Outboard effects/Pedals

GovernorSilver · 2013-12-02T20:05:29.000Z

I just picked up the following, heavily discounted pedals from JRRShop (blowout sale) to use with the Octatrack. Nothing fancy as far as audio routing - they’re just going to go between my viola preamp and Octatrack input:

Way Huge Echo Puss ($116)- Analog delay that, based on demos, sounds close to the classic Deluxe Memory Man. Didn’t need fancier delay features like tap tempo and MIDI sync, because the Octatrack’s built in delay handles those just fine. What I got this pedal for was the ability to manually mess with delay time and repeat (for self-oscillation!), though the knobs look big enough for foot tweaking too.

Akai E2 Headrush ($89) - Akai’s tape delay emulator/looper. It’s no Strymon El Capistan, but can’t argue with the price. More importantly, I will gain the ability to record as many loops as I want without worrying about the dreaded “Dub Rec Aborted” random error or the “Rec Mem Full” error. I’ll still use the Octatrack pickup machines here and there, but the E2 will probably take quite a bit of load off of my mind when looping.

josker · 2013-12-12T13:52:01.000Z

Hi everyone!

I’ve been searching everywhere for a bit of info on the Strymon El Cap and haven’t received a definite answer from anywhere, including Strymon support.

Can you use the El Cap with 100% wet, 0% time and minimum repeats for no delay/reverb, just the tape emulation? Does it work at all? Does it introduce a nasty delay?

Thank you, it’d be great if somebody could confirm this for me.

andajazz · 2014-01-31T11:22:22.000Z

Hi pedal junkies,

I need a delay/reverb combo for my Prophet 08.
Yeah, I know, Eventide and Strymon, but it´s too expensive right now.

I really do need Stereo Inputs for the P08.
Tap and True bypass would be nice.
As I alreday have a big live setup, a combo pedal would be nice.

EHX Cathedral?
Boss RE 20 ?
Muza FD900?

@ Nedavine: Does the EHX Cathedral make sense as an Echo in Echo Mode? Is it possible to change the time while playing and making the classic pitch shift delay effects?

Greetings andajazz

kirlian · 2014-02-01T10:12:10.000Z

""andajazz"":

Hi pedal junkies,

I need a delay/reverb combo for my Prophet 08.
Yeah, I know, Eventide and Strymon, but it´s too expensive right now.

EHX cathedral and memory man w/hazrai. super powerful combo, and in my opinion, more tweakable than eventide or strymon and with a unique sound.

edit> i think i mean it’s much more immediate to dial in sounds and do real time edits of the major parameters. they just beg to be tweaked.

Daisuk · 2014-02-01T12:06:14.000Z

Does anyone here have an Eventide Eclipse? I’ve been thinking about getting “one catch all” type outboard fx box, and have read some good things about the Eclipse. It’s quite expensive though.

kirlian · 2014-02-01T13:04:38.000Z

i’ve got one. it makes things sound very good. beautiful in fact. there are 960 presets in V4 and they cover just about everything. it’s not too bad to program once you understand it, but it’s not exactly tweaker friendly. i’m not really a preset person, but for the eclipse i make an exception just because i have pedals for dialing in sounds instantly and there really is a preset for almost anything i want, or at least a good starting point. . i’ve almost sold the eclipse several times but i think it’s here to stay. i keep it hooked up to my preamp and mic for whatever goes through there.

you could also try a kurzweil rumor or mangler depending on what sort of fx you want mainly, or ensoniq DP/2 and DP/4. i am selling a TC fireworx currently which is also a definite gem.

really though, eclipse defeats them all, at a greater cost of course.

do you have more specific questions?

DeltaPhoenix · 2014-02-01T14:29:00.000Z

I was looking at rack effects yesterday and decided not yet. I like to twist knobs.

I used to have a TON of pedals (Strymon, Eventide, lots of boutique) because I play bass and guitar but then I started buying hardware…

I like Fuzz Pedals, I like cheap drum machines through fuzz pedals.

Right now I have:
1. Dirge Black Acid Fuzz (FuzzFace variant a friend built) it is in an enclosure with Dart Vader etched on it.
2. Line 6 M9, this replaced a lot of awesome pedals because it could cover them live. It has a lot of options, the delays, verbs, and modulation are good. This one has an upgraded signal path, switches and a master volume added.
3. Rub-A-Dub Reverb This a really simple reverb but it sounds great.
4. Eventide PitchFactor you guys know how awesome this is.
5. SmallSound/BigSound PolyGrace 1 of 10, way more than a fuzz pedal, it can add crackle, starving sounds, it adds resonance without being a filter. It really just adds character or FUZZZ.
6. Boss OC-2 I have added it to a bass drum, very cool
7. Behringer BSY-600 Bass synth pedal, copy of a Boss SYB 5 I think, but it sounds better and tracks a bit better. Also cool for drum machine fun.

Daisuk · 2014-02-01T14:41:35.000Z

I think the Eclipse is a bit too expensive for me, and I’d prefer something you could tweak a bit more. Been looking at the Strymon Mobius, which looks really cool. Not too expensive either.

andajazz · 2014-02-01T21:12:27.000Z

Well, I just found out that all the EHX pedals I´m interested in -
Cathedral, MM with Hazarai, Epitome - don´t have Tru Bypass, and no analog dry thru.
You think that matters for an analog synth? Don´t want my analog signal to be converted several times.

On the other hand, TC Flashback & TC Hall of Fame do have try bypass and analog dry thru, so the P08 stays analog, even with the effect on (at least the dry signal), which is nice.

So I´m leaning towards the TC stuff. Small, Stereo, good sound, try bypass & analog dry thru. (but the EHX stuff can go wilder&weirder, I guess, which I´d like)

TC Flashback / Hall of Fame for a Synth anyone?

binaural · 2014-02-02T20:21:06.000Z

""josker"":

Hi everyone!

I’ve been searching everywhere for a bit of info on the Strymon El Cap and haven’t received a definite answer from anywhere, including Strymon support.

Can you use the El Cap with 100% wet, 0% time and minimum repeats for no delay/reverb, just the tape emulation? Does it work at all? Does it introduce a nasty delay?

Thank you, it’d be great if somebody could confirm this for me.

Just did a little test for you. No nasty delay, but realistically this only works on the fast machine settings. Putting it in mode b or c does render too much delay when playing. It means you can’t use it to its full potential, but hey, it’s a delay, isn’t it?

Low_Life · 2014-02-03T07:57:47.000Z

There was some discussion here earlier about the Zoom MS-70CDR, any more experiences with it? I’m sort of looking for a “my first effect box” type of deal, would this be good for that or should I look for something else?

josker · 2014-02-03T08:55:47.000Z

""binaural"":

[quote=“josker”]Hi everyone!

I’ve been searching everywhere for a bit of info on the Strymon El Cap and haven’t received a definite answer from anywhere, including Strymon support.

Can you use the El Cap with 100% wet, 0% time and minimum repeats for no delay/reverb, just the tape emulation? Does it work at all? Does it introduce a nasty delay?

Thank you, it’d be great if somebody could confirm this for me.

Just did a little test for you. No nasty delay, but realistically this only works on the fast machine settings. Putting it in mode b or c does render too much delay when playing. It means you can’t use it to its full potential, but hey, it’s a delay, isn’t it? [/quote]
Ooh, thank you binaural! Very nice.
Okay - but apparently it still works - good news

KrisM · 2014-02-03T19:06:39.000Z

""josker"":

Hi everyone!

I’ve been searching everywhere for a bit of info on the Strymon El Cap and haven’t received a definite answer from anywhere, including Strymon support.

Can you use the El Cap with 100% wet, 0% time and minimum repeats for no delay/reverb, just the tape emulation? Does it work at all? Does it introduce a nasty delay?

Thank you, it’d be great if somebody could confirm this for me.

I heard from Strymon today. You can use the El Capistan like that if you can accept 60ms of latency

JES · 2014-02-05T03:55:33.000Z

+1. I have lots of fx but am tempted by the feature set,

Accent · 2014-02-06T02:30:37.000Z

Gotta give a shout out to the KP3 as a good companion to the Elektrons. Setting the program change and hold to random LFOs yields some wild results, reminds me a lot of what you can do with Effectrix or Glitch.

TwoBeautifulMen · 2014-02-06T15:17:02.000Z

I have a question for the folks who have multiple or many outboard effects. How are you connecting them to your mixer? i.e. via inserts, fx sends, between source and mixing board inputs, chained together as fx sends or inserts, etc.? I like using fx sends so I maximize access to my effects vs. inserts, but I am limited by my mixer’s sends/returns.

husc · 2014-02-06T15:45:22.000Z

Two patchbays, one for balanced in and outputs, one for the rest. Everything goes to my analog 14 channel mixer and from there to my computer:

setupELEK.jpg960×720 116 KB

I’m gonna share this picture, again! Not to brag or boast, but because the lighting was soooooo good that afternoon.

You can see the patchbays underneath the gear. I used two Ikea rasts and installed rackrails and everything is hunky dory!

cosmosuave · 2014-02-06T15:51:15.000Z

""husc"":

Two patchbays, one for balanced in and outputs, one for the rest. Everything goes to my analog 14 channel mixer and from there to my computer.

That is something I need to do… I have a patchbay sitting in my rack with nothing hooked up to it…

TwoBeautifulMen · 2014-02-06T20:55:14.000Z

""husc"":

Two patchbays, one for balanced in and outputs, one for the rest. Everything goes to my analog 14 channel mixer and from there to my computer:

setupELEK.jpg960×720 116 KB

I’m gonna share this picture, again! Not to brag or boast, but because the lighting was soooooo good that afternoon.

You can see the patchbays underneath the gear. I used two Ikea rasts and installed rackrails and everything is hunky dory!

So, you’re patching effect into the channel you want to add the effect to? I thought of that, but I’m not sure how great I feel about it for a jam type scenario.

cosmosuave · 2014-02-06T20:58:13.000Z

Hey Husc that looks like a A&H Mix Wizard don’t they support 4 to 6 fx sends why not use those…