KMA Machines Revolutionises the Noise Reduction format with its new Pylon Advanced Transformer Boost Noise Gate

Enrico Preuß’ latest pedal takes the humble utilitarian Noise Gate into new territory with additive balancing functions alongside the core noise reduction circuit. This means that contrary to most noise gates - the Pylon can add to the signal strength as well as take away - so balancing and overcoming any loss, or even improving the integrity and nature of the signal. It does this courtesy of an audiophile quality Integrated Audio Transformer.

At its core the pedal is what I tend to call a Parallel Processing Gate - of a type first introduced by the Boss NS-2 in 1987 - where you place all your noisier pedals - distortions in particular within the FX / Send & Return Loop - while the core signal from the guitar and noiseless pedals goes direct and unadulterated via the In / Out sockets - or very much a signal pass-through as such.

Controls - Threshold, Cut : High/Soft or Low/Fast, Boost (up to +32dB) : Synced with Gate / Off / Always On, Channel Switcher Polarity : +/-, External Control (Remote) : Trigger / Bypass.

The core Noise Reduction function is CUT - where you can select either High (Soft), or Low (Fast) Mode for the onset of that Gate and as limited by the Threshold control. This is then balanced by up to 30dB of BOOST - where you can add back in any lost signal strength or else boost the actual signal - via 3 options : Sync (with Noise Gate onset), Always Off, and Always On.

The Pylon has two further smart switches above the Channel and External Control sockets on the left hand side of the pedal. The Channel Switcher socket allows you to simultaneously select the appropriate Amp Channel when applying / switching on the Pylon. The Pylon essentially connects with and takes over your amp switching duties - where the switch above the socket allows you to select the appropriate Polarity for the switcher concerned - up for ’+’ and down for ’-’.

While the External Control socket has two Modes of connectivity - so you can either use that socket as a sort of side-chain Trigger, or else have a separate Bypass footswitch assigned. You can essentially have two remote switches connected to the Pylon - which can serve a variety of purposes as you see fit.

So this is very much a new innovation for noise gates - which adds a great deal of creativity to a somewhat perfunctory utility. You have all kinds of smart options here which allow you to control and balance your noise reduction function like no other pedal.

Now you just need to ask yourself are you clever enough to make proper use of the Pylon and all its added features? There’s quite a lot of decent competition in that Parallel Processing area at the moment - obviously the original Boss NS-2, EHX Silencer, ISP Decimator II G String, MXR Noise Clamp, new REVV G8, Stone Deaf Noise Reaper and TC Electronic Sentry. While the Pylon has the broadest feature set yet and is the only one with a Balancing Audio Transformer onboard!

I myself need to ponder hard as to whether this should replace my trusty Modded NS-2 - where I have an EQ-200 following that for signal balancing duties. The pedal retails for a very reasonable €189 and should be hitting dealers pretty soon. You can of course get one now direct from the KMA Machines Webstore.