On the fence about doing a pedal setup...

[Dasheesh]

the older i get the more i realize this comes down to what you subscribe to as musical. if you need a more immediate and playable set up go for it. if you want to sit in front of a screen and program everything to lifeless perfection don't.

personally i would invest 1200$ in more fun instruments but... do what you want. i understand we are here to talk about stuff and all, but i guess i just realize that i disagree with 75% of what's said anyway. i don't hear music the same way most do so i'm not sure what good it is to subject myself to stuff like this anymore.

ha, sorry for the rant and all. guess it had to come out.

[zerocrossing]

for some fx the difference is negligible and vst can be as much fun.
but for certain things, hw wins, actual tape delay, phasers, flangers, fuzz
even chorus theres something about the analogue modulation fx that so far digital hasn't quite got right.

now, obvs, there are great digital versions of some of these, which are useful, it really depends on how close you personally need things to be.
ie not everyone loves fuzz, so a digital one might cover your needs. me, i can sit and listen to my guitar feeding back through different fuzz and sit for a while just absorbing the sound so the "failings" of an analogue unit add to that.

horses and courses

Yeah, I wonder how close something like an analog chorus, Strymon Möbius and Valhalla Übermod are to each other. I’m usually right there with you for Fuzz and distortion. Even though I love my Kemper, I still keep an analog fuzz and a tube drive in its effects loop. That said, I was listening to one of the Strymon distortion pedals and I thought that sounded excellent. The modeled fuzz in the Kemper is pretty good too. I think if you throw enough processor power at anything you can get good results.

[zerocrossing]

the older i get the more i realize this comes down to what you subscribe to as musical. if you need a more immediate and playable set up go for it. if you want to sit in front of a screen and program everything to lifeless perfection don't.

personally i would invest 1200$ in more fun instruments but... do what you want. i understand we are here to talk about stuff and all, but i guess i just realize that i disagree with 75% of what's said anyway. i don't hear music the same way most do so i'm not sure what good it is to subject myself to stuff like this anymore.

ha, sorry for the rant and all. guess it had to come out.

Oh, I’ve got a s-ton of other fun instruments. In no way am I lacking in immediate tactical gratification in terms of instruments.

But, I don’t subscribe to your “sit in front of a screen and program everything to lifeless perfection” characterization of working with plugins. I worked for an artist in the 80s who was all about “sit in front of a screen and program everything to lifeless perfection,” but using hardware. (I actually love her music, but she’s no Hendrix) I can often get creative with software in a way that’s much harder with hardware. Take MXXX. Sure, I could get maybe even better results with some $5000 Eventide box, but I can work so quickly and intuitively that I’m more likely to experiment. Even with pedals, switching the order of effects is simple, and creating a control macro that effects 5 parameters at once is a breeze. Of course, a hands on dedicated device has its own charms.

[vurt]

Yeah, I wonder how close something like an analog chorus, Strymon Möbius and Valhalla Übermod are to each other. I’m usually right there with you for Fuzz and distortion. Even though I love my Kemper, I still keep an analog fuzz and a tube drive in its effects loop. That said, I was listening to one of the Strymon distortion pedals and I thought that sounded excellent. The modeled fuzz in the Kemper is pretty good too. I think if you throw enough processor power at anything you can get good results.

cant comment on the kemper fuzz, have only heard them on videos in amp comparisons and id have to say, yeah, they did something special with those kemper modelling amps, which makes you wonder why no other company seems to have managed a great digital amp? most sound a little "not in the room" if you get me? whereas they seem to have nailed grabbing the tones from other amps?
seriously, boggles my mind

the strymon stuff, their delays and reverbs
but I personally wasn't too fond of the gain stuff, there was something i couldn't quite put my finger on in the sound. that said, i hate the tube screamer sound for example and that's a favourite pedal classic! so maybe its just one of those "youre not going to like every flavour" and they could well do a different pedal that does grab me

i suppose at the end of the day, its about whats going to make you (or whoever) more productive.
i love my soft synths, when i have a solid idea, i can sit and work on the computer and be more than happy.
on those occasions where im looking for something, then switching on and noodling around, is more fun and productive in hw.

and when they come together

[deastman]

I would take the Kemper over any of the Strymon distortion boxes any day.

Also, Mobius was the one box which really didn’t impress me at all. I thought the Boss MD500 sounded way better. The interface isn’t as friendly, but it wins sonically. Otherwise, I love the Strymon delays and reverbs.

[morelia]

These things (https://www.fractalaudio.com/p-fx8-mult ... edalboard/) are in my opinion incredible, and only 899 at present.

I have the AX8 which might be unnecessary but adds about an insane amount of guitar amps and cabinets.

something like adjust chorus speed at the same time I’m increasing feedback on a delay.

I find the knobs pretty good for tweaking but you won't be able to tweak more than one thing at a time.

[jens]

If you have that kind of money to burn, there's some nice analog (and hybrid) stuff out there... (such as the already mentioned Replicator)

[acousticglue]

I have Katana and it mostly sits. I have Digitech Whammy Plus and use for better pitch shifting. Had HMax and sent back, had GT1000 and sent back. I don't like a single company items. I like reordering chain of plugins. Content

[Tappistry]

These things (https://www.fractalaudio.com/p-fx8-mult ... edalboard/) are in my opinion incredible, and only 899 at present.

I have the AX8 which might be unnecessary but adds about an insane amount of guitar amps and cabinets.

The new Fractal FM3 was announced today. It's replacing the FX8, because it's using the same new Ares amp model technology from the Axe-FX III rack unit. (The FX8 was using the amp models from the previous generation rack unit).



Press Release
https://www.fractalaudio.com/tmp/190423 ... ultiFX.pdf

[Acid Mitch]

....

[Heartfeltdawn]

So... I had this idea to take the Arturia MicroFreak (pre-ordered) and pair it with some pedals like the Strymon Timeline, Möbius, etc. Maybe an Analog Heat. I’ve got about $1200 to spend. Now I’m getting cold feet. I’ve got a bunch of great plugin effects, including the new Valhalla Delay, Shimmer, MXXX, Soundtoys bundle, etc. Great stuff. I’ve been running them inside Maschine FX to get instant access to a knobby interface, but it’s one plugin at a time. I’m not looking for a “no computer” setup. My computer is always on. Should I just forget this foolishness, get a few plugins that I’ve been hanker’n for, or is it worth it to have all the knobs laid out there all nice. The idea is that this will be sort of an experiment station.

I'm someone who had two pedalboards worth over $6000 and a wet-dry-wet triple amp setup 7 years ago, with the amps worth over $7k. The happiest and most creative I ever was with the guitar involved going down to two solid state amps, a few pedals, and a Boss GT3. Well under $1k.

If you want to tinker with effects and experiment a bit, grab something like the Line 6 Helix HX for multi-effects and an EHX Stereo Memory Man with Hazarai. The looper has so many experimental possibilities.

[Jace-BeOS]

With $1200 I would get a summing mixer and or something like the Behringer X-Touch that way you can also optimize the investment you already have in VSTs

I own an X-Touch. It does not by any stretch of the imagination make parameter tweaking more convenient or fun. It’s one plugin at a time, unobvious labeling, and the resolution is lacking. It does not replace hardware controls of that type. It’s made for mixer and transport.

EDIT: That said, it’s definitely a useful device for what it was intended to provide. I’m just not at all impressed with it as a plugin controller.

[foosnark]

I was up to 6 pedals and I'm back down to 2. My feeling is, VST effects are great, but Eurorack or pedal effects can sometimes do things software can't, and those are worthwhile.

Feedback loops are a big deal for me. Red Panda Tensor and Chase Bliss Dark World both love them.

Most of the cool pedals I get a craving for, I tell myself I can cover with other gear. I'm not entirely sure of this in every case, but it holds back GAS...

[foosnark]

Having said that, I made the mistake of watching more videos for the Particle and now I want one. I could probably cover a lot of its territory with ER-301, but I could probably also spend days failing to get there (while encountering plenty of other cool stuff on the way).

[Heartfeltdawn]

Having said that, I made the mistake of watching more videos for the Particle and now I want one. I could probably cover a lot of its territory with ER-301, but I could probably also spend days failing to get there (while encountering plenty of other cool stuff on the way).

The Particle's good but the Montreal Assembly Count to 5 is better.