MultiFX - Need Advice

I’m looking to a multi FX unit and need advices:

My wishlist:

  • 4 (or more) stéréo inputs
  • Midi in and Thru
  • CCs controlable
  • A very good master compressor
  • Goods reverbs and delays. I don’t mind flangers, phasers, etc…

Budget?

  • Ensoniq DP4/DP4+
  • Kurzweil KSP8
  • Eventide H7000 / H7600 / Orville / H8000

Euh… Close to DP4…

But this KSP8 seems very good.

Ensoniq DP/4… Got one love it… Also Yamaha A4000/5000 sampler have a decent fx and you can get them for $200 or less and have a pretty cool sampler…

octatrack :wink: …ok two stereo ins …hehe

KSP8 is a weapon, and if you hunt around you should be able to snag one at a good price if someone is foolish enough to sell it. Bear in mind that you can also get expansion boards for them for additional 4in/4out, ADAT, etc.

More dinero then a DP4 though…

I never got round to owning a DP4… I want to, one day, maybe tomorrow…

Compression on DP4 not so good… The rest is good imo and a very flexible unit.

In the second-hand market i found:

  • Ensoniq DP4: 300 to 370€
  • Kurzeil KSP8: Argus on AudioFanzine is 683 € but no ad
  • Eventide H7000 etc…: no ads

From now my Nord Drum 2 go thru Analog four audio inputs. Analog four go thru Octatrack audio imputs which is configured with Track 8 master with FX1 as COMP and FX2 as EQU. It works well but I’m not sure this is the best in terms of sound. And as I will certainly trade my A4 for a MnM it should degrade a bit.

I’m facinated by demos of gear with Eventide Space or Strymon Big Sky. Great sound.

But I thinks Space or BigSky are a bit expensive and specializes and at the same price, I’d like to avoid sound chains (so have a multiple inputs unit/mixer), a compressor and a good delay.
Ensoniq DP4 seems to be a good solution but reviews say that the reverb is not so good and UAX says that the compressor too…

The reverb of my A4 is the best I ever heard (I never had Studio MultiFx). What about the DP4’s reverbs comparing to A4 reverb ? Same question about compressor.

this is what i found about the ksp8

http://www.ebay.com/itm/kurzweil-ksp8-/251592302483?pt=US_Signal_Processors_Rack_Effects&hash=item3a9411df93

…i bit high priced i think

Really surprised by that DP4 comment. It might not be quite Bricasti level, but the reverbs are very good to my ears.

The DP4 reverbs are a bit better than the A4 reverbs, and of course a LOT more versatile.

Never really used the DP4 compressor when I owned the unit, but a friend of mine (who also has a DP4) loves it.

Definitely recommend one, if you don’t mind a bit of menudiving and a large 2U unit, which might not be live performance friendly.

The reason I sold mine was the UI. I realized that I hardly ever use gear that doesn’t have either a knob per function UI, or a really brilliant interface like the Elektrons have.

KSP8 can be found for a bit less than $US 1000 if you’re prepared to wait for the right deal. The RSP8 remote is very useful but pushes the price up because it’s quite rare.

Stock unit is 4 in / 4 out analogue.

Eventides are pricier. Orville is one of the better value units, but it’s around $US 2K. Sound magnificent though, it’s a sound designers dream. You’ll want more.

Eventide H3000 is a classic but firmly in the vintage category with the maintenance to go with it. I think the H3000 D/SE model is the one to go for.

If you want something fairly basic but decent sounding what about the Lexicon MX400? It’s not nearly as flexible as the other units but it has the Lex reverb sound and various combinations of multi FX that work well.

http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/nov06/articles/lexicon.htm

Main criticism for me is parameter editing, which is limited to specific values e.g. can’t set delay time to exactly 125 ms because it only allows 122 ms and 128 ms.

Should be able to find one 2nd hand for a good price, and a good place to start.

Menu diving on the DP/4 is not that bad and quite easy to get your head around… Only issue I ever had was trying to figure out how to save my patches and where they were stored… After many frustrating hours I realized you have to be in config mode… As for the reverbs they sound fine to me…

Thanks a lot guys for the advices

DP4 reverbs very usable on a variety of sources!

DP/4 seems to be the good choice.

I don’t find manual of DP/4. Only DP/4+.

Does DP/4 have an headphone (DP/4+ has it)

A couple cheapies I have that don’t quite meet your needs but are worth considering:

Digitech Studio Quad 4: 4 in/out FX unit. I think the reverbs are ok, but there are some cool modulation effects, and there’s a reverse reverb/delay preset that I really like.

Roland RSP-550: stereo, no compressors. I just got this, and it’s a sleeper…serious soundgoodizer. Excellent reverb, chorus, delays. Quietest effects unit I’ve ever used as well.

Together, these should be under $200 USD and will give you lots to work with.

http://www.tcelectronic.com/fireworx/

these are available new at discount in a few online stores, and I’m sure ebay.

Very deep and the rack interface is not too bad for adjustments.

XLR inputs only, but you can make/get the right wires.

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[ul]
[li]Expander/Gate[/li]
[li]Soft Compressor[/li]
[li]Hard Compressor/Limiter[/li]
[li]Resonance Filter · Bandpass Filter[/li]
[li]Phaser · Resonator · Resochord Filter[/li]
[li]Formant Filter[/li]
[li]Drive Distortion[/li]
[li]Cruncher Distortion[/li]
[li]Vocoder[/li]
[li]Ring Modulator[/li]
[li]Curve Generator Synth[/li]
[li]Chaos Generator Synth[/li]
[li]Noise Generator Synth[/li]
[/ul]

[ul]
[li]Single Voice Pitch shift[/li]
[li]Dual Voice Pitch shift[/li]
[li]Classic Chorus[/li]
[li]Advanced Chorus[/li]
[li]Classic Flanger[/li]
[li]Advanced Flanger[/li]
[li]Stereo Delay[/li]
[li]Dual mono Delay[/li]
[li]Dual Three Tap Delay[/li]
[li]One Tap Delay[/li]
[li]Six Tap Delay[/li]
[li]Reverse Delay[/li]
[li]Reverb [/li]
[/ul]

[ul]
[li]Advanced Reverb[/li]
[li]Simple Tremolo[/li]
[li]Advanced Tremolo[/li]
[li]Simple Panner[/li]
[li]Surround Panner[/li]
[li]Stereo Enhancer[/li]
[li]5 band Parametric EQ[/li]
[li]4 band modifiable parametric EQ[/li]
[li]Feedback Send[/li]
[li]Feedback Return[/li]
[li]Insert Send[/li]
[li]Insert Return[/li]
[/ul]