Does anyone have any experience with these on synth / line level gear? Seems they work very well, and they sound very good from what I have heard. But they don’t have a specific line level mode AFAICT.
I’m particularly interested in the CE-2w chorus:
And the Dimension-C / DC-2w:
DC-2w has a Dimension-D mode which seems pretty legit.
Anyone using one?
Of all the vintage boss stuff I have from back in the day the from new Boss CE3 (Japan green label) and DC2 (Japan blue label) are possibly least likely to see guitar action (as has been the case for over a decade) so I could possibly be tempted to start a much needed downsizing/trading journey if that is an option - but I coincidentally fired a synth through another vintage pedal no problem yesterday (the first ever digital reverb pedal, also something I may look to free from storage)
I’ve been using the DM2w for about a year on an aux send.
It works pretty well, but there’s some gain reduction/boosting going on so the echoes aren’t always fully distorted. To be fair they distort very nicely though.
Yeah I think that’s the question I’d like to know the answer to before I drop 200 sheets on one - what’s it going to do dynamically to line level signals? How much am I going to have to manage the gain staging in to & out of other pieces of gear?
The DC-2w blurb says:
Versatile I/O for integrating with any mono or stereo application, from guitar and bass pedalboards to keyboards and studio mixing
But I’m wondering what that means in reality. Maybe I’m worrying too much.
Yeah, I think you’ll be fine!
Hi
It is utterly amazing imo. The CE-1 mode is heaven (just have a read about the legend that is the CE-1 ensemble). I use it mono with a dummy cable in the second output and you get a massive vibrato effect. However, there is a tone hit on this unit; I don’t mind it, but if you like your treble or preserving your original tone, this may not be for you. The delay DM-2w is also amazing (especially in the new custom mode); very in your face and aggressive, but there is no way to preserve the delay trails when you bypass the effect. I’m also a fan of the VB-2w. Not so keen on the word ‘waza’ though, but maybe that’s just me (no idea that the dimension c had been released, I’ll probably be getting that too).
ps I use it with a wurlitzer ep-220a, and a4, minitaur, nord stage, anything and it behaves itself, boss pedals are just like that.
I’m a big fan of using pedals on synths. I recently bought a pair of radial x-amp reampers. It’s made a big difference as a lot of my pedals are expecting an instrument level signal, also can highly recommend the
Patchulator 8000 by Bored Brain. Pedal order is no longer an issue.
Yeah, I was looking at the Orchid Amp Interface re-amper for the CE-2w:
https://www.soundonsound.com/reviews/orchid-electronics-amp-interface
http://orchid-electronics.co.uk/Amp_Interface.htm
Quite a bit cheaper than the X-amp, though Radial stuff is great obviously. The DC-2w seems more like it’s designed for stereo line level stuff so might be fine without a re-amper, but I need to see what the level coming out of it is like I guess. I’m trying to keep things mostly small and self-contained so it needs to play nicely with the Monomachine and TR-8S inputs. I’m not too worried about the TR-8S, it seems quite forgiving and offers a lot of clean gain on the inputs, but the MM might be less happy.
Patchulator looks fun…
That Boss Dimension D pedal has my money, well, sooner or later that is!
Analog BBD DimD, portable… my UAD plugin will be jealous
If the marketing blurb mentions “studio”, its a pretty safe bet that line level will be workable.
Yeah the DC-2w manual specifically shows a stereo line source an an option. The CE-2w doesn’t so I think it might be worth re-amping into that one, though I wouldn’t be surprised if it was fine, if a bit noisier, to just turn the volume down on the synth source.
Another option, just for the record, for those hotter synths …
https://www.soundonsound.com/sound-advice/q-how-to-hookup-guitar-pedals-to-synth-or-keyboard
Update for anyone interested - I got both the CE-2w and the DC-2w and started experimenting with them in a simple live setup. No problem with levels on either of them and they both sound great. I’m re-amping into the CE-2w but not the DC-2w.
The SH-01A is going into an Orchid Amp Interface and then into the Waza Craft Chorus (CE-2w). That then goes into the Monomachine.
Monomachine outs go through the Waza Craft Dimension-C (DC-2w, in SDD-320 mode) and into the TR-8S. There’s a bit of sidechaining of the inputs against the kick within the TR-8S, plus a tiny bit of the master comp and reverb.
TR-8S outs go into the Heat (out of shot). Here’s my first test of what the whole thing sounds like:
“Dry” to begin with, then I add the chorus on the SH-01A, then the Dimension-C, then the Heat. The AH is a bit heavy handed, e.g. the release on the envelope follower is a bit long, etc etc. I haven’t spent much time tuning anything.
Overal LUFS is a bit low because I haven’t compressed this at all yet - I’m going to experiment with software comps but I also just got an FMR RNC which I’m going to try @AdamJay’s fixed HPF sidechain method on and see where I get to.
Is it necessary to re-amp when using the CE-2w ?
Im still looking for a good chorus for my OB6
Are you guys running these pedals in-line with your synths? Use aux sends and returns on a mixer so you can attenuate the signal the pedal receives, blend wet/dry to taste, and not lose any of your original signal. I use in-line for a few pedals, like distortion on electric piano, but for chorus, delay, reverb etc aux sends are king.
No, I think you can get away without re-amping for the most part but I haven’t properly tested how hot you can run a line level signal into it. It sounds great by the way.
This is/was a simple live-oriented setup with no mixer - I agree, normally I’d want to control the wet/dry mix on a chorus effect.
So do you have any preference between the two ?
There is not alot of demo with synth.
The CE-2w is a much stronger traditional chorus effect. The DC-2w is more of a spatializer / widening effect. If you want a classic analogue chorus effect the CE-2w is the one.
If I get time tonight I can maybe do a demo of the differences. What sort of sounds are you interested in? Bass, pads, leads? Analogue subtractive / FM / digital?
Ho thanks ! that’s very kind of you.
So i guess the CE-2w would be better for me.
I want to use it with my OB6 so mostly for analog pad (trying to get that Juno-ish sound).
Another question if you dont mind. I know the CE-2w is not true stereo since it output the wet and the dry signal on separate output but im curious about the result when you use the left and right channel on a mixer using headphone. Do you really get a stereo effect or its better to use it only in mono ?
Thanks.
Well, yeah, it’s essentially one channel modulated and one channel unchanged, so you get the “beating” effect. So it’s not quite the same as the Juno chorus* but it sounds good. Again, maybe I can demo the mono/“stereo” difference for you.
*the Juno chorus works by sending the mono source to L & R channels, both modulated by the same LFO but inverted on one channel, and then mixing them with the dry signal.
