What is your favorite cheap 80s/90s 0.5U (Multi-) FX unit?

The Lounge General Discussion
#1

Hey guys,
coming from this thread here I have now a half rack slot available that I would like to fill with a cheap old (Multi-) FX unit.

Which ones are your favorites and why?
Actually I am looking for a nice vintage (or should I say cheap) sound because I like the EBM / Darkwave and Italo sound of the 80s and early 90s. The rack neighbor is a Boss submixer so I could imagine getting a Boss SE-50 for the aesthetics. Or maybe a Yamaha FX500 or screw the Multis and get a Microverb 2? After all everyone here seems to love the Quadraverb …
So many options but I like to know your opinions about it.

P.S. I plan to use the FX unit as a send for the Boss submixer and there is a Roland R-8, VT-3 and a Streichfett connected to it (for now). Of course, I could also change to other synths. But no guitars etc. here at all.

#2

I’m a big fan of the boss se-50, in fact I have two of them. The se-70 is even better (I used to have one but foolishly sold it) but harder to find and they tend to be more expensive. Frankly if you’re not using them for guitars I think the 50 is nearly as good as the 70, especially for the price difference.

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#3

Quadraverb - chorus strings preset is insane :smiley:

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#4

Alesis Wedge. Picked one up for $25 when they were ugly ducklings (still are). Desktop MidiVerb.

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#5

Se50,70 … I have both.
Buy either one if they’re Cheap , I think se70 has an analog distortion in it

Mine were/are immaculate so there are still good condition ones out there.

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#6

Thanks everybody! So there seems to be a lot of love for Boss which was my first thought as well.
Since I do not have the space for more than a 9.5 unit other gear like Quadraverb and Wedge (that I def have to check out) is unfortunately not fitting at this time.
Keeping eyes open here.

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#7

Yamaha FX 550 aces the 500 imho.
Love my big Reflex and Boss SX700 though.

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#8

The smallest fx I have is the mini kaos pad 2 ( or something like that … it’s red and can be battery powered )
Reasonable range of fx and touch pad , battery powered. And cheap.

And possibly kaos pad kp3+ though itd need to sit on the top of the rack.

I have a fx500 too… can’t remember ever using it.

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#9

The SE-50 is fiddly

The SE-70 boasts so many other plus points I ended up with 3 or 4 at one time after purchasing a SE-50.

SE-70, from research I conducted years ago doesn’t have analog distortion. It was a myth.

If you can stretch then the VF-1 is soooooooooooo good! Am I right, @darenager :wink:

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#10

If you want 80’s filth go Yamaha REX50, not half rack but quite a sleeper:

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Your Setups (Part 1)
#11

I think I just found a new best friend for my Minibrute 2s.

The Sony HR-MP5 is an amazing half rack FX box, but current prices seem high.

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#12

SE-70/VF-1, and the Sony HR-MP5.

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#13

Sony HR-MP5 and Lexicon LXP-5 sound wonderful but are hard to recommend because they’re just not built to last like the Boss SE boxes despite costing twice as much.

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#14

I bought a pair of “broken” HR-MP5s. All they needed was new batteries (soldering required) and there was only one set of knobs between the two.

Look for “dead” HR-MP5s, and have a supply of CR2032 battery sockets handy.

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#15

Ensoniq DP/4 is an insane monster. I just love the sound of it, especially compared to the quadraverb. And it can process 4 ins / 4 outs.

While it is sadly not cheap any more, I did snag mine last year for about 40% of the “Reverb Price”, so deals happen if you’re on the look out.

I’ve got a Midiverb II and Quadraverb as well… of the three I use the QV the least.

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#16

I have gone through a few. The ones that stayed:

Yamaha fx900: more powerful version of the fx500 and spx90… 4 fx blocks at once, quite a few of which are multiple fx In 1 block. I like it enough to own 2.

Quadraverb plus: ubiquitous. No one mentions the aftertouch enabled buttons for changing parameters at different speeds. Brilliant idea.

Roland gp8: 5 of the boss analog pedals plus 2 of the digital pedals in a 1u rack.

Used to have a dp4, swapped it for also merging else but I miss it. Overpriced nowadays though.

Yamaha a4000/a5000 was an awesome buy for a while with loads of original and hi def fx. Sold mine and kinda regret it though it was a massive rack unit and the knobs were irritating. Again, cheap ones gone the way of the dodo I suspect.

Sony dps-v77. Got one of these for $100 once upon a time. Lovely sound and had this morphing fx thing. Ended up dying on me.

Nowadays though desktop units and vst’s have generally overtaken these old rack units for all practical purposes. Even old 80s/90s character can be imitated to a fair degree.

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#17

I’m aware of this - they have plenty of issues besides the batteries going dead that make them hard to recommend to someone who wants something cheap and reliable. Mine is currently a headache to edit since it has a dead backlight at the moment, currently waiting on one of these fabled “broken” units to show up so I can get a screen donor.

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#18

VF-1 all the way :metal: :metal: :metal:

#19

Thanks! On top of the rack there is unfortunately my monitor … :slight_smile:
Yes, not so sure about the Yamaha either.

Thanks for that hint!

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#20

If the VF-1 only wasn’t red … but indeed an interesting candidate!