Let me preface this post by saying there are no clips. Honestly, I'd like to set something up to record clips in the future, but I'm not really sure which route to go, so if anyone has any advice I'd be willing to listen. I have a Zoom H2 on the way (for capturing ideas mostly) but I'm not sure it's ideal for effects clips.
Anyway, here are the two phasers I currently have:
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So here's a quick rundown:
Toadworks Phantasm
Very musical and incredibly tweakable. As the toadworks owner posted, it has a larger offset than other 4 stage phasers. I wouldn't say that it sounds like a 6 stage, but there is a noticeable difference compared to a normal script circuit phaser. It has VERY low noise (less than any other phaser I've tried) and the AC switches (Attack Controlled Depth and Attack Controlled Sweep) are very cool.
The Rate knob has a wide range (though I find most phasers unusable after a certain speed anyway) and width and axis knobs give you a lot of control over the range that gets swept through and where that sweep starts.
Alas, here's the problem I have with it. It simply isn't thick enough for me. Believe me, I wanted to love this phaser, but this is a deal breaker for me. Now, to be fair, I like a very thick phase sound and the Phantasm is about on par with the MXR and thicker than the Nebula from what I remember of it. Not that it matters much here, but it sounds
incredible on guitar. But without taking this to a rehearsal or gig I already know that it isn't thick enough to be heard in a mix. It's headed back.
Maxon PH-350 Rotary Phaser
This one is less cut and dried. There are things I love about this pedal and things I hate.
What I love: With three knobs and three different stages (4, 6, & 10) this phaser has a wide range of sounds. You can go from warm vintage phasing to pseudo flange to burpy, synthetic sounds. Turning the feedback further into the positive range gives the phasing a fairly vocal quality. As a side note, I was disappointed with the negative feedback settings on this pedal until I tried the negative feedback on the Phantasm and found the same thing. Not only do both sound subtle on bass, I'm just not a fan of the sound.
What I hate: The wet/dry mix is automatically set at 50/50. I know you can run this thing in stereo and I think that means you'd get completely wet and dry signals out of each output but I don't know. If that is the case, I wish they would have included a switch between a 50/50 and a 100% wet mix. Some of the tones I like the most are hard to hear in a mix because of this.
Also, this thing makes some cool noises, but many of them take on a very "plastic" feel, something I initially liked about my Boss PH-3 but ultimately tired of. Another big problem is that this thing goes into crazy self-oscillation at either extreme of the feedback knob. Last band practice I turned on my amp without realizing the feedback knob had been bumped during the drive. It was ear piercing. It would be one thing if this was usable, but to me it's just a drawback.
Ultimately what it comes down to with this phaser is that I like it a lot but I don't love it. And at this price point I should love it. At the moment I'm thinking both of them are headed back.
However I DO want a phaser on my board so I'm not sure what direction to go. I may try out the Tap-A-Phase, though right now I'm thinking the Psilocybe is the way to go for a thick phase. Other than that? I am considering going back to the Nano Stone that I sold quite a while ago. I didn't love that phaser either, but I was OK with not loving it considering the price tag.
