedals in that line anyway so it wouldn't be strictly necessary. Many builders recommend using another buffer in your FX loop, right before the FX return, if you're using pedals in that loop. This one has an extra buffer path built in just for the loop, so you can run from the FX Send > Pedals in the Loop > Buffer+ Loop In > Buffer+ Loop Out > FX Return. At least that's how I do it.