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Aguilar Octamizer DLX (Deluxe)
- Thread starter Winton
- Start date
I tend not to jump on hype trains anymore, having spent way too much money on disappointing products fuelled by social media buzz, but... this seems like my ultimate dream pedal.
My favourite octave pedal has always been the Octamizer. This is an Octamizer.
Sometimes, though, I want an OC-2. This is an OC-2.
I've always wanted an OC-2 pedal with a sub/dry switch like the 3 Leaf Audio Octabvre. This has that switch, and unlike the Octabvre 3, the switches don't seem annoyingly close together.
I've been looking at POGs for some time now. This is a POG.
Questions:
It sounds like the octave down is digital? I don't know that I'm against digital octaves — the OC-5 pretty much sounds like an OC-2 to me — but I've found that the iffy tracking of analog octavers kinda adds something to the effect. It forces you to play in a way you wouldn't normally.
It doesn't seem like it's polyphonic, either. I mean, if it's digital, why not go a step further and make it polyphonic?
I wish there were a way to save presets for the two octave down sounds. What if I like my clean filter a certain way with the Octamizer but another for the OC2?
The form factor seems weird. It's hard to tell, but I hope they're not as short as Zvex pedals. Those have always been awkward to put on a pedal board. At least the jacks are not on the sides. But couldn't they have made a wider Octamizer?
My favourite octave pedal has always been the Octamizer. This is an Octamizer.
Sometimes, though, I want an OC-2. This is an OC-2.
I've always wanted an OC-2 pedal with a sub/dry switch like the 3 Leaf Audio Octabvre. This has that switch, and unlike the Octabvre 3, the switches don't seem annoyingly close together.
I've been looking at POGs for some time now. This is a POG.
Questions:
It sounds like the octave down is digital? I don't know that I'm against digital octaves — the OC-5 pretty much sounds like an OC-2 to me — but I've found that the iffy tracking of analog octavers kinda adds something to the effect. It forces you to play in a way you wouldn't normally.
It doesn't seem like it's polyphonic, either. I mean, if it's digital, why not go a step further and make it polyphonic?
I wish there were a way to save presets for the two octave down sounds. What if I like my clean filter a certain way with the Octamizer but another for the OC2?
The form factor seems weird. It's hard to tell, but I hope they're not as short as Zvex pedals. Those have always been awkward to put on a pedal board. At least the jacks are not on the sides. But couldn't they have made a wider Octamizer?
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I have the both the Octamizer and OC-2 on my board. Octamizer for clean+sub, OC-2 for sub only. Neither can toggle clean on/off like the Octabvre, so I have both for now.
This new Octamizer DLX solves that problem. Also the new second sub voice really sounds like they are trying to emulate the OC-2 sound so that is a big plus. The octave up is a plus I may or may not use (I have another pedal for that with more voices).
But I agree with you, I like the nature and character of the analog octavers. It has made me a better and conscientious player.
If this were analog, I'd almost certainly replace my Octamizer v2 with it. And it if the new voice really is the OC-2 sound, I'd replace that as well. Though it is digital, I still am tempted, and I agree that having some sort of preset saving system would be really nice. Switch between filter settings, but also sub voice settings as well.
I am pretty biased against digital octaves, but this definitely sounds really good in the video and seems really well implemented for what it does (being able to switch between these two different sub-octave voices with a footswitch and toggle the clean on and off in particular). I usually hate digital octave-up sounds, but with the filter all the way down I could see use for that too. I'll have to try one in person to know for sure how it would work for me- its usually the feel that really kills digital octaves for me compared to the immediacy of the OC-2, MXR VBO or the original Octamizer. I own and use most of the digital bass synth pedals, but still use my OC-2 or VBO more than any of them because of that immediacy of the analog octave divider approach and nothing digital has matched that feel yet for me.
For a minute I thought you had solved the preset issue. I would also use the OC-2 sound exclusively without the dry. But then I realized the presets matter even more — who’s to say I will like my octave filter in the same position for the two octave sounds? And having to bend to change the octave filter setting kinda defeats the purpose of the dry/wet switch.
I thought the OC-5 sounded great, but there was something weird to me about being able to play it like any other pedal.
But then I had the H90 for a bit and no longer found it weird. I guess by that point I had been playing octave pedals for longer and just played as if it wouldn’t track if I held the note or played lower.
The original octamizer is the most constant pedal on my board. 10 seconds into the video "DLX engine"... soft nope. Maybe I'll warm up to it, but every digital pedal I've tries has integration problems with other pedals.
Is there a chorus of folks asking for digital deluxe versions of analog pedals that just work? I haven't heard it but I do hear the opposite.
Is there a chorus of folks asking for digital deluxe versions of analog pedals that just work? I haven't heard it but I do hear the opposite.
That's quite nice.
I don't think I would use all of these features, but it's pretty cool how much it can do.
I don't think I would use all of these features, but it's pretty cool how much it can do.
Listened on my phone and missed a few sections 
Color me interested. I’d watch another demo on that. I could be persuaded to buy it.
Color me interested. I’d watch another demo on that. I could be persuaded to buy it.
I LOVE my two V1 Aguilar pedals (Agro and TLC Compressor)!
I prefer the pre-Korg V1 pedals over the V2 pedals. But I like that Aguilar/Korg is innovating with the new DLX line. I have no need for either the Octamizer DLX or the TLC DLX Compressor. I love the octave up feature of the Octamizer DLX, but I don't need any sub-octave features because my bass goes low enough.
I prefer the pre-Korg V1 pedals over the V2 pedals. But I like that Aguilar/Korg is innovating with the new DLX line. I have no need for either the Octamizer DLX or the TLC DLX Compressor. I love the octave up feature of the Octamizer DLX, but I don't need any sub-octave features because my bass goes low enough.
It's interesting. I'm not interested in it for myself - if I were to incorporate an octave up, I would want it in parallel so I could process it separately, adding dirt or something to make it less ganky. That sound is not something I have wanted to hear from myself as it is.
I got my first Octamizer something like 12 or 13 years ago, and it was all I used in a singer/songwriter eclectic original rock band. I let it go in a sell off, but replaced it with another 4 or 5 ago.
I recently added a Broughton Subsonic (OC-2 style). I was curious, thinking it might replace the Octamizer for what I'm doing now (same rock band but also busy with an additional project that is more improv-based - rock band that jams).
I thought I was being excessive for having 2 octaves on my board, but Talkbass helped normalize that, as usual.
I love having both, and sometimes I turn both on. It usually means the end of the set. But they are so different, and both so useful, I see how this must have been a pretty exciting project to work on at Aguilar.
I'm not generally too fussed about the DSP thing. There are loads of plugins that I use regularly that sound like music when I use them, but I'm not completely removed from my analog, tube, vinyl purist past.
That said, one of the things I absolutely require from the Octamizer is that it falls apart and goes bonkers exactly the way it does. It seems like they're pretty proud of how they did "improve" on that. That's not how I want a low G to sound when the Octamizer is on.
I got my first Octamizer something like 12 or 13 years ago, and it was all I used in a singer/songwriter eclectic original rock band. I let it go in a sell off, but replaced it with another 4 or 5 ago.
I recently added a Broughton Subsonic (OC-2 style). I was curious, thinking it might replace the Octamizer for what I'm doing now (same rock band but also busy with an additional project that is more improv-based - rock band that jams).
I thought I was being excessive for having 2 octaves on my board, but Talkbass helped normalize that, as usual.
I love having both, and sometimes I turn both on. It usually means the end of the set. But they are so different, and both so useful, I see how this must have been a pretty exciting project to work on at Aguilar.
I'm not generally too fussed about the DSP thing. There are loads of plugins that I use regularly that sound like music when I use them, but I'm not completely removed from my analog, tube, vinyl purist past.
That said, one of the things I absolutely require from the Octamizer is that it falls apart and goes bonkers exactly the way it does. It seems like they're pretty proud of how they did "improve" on that. That's not how I want a low G to sound when the Octamizer is on.
Well well well. You think you’re out, but they just drag you back in!
Octamizer is my fave “normal” octaver, with a SubT for weirder applications.
I gotta say this is an inviting prospect for adding some octave up to my board, while expanding on my favorite octave down sounds.
What I wonder: when you defeat the clean tone with the center footswitch, does the sub tone get an automatic boost in volume? I feel like I want some kind of bias control (like on some vibe/tremolo pedals) to set the exact gain increase when switching to just sub.
Octamizer is my fave “normal” octaver, with a SubT for weirder applications.
I gotta say this is an inviting prospect for adding some octave up to my board, while expanding on my favorite octave down sounds.
What I wonder: when you defeat the clean tone with the center footswitch, does the sub tone get an automatic boost in volume? I feel like I want some kind of bias control (like on some vibe/tremolo pedals) to set the exact gain increase when switching to just sub.
Very interested in both the Octamizer DLX and the TLC DLX. Like others have said, I generally prefer analog but this sounds really good in the demo.
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I guess it could just also be a way to stand out in a flooded pedal market or just testing the waters? It is interesting to see this and the Darkglass Kaamos both coming out under the Korg umbrella.
I’m curious if the rampant cloning of any successful analog device might be a part of it? I’d certainly never start an analog pedal company in the modern AliExpress/Behringer era where people could just clone and sell my work and make it cheaper overseas without any recourse on my part- it kinda feels like the end of an era of the boutique analog pedal market to me is on the horizon. Digital IP is easier to protect, and with some precedence (EHX successfully won a suit against Mooer in Chinese courts when Mooer directly lifted their code for a few clone pedals). And there is this new era of analog companies selling and/or licensing plug-in versions of their signature products. A shame if so, as I would certainly love to see an analog Octamizer update!
Digital seems to be the focus for a lot of pedal companies at this point, but this is also perhaps related to their new direction under Korg (Darkglass has mostly focused on digital pedals under Korg as well).
I guess it could just also be a way to stand out in a flooded pedal market or just testing the waters? It is interesting to see this and the Darkglass Kaamos both coming out under the Korg umbrella.
I’m curious if the rampant cloning of any successful analog device might be a part of it? I’d certainly never start an analog pedal company in the modern AliExpress/Behringer era where people could just clone and sell my work and make it cheaper overseas without any recourse on my part- it kinda feels like the end of an era of the boutique analog pedal market to me is on the horizon. Digital IP is easier to protect, and with some precedence (EHX successfully won a suit against Mooer in Chinese courts when Mooer directly lifted their code for a few clone pedals). And there is this new era of analog companies selling and/or licensing plug-in versions of their signature products. A shame if so, as I would certainly love to see an analog Octamizer update!
I think we're on the same page. Just my guess is that digital pedals are much more scalable and ultimately much cheaper to build. Funky little analog components are always a supply chain problem (RIP Audere preamps, amongst others) and take more work to manufacture, require consistency, etc. If a little computer becomes obsolete, they just copy/paste the code into the next little computer and we're none the wiser. Add to that that the creation of the algorithm itself is now just an AI automated task and it's an impossible temptation for a Korg like company to avoid. For the time being, names like Aguilar can get analog prices for digital copies and it's a huge profit motivator.
None of that is to say that the results are better for music, or worse. My favorite envelope filter is the Fwonk, it's a digital pedal with a human crafted algorithm, it's amazing but I do have to manage it on my otherwise analog board when I use it.
I think I agree with you that we are on the edge of a shift about analog pedals, but I think the boutique analog stuff will survive in a retracted state that only serves ethical (if you believe in the ethics of IP) cork-sniffers like me.
I think for me the ultimate insult is understanding enough about how these things get put together, and then they're going to try to sell me a bunch of "deluxe" pedals at analog prices when in my mind it all belongs in a multi-effects unit.
My digital optimism is hopeful for a world where I can buy a nice piece of digital hardware and then just buy the code from Aguilar or Source Audio or whoever... hopefully I'm still playing when that arrives, but it wouldn't serve the Korg's of the world so the market will have to demand it.
EDIT: Acknowledging that was quite 'get off my lawn' ranty. I'm usually only good for one or two of those a year.
