Which multi effects pedal do you use?

[SamIAm]

3 hours ago, Woodinblack said:

 

Was specifically refering to the midi ports here

Ah sorry, the dwarf has one in and one out 3.5mm TRS MIDI type A ports.  I'm a wee bit blind to them as I only use MIDI over USB. And AFAIK there is no MIDI adapter supplied.

S'manth x

Edited April 19, 2023 by Smanth

[Woodinblack]

20 minutes ago, Smanth said:

Ah sorry, the dwarf has one in and one out 3.5mm TRS MIDI type A ports.  I'm a wee bit blind to them as I only use MIDI over USB. And AFAIK there is no MIDI adapter supplied.

 

Yes, hence the conversations about the 3.5mm sockets not being great for midi above!

 

I watched a few videos, most of them didn't have the leads but one of them did, so maybe at the start they came with them but they don't seem to now.

Since then I have found out on midi.org that the 3.5mm socket *is* a midi standard these days.

[BigRedX]

17 minutes ago, Woodinblack said:

Since then I have found out on midi.org that the 3.5mm socket *is* a midi standard these days.

 

It's almost as if they want MIDI to fail....

[Woodinblack]

I think midi is doing ok

I would also hazard a guess that most synths spend their lives in one room and never go on a stage.

[SteveFromBerlin]

Axe FM3. 🤘🎸

[BigRedX]

17 hours ago, Woodinblack said:

I think midi is doing ok

I would also hazard a guess that most synths spend their lives in one room and never go on a stage.

 

I've always used synths (and MIDI since 1984) on stage. 

 

At the time MIDI was the answer to all our high-tech interconnectivity problems. Before that our gear was all different standards - Oct/volt and Hz/volt CV, +ve gates and s-trig, sync24 etc and we had numerous interface boxes and custom leads to get the all to talk to each other. Publications like E&MM which still put out circuit diagrams for this sort of stuff were essential reading in order to solve these kinds of problems. Luckily most of this stuff stayed in the studio and we just used recordings of it live. We did have to modify both the KX5 keytars we had in order to make them suitably gig-proof (all that posing you saw people doing on TotP with them was impossible in the real world without having to deal with numerous stuck notes and power problems).

 

By the mid 90s I was running full MIDI backing for my band live on stage. We had about 15U of rack-mounted samplers and synths doing the keyboard parts as well as controlling the effects and patch changes for the live instruments - guitar, bass, electronic drums and vocals and doing the basic mix for each song, all from a MIDI file running from an Akai Sampler.

 

Of course nowadays you can run most of this "in the box" from a single laptop. I can see one of my bands dispensing with MIDI on stage within the next 18 months apart from the link between a controller keyboard and the computer, and I'll be using the plug-in version of the Helix along with any other VSTs I need to process the bass.

[Al Krow]

Released last year with a £700+ price tag. Not seen too much on this, and doesn't seem to have made much of a splash with existing bass multi-fx users on this side of the Pond? I guess that boils down to feature set vs cost, and established competition from the Helix Stomp and GT1000 Core which are arguably bothe better featured and less expensive.

[SumOne]

15 hours ago, Al Krow said:

Released last year with a £700+ price tag. Not seen too much on this, and doesn't seem to have made much of a splash with existing bass multi-fx users on this side of the Pond? I guess that boils down to feature set vs cost, and established competition from the Helix Stomp and GT1000 Core which are arguably bothe better featured and less expensive.

 

I'm sure that Fractal is good.....not so sure it is £700 worth of good though. I know it is the sound that really matters, but it has the look of a Valeton GP 200 LT (£200)  https://www.valeton.net/GP-200LT.html

 

 

[SumOne]

To throw a new contender for multi-fx: Laptop + UA Volt 2 (interface) + Gig Performer 5 (software) + Luminite Graviton M2 (MIDI controller).

 

If you already have a decent enough Laptop and interface then it is just-about cost effective at approx £370. (about £160 for the Gig Performer and £210 for the Luminite controller). 

 

Benefits are the huge amount of free Plugins - many are really good, or paid ones that are generally a lot cheaper than the pedal equivalent. And almost limitless routing and programming potential.

 

Downsides for me haven't actually been the ones people usually mention (latency, reliability, non-roadworthy, faff) as they either haven't been big issues or are fairly easy to mitigate. It is that I still need a tuner (as I don't want the Laptop open and the MIDI controller doesn't display it), and while it is easy to replicate hardware footswitch controls it isn't easy to control parameters live (it would mean buying an additional MIDI controller with knobs).  So I'll end up needing to use a tuner, and possibly an additional MIDI controller, or hardware pedals for the ones I want to change parameters live....before I know it I'll need a pedalboard/power brick and I'll  be where I started with hardware pedals but now also needing to integrate Laptop/interface/MIDI controller etc too!  Also, I don't have particularly complex effects needs (playing Ska and Reggae) but play in some grotty places so I am starting to go full-circle and thinking tough but simple 'what you see is what you get' Boss compact pedals are where I'll head next.

Edited January 14 by SumOne

[Baloney Balderdash]

On 19/04/2023 at 13:36, Baloney Balderdash said:

A Zoom B1Xon and a Zoom G1on currently on my board, and love them, using a 3rd party firmware hack app to get exactly the collection of the same generation of Zoom effect models (all effect models from the G1(X)on, B1(X)on, MS-50G, MS-60B, MS-70CDR available to freely chose from, and working flawlessly) on them that I wish (something Zoom really ought to have made possible themself right from the start as far as I am concerned). 

 

I love the B1Xon, that uses same previous generation Zoom effect models as the current production Multi Stomp boxes, which in my opinion is far superior to the current generation Zoom B1 Four and G1 Four (which I do actually own both of, but will likely never use again because of how horrible they are), both in terms of flexibility/customization options/tweakability and controls, but actually also in terms of sound quality.

 

I also own a Zoom MS-70CDR and a backup Zoom G1Xon, loaded, via the firmware hack app that I mentioned, with the same custom collection of Zoom effect models as my B1Xon.

 

If I was to upgrade it would probably end up being for the MOD Dwarf, or possibly either a HoTone Ampero II Stomp or a Boss GT-1000 Core.

 

But I am actually really satisfied with my Zoom multi effects, except for the drive and pitch effects and the amp/cab sims, which are admittedly pretty bad, but just about every other effect (comp, filter, mod, delay, reverb) in these previous generation Zoom multi effects sounds genuinely great as far as I am concerned (and as said, as far as I am concerned, way better than the current generation Zoom multi effect units/digital effect models), just about as good as anything really.

 

Unless something other more interesting happens in the meantime I am pretty sure my next multieffect will be a Boss GX-10.

 

Edited January 15 by Baloney Balderdash

[BigRedX]

Both the Fractal and Valeton fail the BRX gig worthiness test by having horrible mini-jacks for MIDI (unforgivable on the Valeton where there appears to be plenty of room for DIN sockets) and a non-locking connector for the external PSU. I would also hope that both come with a decent computer-based editor as the displays look very small.

[SumOne]

On 15/01/2025 at 11:51, Baloney Balderdash said:

Unless something other more interesting happens in the meantime I am pretty sure my next multieffect will be a Boss GX-10.

 

 

Yeah, it looks good. I had the GX-100 and was impressed. It sounded good and had some decent features - like the expression pedal engaging the tuner, and the touchscreen. The main thing I didn't like was that the footswitches didn't light up like the Line 6 pedals.  

 

 

Edited Thursday at 13:31 by SumOne

[SumOne]

My list of multi-fx ex's has grown a bit!  Zoom (B1-four, MS-60B, MS-60B+, MS70 CDR), Line 6 (Effects, Stomp, Stomp XL, Pod Go),  Boss (GX-100, GT 1000 Core), Valeton (GP-200).

 

What particularly gets me with any multi-fx in terms of sound is they are great for EQ, compression, HPF/LPF, IR, modulation, delays, complex routing, but none are as good as individual pedals for Envelope Filter, Synths, or Analogue Octavers (although some of the digital ones are pretty good and track better). I think that might be as a big part of the multi-fx market is guitarists - and they aren't so fussed about those things.  If you aren't so fussy about those those effects then a multi-fx can be your whole pedalboard, but if you do want those specific sounds then you need the multi-fx to be just one part of your pedalboard (e.g. adding a GT-1000 Core or Stomp to your pedalboard).

 

So I dunno, I don't think they are quite there for me yet as a pedalboard replacement (and that is before considering the interface and lack of 'what you see is what you get'). The minute there is a multi-fx with the equivalent of a Source Audio C4 built-in for decent filters and synth and octaver I'll be all over it.

 

The Boss GX-10 is next on my list as is probably small enough to be included as part of a pedalboard if needed, or can be used on its own for when I don't need envelope filters and synths, and at £350 is similar cost of having an individual BB-1X and BC-1X. 

 

Edited Thursday at 14:45 by SumOne

[Al Krow]

1 hour ago, SumOne said:

What particularly gets me with any multi-fx in terms of sound is they are great for EQ, compression, HPF/LPF, IR, modulation, delays, complex routing, but none are as good as individual pedals for Envelope Filter, Synths, or Analogue Octavers (although some of the digital ones are pretty good and track better). I think that might be as a big part of the multi-fx market is guitarists - and they aren't so fussed about those things.  If you aren't so fussy about those those effects then a multi-fx can be your whole pedalboard, but if you do want those specific sounds then you need the multi-fx to be just one part of your pedalboard (e.g. adding a GT-1000 Core or Stomp to your pedalboard).

 

100% agreed! In my case I've a Zoom B1-4 as the 'core' plus dedicated envelope filter, synth and octaver. The only addition to your list for me of "can't do as well" is overdrive/fuzz, but that may be a limitation of the Zoom and the GT1000 Core may be able to hit the mark better?

[SumOne]

13 minutes ago, Al Krow said:

 

100% agreed! In my case I've a Zoom B1-4 as the 'core' plus dedicated envelope filter, synth and octaver. The only addition to your list for me of "can't do as well" is overdrive/fuzz, but that may be a limitation of the Zoom and the GT1000 Core may be able to hit the mark better?

 

Yeah, I agree that analogue overdrive/fuzz does tend to sound better. Multi-fx get close, but there is just something a bit lacking. Once going through my amp/cab it does all get difficult to tell much difference though as the fuzzy subtleties get lost so it isn't something I'm as fussed about as envelope filters and synth stuff. 

[Woodinblack]

I will say that the boss ME90B has some great sounding fuzz, overdrive and distortion that sounds sort of like boss standalone versions of the above. Also the chorus takes me back to the day in 1981 when I bought a boss chorus pedal - like exactly the same. Shame I don't really use chorus much really.

Envelope filters it has too, the synth stuff isn't great though, which is a shame as you think they could throw something in there that sounded at least like an SY1.

[MrDinsdale]

A half dsp QC in a stomp-like enclosure with captures and support for plugins would be the dream, bonus for a 2nd fx loop and a DI. Personally Im not super attached to the idea that a multifx should replace my entire pedalboard, I'm more than happy to add in my own comp, preamp or whatever else I feel I'm missing.