2020 a year in gear (what have you/are you bought/buying?)

[elxsound]

I've got a question about reverb/delay units and since Meris has both Eurorack versions in additions to pedal, I thought it'd be a good question to ask here...

I want to have a flexible delay and reverb choice on my pedalboard for use with synths and guitars and right now I'm looking at getting the following:

Meris Polymoon
Meris Mercury7

These seem to do all that I want in a pedal, but does anyone know of any drawbacks with using these? I'm learning that the majority of hardware demo videos online seem to be lovefests more than anything critical.

the only "drawback" if it can be called that, imo, is they dont really do basic rev or delay. they are quite special sounding at all times, but man, that reverb is a beauty, been on the list for a while and meris stuff is built like tanks, i have the ottobit jr. and great quality too, but again not so generic, so if you are looking for that, maybe not the best choice

For Mercury7, I saw a video where they pulled off a convincing room verb using the lo/hi frequency knobs for shaping, but honestly it’s all the extra sounds it can pull off that grabbed my attention.

if its the character that grabbed you,ive not heard anything quite like it tbh.
but other good ones to look at might be strymon, the big sky has a few more basic bits but also has some beautiful and quite unique algos, the choral shimmer is lush as f**k!

less expensive and still fun, earthquaker devices transmisser and afterneath are nice. as guitar pedals though, only mono if thats an issue.

I was looking for stereo reverb with a mono in/stereo out. I actually was not a fan of Big Sky... I mean yes, there are absolutely some beautiful algos on it, but some others I just wasn't impressed by.

This is how I felt with many of the multi-effect units out there. I've been torn looking at doubling up some mono pedals vs stumbling on Mercury7... which always worries me, because yeah they look great until it doesn't do what you thought it did!

Its pre-honeymoon/honeymoon phase. That should be a pedal name for a phaser.

[vurt]

im the same with the big sky.
yes, its lovely, just not for me, too much normal, considering the price as well. for basic verb, ehx cathedral. then the few nice algos dont seem to justify the price to me.
can do most of it in software.

[elxsound]

if you ever feel youve gone too far, just ask cpt for a rundown of his pedals

dunno if ypu watch nick and juan on pedals and effects?
their ottobit demo vid had me scrabbling for my card details.

their enzo video is funny though, for the part where juan "shit in a bin"

not really, his cool as feck accent makes "i shouldnt have been" "i shit in a bin"
i like those two, they seem like my kind of artists/musos, excited about new stuff and always trying to see what it can do!!! no "heres a lovely delay sound" demos.

I just started watching their videos. I actually picked up Tensor after their review (but I'm selling it now that some of its duplicated via Blooper/MOOD minus the ease of use compared to dialing in Tensor).

Yeah I love how raw the videos are. I'm gonna have to check out the Enzo one now!

EDIT: I forgot to add... I think I'm scared to see cpt's rundown. That's pretty much how I ended up with Blooper/MOOD. Justin3am's is another scary one.

[elxsound]

im the same with the big sky.
yes, its lovely, just not for me, too much normal, considering the price as well. for basic verb, ehx cathedral. then the few nice algos dont seem to justify the price to me.
can do most of it in software.

Exactly! That's what I was trying to avoid... If I can get the same thing via software, then I might as well just use software.

[vurt]

those guys for weird stuff, that pedal show for nore down to earth guitsr tones, and knobs for well, just everything. even gear im not interested in, knobs does a nice presentation, so i watch.

[justin3am]

I've never encountered a pedal reverb that I really like. I've tried a lot but it's more the fact that a pedal chain is not conducive to the way I like to use reverb. I want something like ErbeVerb in pedal format with modulation options and an FX Loop, to process only the wet signal of the verb. And a goose who lays gold eggs for easter.

ZOIA probably comes closest.

[WatchTheGuitar]

those guys for weird stuff, that pedal show for nore down to earth guitsr tones, and knobs for well, just everything. even gear im not interested in, knobs does a nice presentation, so i watch.

I just watch because I love his playing, but now have my guitar GAS under control so don’t go pining for pedals etc anymore.

[vurt]

I've never encountered a pedal reverb that I really like. I've tried a lot but it's more the fact that a pedal chain is not conducive to the way I like to use reverb. I want something like ErbeVerb in pedal format with modulation options and an FX Loop, to process only the wet signal of the verb. And a goose who lays gold eggs for easter.

ZOIA probably comes closest.

yeah my reverb choices in modular are completely different to my guitar choices.
but then theres the option to cross polinate both ways
i have been known to fire the modular up, judt to play guitar through one of my springs

still need to add a zoia here

[vurt]

those guys for weird stuff, that pedal show for nore down to earth guitsr tones, and knobs for well, just everything. even gear im not interested in, knobs does a nice presentation, so i watch.

I just watch because I love his playing, but now have my guitar GAS under control so don’t go pining for pedals etc anymore.

yeah his demos are nice too, again more guitsr tone than weird shit

[kevvvvv]

ATOM SQ is a likely buy for me.

[elxsound]

I've never encountered a pedal reverb that I really like. I've tried a lot but it's more the fact that a pedal chain is not conducive to the way I like to use reverb. I want something like ErbeVerb in pedal format with modulation options and an FX Loop, to process only the wet signal of the verb. And a goose who lays gold eggs for easter.

ZOIA probably comes closest.

With ZOIA, are you able to run a Delay into a reverb, or is it only one effect at a time? EDIT: Yes it does (watching videos now)

I actually forgot about ZOIA, but I realize I should look into it especially if its running cheaper than buying both Polymoon and Mercury7.

[justin3am]

With ZOIA you can add as many modules as the DSP can handle. The Ghostverb is really heavy on DSP but it sounds really nice. With the other verbs, I can cram more modulation and other effects, into the patch.
ZOIA is surprisingly not very fiddly to program. I tend to stick to a single page and accessing a parameter is as simple as pressing it's associated button. It's even more fun if you pair it with a MIDI controller. ZOIA is also incredibly useful for modulating any other effects you have that can be controlled via MIDI.

[elxsound]

With ZOIA you can add as many modules as the DSP can handle. The Ghostverb is really heavy on DSP but it sounds really nice. With the other verbs, I can cram more modulation and other effects, into the patch.
ZOIA is surprisingly not very fiddly to program. I tend to stick to a single page and accessing a parameter is as simple as pressing it's associated button. It's even more fun if you pair it with a MIDI controller. ZOIA is also incredibly useful for modulating any other effects you have that can be controlled via MIDI.

I was watching Cuckoo's (mega) walkthrough and it looks very easy to get going.

As someone who has it though... Do you use it for you "general" delay or reverb uses, or do you reach for other tools first?

[elxsound]

those guys for weird stuff, that pedal show for nore down to earth guitsr tones, and knobs for well, just everything. even gear im not interested in, knobs does a nice presentation, so i watch.

That Enzo is great... I with I hadn’t seen them use it on on a drum machine. I thought I was safe from GAS on the one.

Watching more videos on Meris stuff... I hope they enter the Eurorack scene because it just seems like it should be made in that format already.

[justin3am]

As someone who has it though... Do you use it for you "general" delay or reverb uses, or do you reach for other tools first?

Yes, sometimes... or at least, I will make a more general delay, part of the patch. I tend to start with a simple patch and build on it as I go.
If you are asking if I go to it before other delays/reverbs... Not really. I just use whatever. It usually starts with an idea and then use whatever will make it easy to get there. I'll do scratch tracks with whatever is already patched up and sometimes that ends up being the final take. I do use it frequently though, so it's usually patched up.