• Best Option Available as of 2010

  
  As reviewed by Rob on 9/21/2010

  I've been fighting the "Battle of Bull-Hum", for quite some time. My resume includes reading every product's review on this website, YouTube demos & above all buying/trying every single noise reduction product Guitar Center offers. In short, this is the best one by far. Despite slight tone coloration (most noticeable when strumming muted strings with distortion) that sounds a little Styrofoam-like (better trade off compared to loud buzzing hum). I'm willing to accept that knowing what every other product sounds like. Having the ability to stomp on/off through performances can overcome any unnatural sounding parts of songs. Feel free to read on for competitive item's drawbacks that make the Hum Debugger your best choice: I first had high hopes for ISP's Sonic Decimator G-String: Did one of the best jobs removing noise but: 1. long sustained notes DO NOT decay naturally and end abruptly. Try sustaining a high pitch note for over a measure and you'll be disappointed. Great pedal for shredders perhaps, but not those that like to play with a lot of space. 2. Noise comes back when you play your notes and disappears only when guitar isn't played. If you play soft and with low dynamics you are in trouble, as noise overpowers your desired notes! 3. I wasn't happy how unnaturally the noise came in and out (It's almost better to always have noise, cause your ear gets used to it) and that by itself becomes equally noticeable as unnatural. I then tried MXR's Smart Gate, Ebtech HE-2-XLR Hum Eliminator with XLR, Ebtech's HUM X, ROLLS HE18 BUZZ OFF HUM ELIMINATOR ,Nady HE-1 Hum Eliminator,ART Dual Transformer/Isolator Hum Eliminator ,ART CleanBox II Passive Hum Eliminator & Ebtech 2-Channel Hum Eliminator. All my experiences with these- didn't remove hum/noise and took off from original signal. I gave the Hum Debugger 4 stars (would of given 4.5 if an option) cause although not perfect, it is simply the best choice out there and will definitely not affect long sustained notes, no noticeable in/out of noise, minimal tone coloration, ease of use. The next generation version of this unit should be a little smaller (think Keeley 4knob compressor size) and perhaps offer to add back the frequencies taken away with the hum (in a post-processed stage that wouldn't reintroduce hum). If they could do that, it would dominate the market. Until then, this unit easily wears the crown.

  19 of 19 people found this review helpful.
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• It's not transparent, but it works

  
  As reviewed by Eddie on 5/24/2007

  When I first plugged it in I was amazed. I have an old house with power lines going right by my music room. I switched it on and the hum was gone. It sounded good too. I didn't notice how it changed the sound until I started doing some A/B tests. It's hard to describe how it affects the sound, but it gives a slight reverb or doubling effect to your sound. If you are using a lot of other effects and distortion, it will probably go unnoticed, especially when playing chords. The change in tone is most noticeable when doing clean or simi-clean solos, and especially on the higher notes. Your notes kind of loose a bit of definition (if that makes sense) like you might get with a chorus or an extremely short delay.

  13 of 13 people found this review helpful.
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• Excellent! It REALLY Works!

  
  As reviewed by Steve Hacker on 5/27/2010

  The Electro-Harmonix Hum Debugger REALLY DOES work! I LOVE mine! I've had some wicked-bad 60Hz hum problems, as well as other general noise issues to deal with recently and it REALLY DOES work! I don't know if it's a 180-Degrees-Out-Of-Phase noise canceling device, for example, like some noise canceling headphones are (applying an "anti-signal" to the signal to create zero noise), but it is DEFINITELY NOT a Noise Gate, nor is it a Noise Reducer. It really is a Noise Canceler. Now, it DOES color the tone a bit. To me, it sounds like a slight chorusing effect, but it's not undesirable, as, to me, it seems to add to my tone in an embellishing way, especially when using distortion. I plan to buy a few more of these to have in all my studio rooms :)

  7 of 7 people found this review helpful.
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