KMA Machines PYLON - ATB (Advanced, Transformer, Boost) Noise Gate

Perfect your Rig with Silence and Control

https://kmamachines.com/pylon

“Deep within the solitude of the temple, the Sau’s of the Per-Ankh assembled in silence. Their conclusion was self-evident. Only those pure of tone could be received in the temple and find sonic peace. From the centre of their silent circle, the Orb swelled and raised above the Pylons. Erupting in a rain of light and spewing forth daggers of lightning, their new God subdued and separated the chaotic ocean of noise from the perfect breeze of stillness. Peace reigned once more, the hordes of cacophony overcome.”

When you add drive, dirt or other sound manipulation devices to your signal, the trade-off is always noise. So, many players turn to noise gates to help tame these unwanted nasties. Unlike many noise gates on the market, the PYLON ATB Noise Gate seeks to not only drive back the hordes of fizz and hum, but also arms and reinforces your tonal attack, shutting down the noise and yet helping you enjoy your rig’s true potential.

This advanced, multi-functional and super-versatile pedal not only features an ultra-fast Gate with a smooth trigger, an integrated Boost section, an External Trigger Input for external bypass switching or Gate-triggering, a relay-based Channel Switcher for your amp but also sports a built-in Audio Transformer to help enhance and balance your rig. Hear and feel the quiet in the eye of the storm!

Main Features
• ATB (Advanced Transformer Boost) Noise Gate Pedal
• Easy-to-use, yet high-performance Blackmer® VCA-based Noise Gate
• Integrated Audio Transformer - adds heft to signal
• Switchable Boost/Attenuation circuit - up to 30 dB of gain on tap
• Variable frequency CUT control - helps to tighten up the low end and remove mud
• EXT Trigger Input - allows Gate and Bypass control from external sources
• Channel Relay Output - switch your amp’s gain channel in sync with the pedal
• FX-Loop, for signal-chain flexibility and 4-cable method connectivity
• Internal Ground Lift Control
• Relay-based soft-switching, with selectable Gate/Boost switching modes
• Made in Berlin, Germany
• Power by opt. 9 V PSU
(9 V DC, centre -, 2.1 mm, 140 mA max. current draw)


When talking about signal gain, we all know drive circuits at full tilt can be noisy malice monsters. To help get a grip on your noise floor, PYLON’s NOISE GATE is based on a high-performance Blackmer® VCA and provides lightning-fast and precise performance. With either softly decaying notes using HIGH mode or a fast-closing response in LOW mode, you’re sure to be able to dial in super tight tones when you need it, but without interfering with your sonic signature. Fast palm-mutes? No problem. Decaying notes? Dead simple to accomplish and just so you know when it is operating, the white status LED will also turn blue as soon as the gate starts to act.

Providing up to 30 dB of gain, the integrated BOOST circuit can really help to fine tune your tone, but it can also serve as an attenuator too. Its CUT control will tighten up your low end to ensure a mid-focussed and cutting lead sound when pushing your amp’s preamp into saturation. Choosing between three different modes for the boost’s on/off state, gives you plenty of options on how you want to use it.

Using transformers in pro-audio gear is nothing new, but while they help to easily match the impedance of low-level and unbalanced signals such as from guitar or bass instruments, PYLON’s audio-grade-transformer also gives additional warmth with associated nice low-frequency harmonics. Your guitars, synths or in fact anything you put through the pedal will never have sounded so solid. The pedal gives more ‘heft’ and enhances the core tone, in a much finer way and without any of the phase issues that can happen when using EQ alone!

With PYLON’s IN/OUT and SEND/RETURN jacks, it’s capable of many different wirings to suit different setups. This includes the classic 4-Cable method that helps to tame those unwanted extraneous noises from your amp’s own drive sounds. You do this either via the amps own FX Loop or by connecting your dirt pedals on your board to the pedal etc. via the SEND/RETURN jacks. Using PYLON this way, the clean signal from your source (guitar/bass/synth etc.) will trigger the gate to kill the hiss and buzz, then once you add your favourite flavours of dirt etc., it will help to keep your initial attack and therefore levels more intact.

Add in a host of other cool features like external control of your rig to switch amp channels, activate the boost and the gate all at the same time, a remote switch for those who want to keep the pedal on top of the amp, plus external control for those creatives out there who really want tight synced gating and you have pretty much the complete package!

So, you thought gates were just utility devices? With PYLON you’ll enhance your whole rig.

Now go let your tone flow through and riff!