rackmount multi-effects NOT for reverb

[telepathy]

I'm at the point where my reverb & delay needs are covered, but I sometimes have reason to want effects that reverbs & delays can't provide - auto-panning, flanging, phasing, tremolo, triggered panning, etc. My setup is all-analog.

Of course I can use the delays & the tape machines for flanging, but that's a pain. I can hook up a reamp, a DI, and guitar pedals for phasing & tremolo, but that's often too much time & hassle for something that may or may not fit the task at hand. Especially when sometimes the client doesn't know what they want, and just wants to try things - that's not a time to spend twenty minutes setting something up when I just as well might have to ditch it if it doesn't work. I really don't want to spend hundreds of dollars on something like an ADR PanScan that, while awesome, would basically serve as a one-trick pony.

so ... talk me out of buying an SPX-90.

(or maybe that's what I need.) I spent way too many years doing live sound in clubs having to deal with the SPX-90's hashy, noisy, shitty sounding reverbs to ever want to own one. But I'm starting to realize every once in awhile that a digital multi-effects box would work in certain applications. Especially if I can get away with spending a few hundred dollars for a single-rackspace stereo unit that does all that stuff.

thoughts?

[rhythm ranch]

Look for a used Kurzweil Mangler.

[Gregg Juke]

Well, I guess there's a couple ways to go. There are any number of boxes out there that can do that stuff. If you decide against the SPX, you might want to look at some of the Alesis products.

But I also wondered if you had considered a nice delay unit to augment your reverbs? With the two working in tandem, you might get most of what you want without some of the funny patches you'll probably never use.

My favorite delay is an old MXR rackmount unit, but I also have an Effectron Jr. that I haven't put to much use. But folks around here speak very highly of the Effectrons.

GJ

[telepathy]

But folks around here speak very highly of the Effectrons.

straight up. I have three of 'em!

all the delays do plenty, and I use them in every mix, but there's a good amount of stereo processing that I can't approximate with mono delays, as well as a few things (like panning) that my delays simply can't do.

[drumsound]

Look for a used Kurzweil Mangler.

I agree. The Mangler is a great little box, and who doesn't want to own something called a MANGLER?

[A.David.MacKinnon]

Don't forget the Eventide Harmonizer. It's a weird and wonderful box if you can find one that works.
I just had one given to me but it smells like burnt plastic when I plug it in. Waiting o a little cash flow before it gets sent to Eventide for a rehab.

[telepathy]

Look for a used Kurzweil Mangler.

I agree. The Mangler is a great little box, and who doesn't want to own something called a MANGLER?

I can dig that logic!

Mangler seems cool, even if just for modulation effects. how's the pitch shifting?

Don't forget the Eventide Harmonizer. It's a weird and wonderful box if you can find one that works.

I've been a little scared off by the prices most of the desirable Harmonizers command. any advice on specific models? I know the H3000 is standard but you never see it for less than a grand or so.

[Gregg Juke]

Just as an aside-- I often wonder why people don't do things like, y'know, give me an Eventide Harmonizer!

GJ

[cgarges]

I think the Lexicon MPX-1 is an under-rated box for effecty stuff, but it's a pain to program and not the most flexible thing on the planet. On a budget, the SPX-90 is fantastic. The choruses in particular are really great and there are some pitch shift programs that can kind of do a similar thing to that H3000 micropitchshift. The Yamaha SPX 900 is even cooler. One totally under-rated box is the Dynacord DRP-15. It's not totally easy to program either, but it has some really, really terrific flangers and other useful goofiness in it. Of course, the H3000 is a really great box, too, and is the quickest path to all the Daniel Lanois floaty, shimmery stuff. I've seen them sell in the solid $700-$900 category for the last few years, but maybe they've gone back up recently.

Oh also, I don't one one, but the Sony V55 is a very cool box, too. It's got a couple different DSP engines in it and has flexible routing, etc. It was kind of a budget descendant of their DRP series, which were some very cool units. I'm partial to the reverbs in those things, but they had some other cool effect stuff going on, too.

Chris Garges
Charlotte, NC

[Scodiddly]

Before I finished reading the original post I was thinking "SPX-something". Yup, those are great boxes, and most of them still work just fine. All the ones we've got stockpiled at work (rental company) have either been working perfectly since they were new, or have had very simple power supply repairs.

[drumsound]

I suppose I should patch in my SPX990 more often. I do like 60s sweep flange...

[telepathy]

how do the SPX-90, -900, and -990 stack up? I'm used to having to use some severe low-pass on the -90's reverbs in live situations to deal with the hash & noise. is that the case with all the programs, or with the other units?

[Scodiddly]

The -90 is definitely earlier digital, though I don't remember the rate/bits. So the higher the number, the cleaner the conversions and the better the effects. Depends on what you're going for, trashy or smooth.

When I was a college bar sound dude I really liked the grainy reverbs on the SPX-90, because they cut through nicely for those all-important 80's reverbed toms.

[telepathy]

When I was a college bar sound dude I really liked the grainy reverbs on the SPX-90, because they cut through nicely for those all-important 80's reverbed toms.

I'm going for the opposite of that sentence. I say this with nothing but love, as a fellow live guy!

seriously, nothing trashy/grainy/low-res/etc. The idea is that I can always hook up the Leslie for rotation, or any of a bunch of Fender or Ampeg amps for tremolo, or my Strymon Orbit Flanger for flanging, etc., but I'm looking for something that can function more like a Swiss Army knife for lighter duty stuff.

when the Leslie is what the track absolutely needs, then I'll put up mics & set up reamps & spend twenty minutes on careful gain-staging & everything, but when the issue is "this guitar track needs ... something" it'd be nice to dial through some presets & see what sticks. not to mention access to things my current gear can't do, like serious pitch-shifting.

anyone else on the different SPX models?

checking out the Mangler I really do like the option of serious editing capabilities beneath, but a general user-friendly version on the surface, to audition sounds. do you guys Mangle real deep with the options, or use it more for plug-&-play stuff, scenarios you're familiar with?

[drumsound]

When I was a college bar sound dude I really liked the grainy reverbs on the SPX-90, because they cut through nicely for those all-important 80's reverbed toms.

I'm going for the opposite of that sentence. I say this with nothing but love, as a fellow live guy!

seriously, nothing trashy/grainy/low-res/etc. The idea is that I can always hook up the Leslie for rotation, or any of a bunch of Fender or Ampeg amps for tremolo, or my Strymon Orbit Flanger for flanging, etc., but I'm looking for something that can function more like a Swiss Army knife for lighter duty stuff.

when the Leslie is what the track absolutely needs, then I'll put up mics & set up reamps & spend twenty minutes on careful gain-staging & everything, but when the issue is "this guitar track needs ... something" it'd be nice to dial through some presets & see what sticks. not to mention access to things my current gear can't do, like serious pitch-shifting.

anyone else on the different SPX models?

checking out the Mangler I really do like the option of serious editing capabilities beneath, but a general user-friendly version on the surface, to audition sounds. do you guys Mangle real deep with the options, or use it more for plug-&-play stuff, scenarios you're familiar with?

I just do really simple tweaks to the basic sound that works. I think my favorite preset to start with is Ned Flangers.