Meris -pedals? Are they as good/better than Strymon?

The Lounge Other Gear
#1

I used to have a Zoom MS-100BT and a Mooer Oceanmachine for my delay and reverb needs and was quite happy with them both. What I really would’ve wanted was an Eventide H9, OTO Bim and Bam or a set of Strymon -pedals, but never could’ve afforded those. For some reason I can buy 700-800 euro synths and drummachines all day long, but when it comes to effects I get stingy and “can’t afford” things costing upwards of 400€.

Lately I came accross a less well known U.S. pedalmaker called Meris and it seems that it was founded by one of the Strymon founders. Reading about the Mercury 7 reverb and how it was inspired by Vangelis’ Blade Runner -soundtrack, I was hooked immediately. I also sold my OTO Biscuit recently and started missing it almost instantly. Then I realised that Meris has something along the lines of Biscuit in Ottobit Jr.

It seems that Meris caters for all my pedal/effects needs with their lineup of three pedals. A reverb, a delay and a weird bitcrusher-thingy. But what I’d like to know, if somebody has first hand experience with Meris -pedals is: Are they worth their asking price (369€/a piece)) ? Are they on par with Eventide and Strymon effects? What about the weird 6,3mm guitarplug-midi? How does that work? I’ve understood from reading reviews that many of the possibilities in for example The Polymoon are only accessible through midi.

In my dreams my life would be wonderful and complete if I only had the three Meris -pedals in my studio. Is it true?

https://www.meris.us

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#2

This is exactly what in I’m on those moments.
Very interested for making ambient and drones / Pad FX from field recordings .

About that I’m in love on Strymon Big /Time.
And recently discovered Meris’s who are really nice two.
(Those are the only one who catched my attention as the big/time strymons) (&Eventide’s).
I think it will be difficult to make a choice.
About the Midi I think those pedals can continuously receive midi messages and CC’s.
Take a look on my page, Avantronica found me a cable capable I think about this.
Obviously you can DIY a cable with the 3 pin from Midi to the 3 TRS points. I think this is this cable on thoman website.
I am in one question : Will I go for something I don"t ever see in a lot of homestudio or will I play secure and go for Strymons ones.

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#3

I have the Polymoon and it is quite amazing to be honest. I also have an Eventide Space, which is the only other fancy effect box i own to compare the Meris to, but of course a delay compared to a reverb isnt that meaningful…
But, regardless of any other pedals, the Polymoon is insanely good and you should buy it. You don’t need Midi to access any of the parameters, but sequencing the different settings makes for some pretty insane noises - I managed to get it hooked up to the midi output of a Digitakt with a very quick diy cable, 5 pin to jack. A simpler option would be to have an expression pedal connected to the control in jack, which lets you morph between two separate presets from toe to heel, and some of the settings you achieve mid-way between the presets are pleasantly unpredictable.
The breadth of options it has, from very smooth classic delay sounds to whacked out semi-reverb pitch shifty sounscapes is very very useful.

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#4

I’ve had the Mercury7 and would say it feels as good as the Strymon. Both are well built pedals and a joy to handle. As for sound design… Meris gets out there. I like my DIG from strymon but I don’t feel like I’m getting anything obtuse or strange. Each Meris pedal dips into the strange; they’re more a mating of strymon and chasebliss in my mind. They are stereo, handle line level, high quality and range in sound design from simple to odd and complex. I really want the polymoon and will probably pick one up this summer.

Disclosure; I sold the Mercury 7 because I like my reverb exceedingly simple. A short to med length plate reverb is all I’m about.

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#5

My problem is that we bought an allotment/summer cottage last summer and it’s taking up all my money at the moment. I love hanging out at the cottage and growing my own food but I can’t really afford to buy more than one pedal at the moment. Can’t really decide which one it will be. Probably I’ll go for the Mercury 7. A bandmate had the Eventide H9 and ever since I heard that reverb in action I’ve wanted something similar. I’d call it pixie dust or a magic ingredient. A perfectly normal Casio keyboard sounds like the lushest Vangelis pad played through one of those.

I also suffer from a slight case of completism. Gotta catch em all. I used to collect Star Wars action figures and after that vintage video games, but a few years back I decided to quit collecting, but it seems to be in my genes. Now I guess I’m collecting synths/effects of particular brands.

#6

Meris pedals are definitely in the same league as Strymon. The Polymoon is amazing, its a delay which smears into a reverb, with pitch shifting, flanging and phasing built in. It has a config mode where you can switch between guitar and synth levels so you know its a pedal that plays nicely with synths/samplers. Highly recommended.

5 Likes
#7

I’m interested in the ease and depth of MIDI control with the Mercury 7. My first reverb ever was a Lexicon PCM 70 and I’ll never forget the first time I notched my thumb on the mod wheel and heard the modulation speed on my reverb increase and the number of delays multiply.

From what I understand, the Big Sky does those kinds of things easily and selecting the presets is as simple as watching the screen. That level of user transparency is what I’m missing on Meris vs. Strymon gear. It’s esp. important with delays, but reverb timing and nuance can be crucial, too.

There are enough cryptic connections to ferret out and memorize with the AR2. I’d rather my effect boxes be full featured, but transparent and DAW-friendly to allow me to focus on deeper complexities. Perhaps I’ll be more patient once I can get Overbridge on my MBP running Sierra to recognize my AR2. So far, nothing in the forums has helped and no one has responded.

#8

…if the bisquit had to go for a good reaso.n…like a cottage…well, than it’s ok…

and if u were able to afford a cottage, hey, then ur to old to still say stuff like…if i only had this and this kind gear, i’d finally be happy…no u won’t…don’t forget, gear junkies stay gear junkies…and once ur on the hook, it’s a neverending story…
i’m drowning in gear but i can’t call a cottage my own yet…and my gearlust is coming to an end slowly only because of another dream starting to haunt me…some place to bake my own bread in peace…so, that cottage and ur new life style, is defenitly better than all fx pedals in the world…

i had my hands on pretty much everything in the sonic world…but…fuk…i never heard of meris…and even if the big sky is a damned great reverb, the space has the sonic signature of a truu eventide…and can’t be beaten by anything…

so i’d say…stay with what u got for now…and wait a little longer, til u can afford the h9…where u get all the sonic bliss of eventide, from the blackhole to pitching delays and harmonizing mods in one little blinking cottage…

and to satisfy ur gearlust for now…go through electro harmonic peadal range and pick one there…good to go for now…and always keep an eye on second hand offers for the h9…u never know…

#9

If you want a Delay and a Reverb you should also check the Source Audio Collider or the GFI Specular Tempus.

1 Like
#10

The mercury 7 is one of the best sounding reverb pedals I’ve ever heard. I traded out my BAM for one and never looked back. I thought the midi setup was pretty painless but compared to the big sky, I’m not sure. Never really tried to mess with the midi on that one. I just read the manual on the merc7 and boom it was all set up.

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#11

Meris pedals are phenomenal, sound wise. I own the Mercury 7 and absolutely love it. The Ottobit jr and Polymoon are on my “to buy” list.

In terms of MIDI implementation, Meris pedals have it but they’re not super convenient. You need an additional box of theirs to route midi to the pedals. After that though, it should all work in a fairly straight forward manner. You should be able to find the manual for each pedal online for more detail.

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#12

Makeup and vanity set uses two modular ver. of the mercury 7 reverbs!

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#13

Mercury 7 user here. Wouldn’t part with it. Route my Deckards Dream through it - utterly wonderful.

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#14

Mercury 7 user +1
Currently in abuse with Lyra-8, they are like heaven and hell, or vice versa.

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#15

Baseck with a little live setup including 2 Meris pedals

I thought the Meris owner was with Strymon before. (not sure)

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#16

Fresh Sonicstate demo with 2 Meris pedals:

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#17

I have a Meris Hedra on my guitar pedalboard. The Meris pedals are sort of like if Strymon built their smaller pedals with more modern features (midi, usb, preset storage).

#18

Indeed :slight_smile:

I only own the Polymoon, and I can say it’s both extremely high quality and original.
I regret that the UX is that based on dual function pots, and I really had to add stickers for secondary functions to start to make sense.

6 Likes
#19

I got the Mercury and solved the dual function pots by just forgetting they exist! But looking at the Polymoon as my next purchase. But it migth be more usefull functions behind the pots on that one.

1 Like
#20

I bought a Disaster Area qConnect to control my midi pedals. The print on the Meris Hedra is so difficult to read even in good lighting (let alone on stage).

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