Hands On Review: ISP Technologies Decimator II
Get the Decimator II here: https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/DecimatorV2
In this video we’ll be hearing, or not hearing as the case may be, the ISP Technologies Decimator II Noise Reduction pedal. Getting rid of the sounds you don’t want is the primary goal of the Decimator II and it does it simply, effectively, and with style.
The Decimator II has a simple feature set; an on/off footswitch, 1/4″ in and out jacks, and a Threshold control are all you need to control whatever noise issues you may have. The shiny, mirrored silver with black print would look quite striking on a pedalboard. I plugged in quite a few pedals between the guitar and amp and cranked them up to make as much extraneous noise as I could to put the Decimator II through its paces. The hum, buzz, and hiss between notes was totally eliminated and once I found the optimal Threshold setting, the attack and decay were seamless.
The Decimator II operates much like a noise gate, either shutting off all sound or allowing all sound to be audible, but it’s very sympathetic to your playing dynamics and pick attack, in ways a traditional noise gate is not. Thanks to linearized Time Vector Processing in the Decimator II’s expander tracking, I got smooth decay all the way to the end of the note’s dynamic range. No rippling at the end of the decay or harsh, note cut offs, just clean sustain.
With less extreme noise settings, I could set the Threshold lower and whatever dynamic range I put into the Decimator II was exactly what I got out. Lightly picked, long-sustained notes or lower guitar-volume settings were no problem, the Decimator II performed flawlessly. I was able to play as normal, just with no unwanted noise between notes; my “rests” were actually silent!
The Decimator II also has two 1/8″jacks on the front of the pedal labeled “Link In” and “Link Out.” This is for using more than one Decimator II in your set-up. By linking the pedals together, the attack and release tracking stay consistent and both units would track your dynamics evenly for a cleaner overall performance. A practical use for this would be to have one Decimator II in your pedalboard and one in the effects loop of an amp, if your high-gain amp was especially noisy. This would be perfect for either a modern metal guitarist using high-gain sounds and a lot of staccato stops and starts or a singer/songwriter with lots of dynamic range in their music.
Stage or studio, basically any situation where silence is valued, the Decimator II will do the trick. I really like how this pedal does what it’s supposed to with very little effort, letting you go about the business of making music. Thanks for checking out the video.
— Don Carr
