The king

It doesn't get much simpler that the Lichtlaerm Key & Gate. One knob to control your threshold and on or off with a press of the pedal. Whatever time vector processing is, I don't care. It equals no latency in lighter or quick notes and the response of the Key & Gate. This unit also does not eat tone like so many noise supression units do. Built extremely well and instruction manual is sufficient.

UTILIZATION

I bought this for one simple reason, I play a nuclear powered Mesa Dual Rev G for gigs. When I am not actively hitting a note, the hum from the amp was annoying. The sound guy finally came up to me one night and asked me what the problem was and asked if I ever tried the noise gate. Picked one up for the next gig and never looked back. So easy to use and adjust on the fly depending on volume levels. The big middle knob makes it easy to adjust with your foot to find your threshold setting. This is also built like a tank with the metal shell, perfect for gigging.

SOUND QUALITY

Because this is a noise reduction device, the only question on sound I have is does it affect my core tone? The answer is no. It does not suck bass or tone in any way and is transparent as any noise suppressor I have ever used. I played several older Boss noise gates and they were not as transparent as this one.

OVERALL OPINION

I love the simplicity and the fact that it is totally transparent allowing my tone to flow through but be kept under control. It is obviously top notch construction and built well. No complaints on the sensativity of the threshold once you set it properly to your volume. It just plain works and does the job it says it does. Do I wish it was a bit cheaper, sure. Is it worth the money...yes. Just ask my sound guy, made is job much easier. I would suggest this to any musician looking to tame a wild Mesa boogie or any other amplifier.

The best noise gate I have ever used.

The thing about noise gates is that anytime you use them you loose some sustain. Even my ZUUL cuts down some sustain when playing solos, but the Lichtlaerm Key & Gate is an exception to that rule.

If you're worried about tone suck and let me be clear, this noise gate exhibits no tone suck whatsoever but that's not what makes it so special. The special quality of this pedal is the way it preserves the sustain. While using this noise gate I hear absolutely zero choppiness on sustained notes.

Now this quality of this pedal is kind of a double edged sword. On one hand it ensures that your solos and sustained notes never sound choppy, but on the downside if you rely on your noise gate for choppy rhythms then this may not be the ideal pedal for you. My style of music involves long bluesy solos where I need to make the notes ring out, and for me this pedal is the perfect noise gate pedal.

P.S. - I am not sure why this pedal is mark discontinued because Lichlaerm has resumed the production of this pedal.