Fractal Audio DRIVE models: Esoteric RCB (based on Xotic RC Booster)

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yek

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Esoteric RCB: based on Xotic RC Booster

Xotic is an American company that is known for its quality effects (such as BB preamp, AC Booster, Robotalk) and builds guitars and basses.

The RC Booster (“Real Clean”) is their popular clean boost pedal. It’s known for being very transparent, enhancing the guitar’s and amp’s own tones. There's truth to the company's claim that many owners, including pro players, leave the RC Booster switched on all the time as it makes things sound better, clean as well as dirty tones.

Scott Henderson is the RC Booster’s main endorser and has his own signature editions of the pedal, which led to the RC Booster v2.

Xotic:
“The best characteristic of this pedal of this booster is to have no character at all.”
“The RC Booster offers a super transparent 20db+ clean boost and a +- 15db 2 band active EQ without ever compromising the integrity of the original TONE. It provides a solution to sound degradation, caused by long instrument cables and/or long effect chains between guitar and amp, by strengthening the original signal.”​

Fractal's Audio’s model is based on the original RC Booster and was last updated in Quantum 5.x.

The real pedal has four knobs:
  • Gain: controls the amount of gain (model: Drive control). The pedal's own generated distortion in front of a clean amp is not its strongest quality IMHO. In most demos you'll see Gain at or below noon.
  • Volume: sets the output level (model: Level control). The pedal has lots of output level available, and so does the model. Its not strange to have to set the Level control at a low value for unity gain.
  • Bass and Treble (active EQ): the two active tone controls on the real pedal are handy tools to sculpt the tone, cutting or boosting lows and highs (+/- 15 dB). While the model also provides active Bass and Treble controls, they visually don't exactly behave the same as on the pedal.
Of course, the Drive block allows us to adjust far more things than the modeled pedal: Bias, Slew, Mix, Low Cut and High Cut and other parameters are available to us. But that's beyond the scope of this thread. Those parameters are discussed in the manual and wiki.

Clip Type in the model is set to silicon.

Personal note:
I owned an RC Booster back in my “pedalboard” days. It’s a great tool add “something” to clean tones and to push a dirty amp.​

You can argue about the benefits of a transparent boost such as the RC Booster in Fractal Audio devices, because these devices already offer lots of other level boosting possibilities. Let’s what @austinbuddy (who loves the RC Booster) has to say about it! :)

About CPU usage:
  • Fractal Audio's Drive models take up varying amounts of CPU. The RC Booster requires a moderate amount.
  • When a Drive block is engaged, CPU percentage will rise during playing, because CPU usage is "amplitude dependent".












More Xotic RC Booster videos ...


Link to the list of published threads
 
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YES -- I particularly LOVE the RC Boost for single coils - Strats and Teles or P-90s or lipstick tube pickups.

I usually just leave an RC Boost or Fractal drive block "on" when using them. Not a lot of drive when using Fractal version, less than 2 sometimes to emulate the clean boost of an RC, and volume around 4.5 to 5.5.

One of the secrets of the amazing Doyle Bramhall II is he usually (although not his current "Rich Man" tour) puts an RC boost pedal next to last in his signal chain, right before the wah (which is last!), and shaves just a hair off the top and bottom end using the tone controls, and then has drive and level at about 11 to 11:30 as well...also works good.

When used right, the RC Boost makes your Strat or Tele or Lipstick tube pickups sound like single coil pickups but louder, approaching humbucker signal level (P90s usually have some stronger output and may not need as much help). Whereas a Klon as a boost will add some lower-mid-boost (in a good way!).

I love them both. I use the FET Drive block to emulate a Klon, but am sure Yek will get to that drive block soon!

Love this thread Yek! Cheers to you!
 
Indeed, the RC Booster in particular is a handy and simple EQ-ing tool on a traditional pedalboard.
 
The RC is a great pedal. It also works well in a two drive setup. I'll often use the RC before the Micro, (I like the Micro for adding just a touch of distortion) and the RC thickens it up & adds some richness.
 
This inspired me to try the RC on a Brit 45 patch I have for a single coil sound. With the gain between 2-3 it added some bite and crunch without getting harsh. Thanks Yek!
 
austinbuddy said:
Let me add. Jon Herington of Steely Dan has an interesting use for his RC Boost. He sometimes finds the neck pickup in his Gibson 336 is too bassy for the sound he wants on stage, so he uses an RC Boost to CUT bass -- switches it on when he uses that pick up. Interesting!
Click to expand...

I used to do this as well, using either an RC Booster or a Tim pedal for neck pickup tones specifically. Worked like a charm..
 
How dare anyone speak of the Klon here anymore! lol

But yeah, you're absolutely right. It's so nice to have these many tools handy in the Fractal world.

austinbuddy said:
YES -- I particularly LOVE the RC Boost for single coils - Strats and Teles or P-90s or lipstick tube pickups.

I usually just leave an RC Boost or Fractal drive block "on" when using them. Not a lot of drive when using Fractal version, less than 2 sometimes to emulate the clean boost of an RC, and volume around 4.5 to 5.5.

One of the secrets of the amazing Doyle Bramhall II is he usually (although not his current "Rich Man" tour) puts an RC boost pedal next to last in his signal chain, right before the wah (which is last!), and shaves just a hair off the top and bottom end using the tone controls, and then has drive and level at about 11 to 11:30 as well...also works good.

When used right, the RC Boost makes your Strat or Tele or Lipstick tube pickups sound like single coil pickups but louder, approaching humbucker signal level (P90s usually have some stronger output and may not need as much help). Whereas a Klon as a boost will add some lower-mid-boost (in a good way!).

I love them both. I use the FET Drive block to emulate a Klon, but am sure Yek will get to that drive block soon!

Love this thread Yek! Cheers to you!
Click to expand...
 
This pedal is fantastic I’ve been looking for something like this for a long time. Previously I was boosting signal using the input gate level now I’m using this as a little pre EQ. It’s great for everything.
 
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