Analogue vs Digital. 3leaf meh...

[BurningSkies]

As with many things in our world, it's really worth taking any unit (effects, amp, etc.) and judging it individually on the merits of the actual tone and how you perceive it.

Often, implementation is everything. I think it's easy to be caught in the modern/vintage, analog/digital, solid state/tube/switching paradigm and much of our relationship to that is based upon a certain romance of terminology and mythology.

On the road, I have a fairly large setup (both my pedals and my amp). I've had so many conversations with people who assume my tone is based on having traditional components; AlNiCo speakers, leds-led amps, tube power stages, analogue effects etc. They literally have no idea that my rig isn't any of the things they assume. I have absolutely no sense of loyalty to any of that and pick what works for me. So...old school tube preamp with high voltage, nice transformers into a modern high power Class D amp...albeit both of them are REALLY nice and well designed units. GOOD Neodymium magnet speakers rather than AlNiCo, and a mix and match of classic analog effects and digital stuff. I'd be perfectly happy with a really great sounding 'digital' preamp if I found one that did what I really loved. You have to price in the negative with the positives though. More weight or size, often less capacity in different ways, etc.

Often the 'old stuff' does some things that are different than the new stuff, but that can come with drawbacks...For instance the OC-2 vs. a modern octave or a unit like the C4. Pick your trade off along the way.

I really love my original RE-201 for delay and each RE is just a little different in flavor. At the same time, it's big, fragile, doesn't like humidity changes, etc. If I was pinned to using one all the time, I'd default to a Strymon Volante. Probably gets me 95% of the way there for character, but without the negatives.

 

[Quatschmacher]

There is digital controlled analog is all of our pedals with an analog dry path where levels are stored as part of a preset. Reflex has some too. We not only know all about it, but remember that Jesse and I came from Analog Devices and have been working with multiplying DACs since 1986. ADI basically invented this business.
There are so many limitations in the circuit architecture and everything is subject to digital zipper noise and other forms of digital cross talk. Some of the enthusiasm for this approach is valid, and some is brilliant marketing that preys on old school fear of digital. Our EQ2 is a great example of the power of digital. Creating that feature set with an analog signal path would lead to an enormous box with thousands of components and a really high noise floor. Not to mention a $5000 price point. We believe that, in general, well executed all digital pedals offer many paths to superiority over digital controlled analog. We are also an engineering led and driven company, and we avoid comprising our circuit designs to gain a marketing advantage. It may limit our access to those with a bias against digital, but we have opened thousands of minds to the potential of digital by being so committed to doing it well. The Aftershock is a huge success in a world where digital dirt was deemed impossible a few years ago. Long answer to why we are not likely going down that path.

You’re right, I hadn’t thought about the analogue dry component inherent in all the SA pedals!

Thanks for the insights into your reasons for not going that route.

I’ve certainly got no fear of digital and it's very often indistinguishable from analogue. Did you see the post I made a while back with clips of C4 against 3 analogue filters? Only two people guessed which was which (and in both instances that was their second attempt after I’d said how many answers they guessed correctly).

For me, I’m now able to do things with C4 and Spectrum that I’ve been trying to do in vain with analogue pedals for years so it’s a huge benefit for me and many others. Simply having decent envelope shapes and control on C4 has opened up loads of possibilities compared to the limited and often lacking controls in many analogue envelope filter pedals.

Digital filters/oscillators are becoming more prevalent in the synth world too. The Modal Argon 8 and ASM Hydrasynth are really opening peoples minds in the same way that SA products have done so in the pedal world.

 

[revd]

Biggest selling HW synths of all time are digital.

And SW synths and FX have been cool for years too.

No doubt about the power of digital.

And no doubt about the power of analogue either. Use both, win-win.

 

[RickyT]

The C4 is the absolute bomb. It replaced my OC2 and Josh Wah.

The tracking is so much better on the Octave patches. There's no volume drop and it's endlessly tweakable.

@Quatschmacher makes some amazing patches. I have so many saved in my favourites.

Check out the patches by @fivestringgecko too.

And be sure to check out the Spectrum Filter patches too, they work great on the C4.

 

[geobassix]

There is digital controlled analog is all of our pedals with an analog dry path where levels are stored as part of a preset.

Just to make sure I understand correctly, do you mean that the dry path of the Spectrum is never converted to digital signal ?
I mean like the Analog-Dry-Through concept used amongst other by TC electronic ?

 

[rsmith601]

Just to make sure I understand correctly, do you mean that the dry path of the Spectrum is never converted to digital signal ?
I mean like the Analog-Dry-Through concept used amongst other by TC electronic ?

Ventris and Collider are ADT. Spectrum is not.

 

[yaksonator]

Ill take the doom off your hands!