I wish I'd gotten a multifx sooner

[Just Wrong]

I've been using pedals for 10 years and recently picked up my first multifx unit, the Eventide H90. Honestly, I wish I’d made the switch sooner.

For a long time, I bought into the popular rhetoric around things like, "I can tell the difference between a digital and analog drive or delay pedal in a 20-instrument mix," "An analog octaver feels different than a digital one," "Digital effects have terrible latency and sound artifacts," "Menu-diving is a pain" and so on.

There was also a time when multifx were pretty rare on boards (in recent years, I've noticed more and more pros incorporating pedals like the HX Stomp and Eventide H9 into their setups).

So, I never really gave multifx much thought.

Then, in January, I decided to build a new pedalboard and realized I was stuck in the same old pattern. Buy a few pedals, play them for a bit, get bored, sell them and repeat.

Why not try a multifx? That way, when I get bored, I can explore new sounds and revisit old ones without the constant buying and selling.

What I’ve discovered is that, in my experience, none of that rehashed rhetoric holds up—at least not with the H90. The octaver in the H90 doesn’t “feel different under the fingers” than the 3 Leaf Audio Octabvre I had. It doesn’t have any “digital artifacts.” The distortions sound fantastic, even without the need for OP amps and transistors, and I doubt anyone could tell them apart from analog ones. Want to talk about latency? Try engaging the boost on the analog Effectrode LA-1A compressor. And sure, the menus could be more intuitive, but it’s not much different than using a smartphone.

I guess I'm done with my rant.

What has been your experience with multifx pedals?

 

[Sam Evans]

My utterly unscientific, anecdotal evidence suggests that multi-fx are pretty great these days, but that most bassist still prefer a dedicated distortion/overdrive/fuzz and maybe compressor as well. I'm not sure that's a statement about quality so much as being very particular about those two. Otherwise, it seems like a multi-fx can cover everything else pretty well.

 

[sunbeast]

I've been using pedals for 10 years and recently picked up my first multifx unit, the Eventide H90. Honestly, I wish I’d made the switch sooner.

For a long time, I bought into the popular rhetoric around things like, "I can tell the difference between a digital and analog drive or delay pedal in a 20-instrument mix," "An analog octaver feels different than a digital one," "Digital effects have terrible latency and sound artifacts," "Menu-diving is a pain" and so on.

There was also a time when multifx were pretty rare on boards (in recent years, I've noticed more and more pros incorporating pedals like the HX Stomp and Eventide H9 into their setups).

So, I never really gave multifx much thought.

Then, in January, I decided to build a new pedalboard and realized I was stuck in the same old pattern. Buy a few pedals, play them for a bit, get bored, sell them and repeat.

Why not try a multifx? That way, when I get bored, I can explore new sounds and revisit old ones without the constant buying and selling.

What I’ve discovered is that, in my experience, none of that rehashed rhetoric holds up—at least not with the H90. The octaver in the H90 doesn’t “feel different under the fingers” than the 3 Leaf Audio Octabvre I had. It doesn’t have any “digital artifacts.” The distortions sound fantastic, even without the need for OP amps and transistors, and I doubt anyone could tell them apart from analog ones. Want to talk about latency? Try engaging the boost on the analog Effectrode LA-1A compressor. And sure, the menus could be more intuitive, but it’s not much different than using a smartphone.

I guess I'm done with my rant.

What has been your experience with multifx pedals?

As I mentioned in your other thread, Eventide algorithms are definitely among the vanguard of what they do for sure- and one of the few companies that isn't trying to emulate specifically the sounds of some analog version of what they do (so harder to compare directly unlike for example comparing the Helix OC-2 effect with an actual OC-2- when comparing directly you are always going to hear differences in a digital clone IME). The H90 pitch shifters are definitely among the most natural-responding that I've tried- they have also been doing digital pitch shifting since the 70s, so other companies have learned much about creating those algorithms from Eventide! Their polyphonic pitch shifting options are relatively new, but pretty dang impressive.

I do still prefer the sound/feel/direct tweakability (often more straightforward than digital multis) of analog for many things (and yeah I have tried hard to go fully digital for the convenience of it), but love the digital stuff used alongside analog stuff for what analog can't do (polyphonic tracking, non-octave-down pitchshifting, wild time-based stuff- what Eventide does exceptionally well, etc)

 

[Jerry Catanescu]

Honestly, - and I say this as a builder of guitar/bass gadgets - I have no idea why anyone would buy individual pedals these days. Current higher end multi FX are plenty good enough for almost any use cases. Heck, 10 years ago Guitar Rig 5 was for the most part good enough IMO. There's nothing analog inherently does better than digital except to provide clean gain for low level signals (mic level and such) and to interface with high impedance sources (guitar pickups, piezo). Even analog amps have been surpassed by Class D (though one could argue that Class D isn't really digital. But not exactly analog either).

 

[JC BASS 91]

I started playing in 1990, and within a year I had bought two pedals but wanted to explore others, but life kind of got in the way and didn't.

1999 rolled around and I started playing with a couple of guys and I had already sold those other two pedals I used to have because I never thought I'd use them again. Zoom had released their 506 Bass multi-fx pedal and the price was very right for me at that time, so I got one to see if I would even USE FX at all. My initial thought was that if I liked it, I would buy individual pedals to recreate the sounds I liked best in the Zoom. However, there was so much more there that I quickly discarded that idea.

A few years later, I found that I was in a different band that was going to play live and I had a bit more disposable income and I wanted something a little more durable for stage work, so I started researching and ultimately decided that the BOSS GT-6B was what I needed to get, so I did. That was somewhere around 2003 or 2004 and I still have it and use it to this day. It has more than I could ever hope to use...or at least that's how I feel. I have it paired on my pedalboard with a SansAmp BDDI. Sometimes they get used together, sometimes separately. Could the GT-6B do the same thing as the BDDI? Probably. But I have been using them this way for over 20 years, so don't plan to stop.

I still have that old Zoom 506 and it still has all my patches I created stored inside it. I duplicated some of them in the GT-6B, but there are a few that I just could not replicate in the BOSS, so I keep that old pedal around for the fun of it...because all of those patches I had that I couldn't replicate are more for fun than actual studio or live use.

Either way, I'm a hardcore multi-FX board user and while I might use some individual pedals for messing around in my home studio, for 98% of what I do with my bass, I'm using my pedalboard with the BDDI and GT-6B.

 

[klattman]

I use the HX stomp most of the time. But if all I need is a drive I tend to use specific stuff for that. I don’t have the confidence to menu dive to diagnose a problem when playing live, but I can turn a few knobs and get working.

 

[C Stone]

Are you referring to multi-fx for guitar or
bass guitar, guitar sure. I’ve never been a fan of multi-fx units for bass, I fall in the "Menu-diving is a pain" and I find very few effects
are ever useable for my tastes, experimental or noodling can be pretty fun with effects.

I might use a flanger or chorus once in a blue moon so I guess I’m more of a meat and potatoes player when it comes to bass guitar comp/pre/amp. (A pre with DI and OD). Enjoy.

 

[PhatBottomBass1]

This is now my basic thing...Wet/Dry

&

...with a Pigtronix Constellator BBD Analog Delay in the C4 #2 Channel Loop

With the community and Nuero Editor 3

 

[SteveC]

No one you’re playing for in a mix at a live venue will know or care. You may, especially on an IEM, so if you want that stuff to help you that’s great.

I have switched at set break from my Empress/REDDI analog gear to my HX Stomp and no one noticed.

I have a Khan tube DI and I don’t even use it. I run a balanced 1/4” to male XLR right from the Stomp. My board is a Nano with my GLXD+ and tomorrow with a CIOKS DC7 underneath for power.

 

[pb9717]

I have the alternate view in that, I can appreciate a dedicated standalone multiFX unit, and have tried several ( Zoom B6, TC Plethora x5) but I enjoy the simplicity of a few standalone pedals ( MXR Bass Compressor, MXR Env filter, PandaMidi synth pedal, Whirlwind Bass 10EQ, Darkglass Vintage Ultra DI) But for chorus, octaver, reverb, tremolo, delay or any other FX I may need, I use a dinosaur ZOOM B3. It’s completely adequate, and even excels at certain sounds. The “Heaven” pedal emulates my Eden WT-800 pretty well. I’ve found it very handy if I should need any particular but rarely used effect.

Versus the ZOOM B6, which was feature rich, and offered a lot, but I found I did not want to go thru the learning curve of programming it. There are those like myself that simply don't want to learn to program the thing. And it ends up for sale 30 days after it’s received.

But if you’ve found your mutliFX sweet spot, thats great. ( I may now need to find out what the hubbub is about)

 

[Just Wrong]

As I mentioned in your other thread, Eventide algorithms are definitely among the vanguard of what they do for sure- and one of the few companies that isn't trying to emulate specifically the sounds of some analog version of what they do (so harder to compare directly unlike for example comparing the Helix OC-2 effect with an actual OC-2- when comparing directly you are always going to hear differences in a digital clone IME). The H90 pitch shifters are definitely among the most natural-responding that I've tried- they have also been doing digital pitch shifting since the 70s, so other companies have learned much about creating those algorithms from Eventide! Their polyphonic pitch shifting options are relatively new, but pretty dang impressive.

I do still prefer the sound/feel/direct tweakability (often more straightforward than digital multis) of analog for many things (and yeah I have tried hard to go fully digital for the convenience of it), but love the digital stuff used alongside analog stuff for what analog can't do (polyphonic tracking, non-octave-down pitchshifting, wild time-based stuff- what Eventide does exceptionally well, etc)

That’s a good point. Maybe I think the H90 is great because it doesn’t try to compete against the OC-2 and whatnot.

 

[manbass]

My history sounds just like yours. I was Bass-cable-amp only in the same band for 15 years playing out weekly +. About 8 years ago that band ended and I bounced around to find a home for my playing, I immediately dove into a different type of rock band for about a year where I needed to tone match alot of 90's bass effects for accurate covers and built a pedalboard with analog individual effect pedals, about 8 of them.

In 2020 in my closet I had an original Yamaha Magicstomp multi effect pedal, which I never used live, only for farting around at home. I started comparing the Magicstomps single effects with the pedals I bought and discovered the only thing that was different was that the board of single pedals gave me multi-effects chain capability that the Yamaha did not. However, each effect could be adjusted in the Yamaha to be indistinguishable from the analog I had. I ended up getting a used Zoom B1Xon 2 years ago on Amazon ($80) which can chain 5 simultaneously. I liked it so much I bought a backup B1xon. There are now only 3 pedals on my small board, The Zoom (or both Zooms), a Broughton HPF, and an EHX Pitchfork Plus. The Zoom cannot do what the HPF does and the Pitchfork is in its own universe for the purpose of pitch shifting on the fly and back.

I have not experienced the latest wave of HX Stomp enthusiasm, although I read a ton about it here just so I am aware. The demand of a bands performance palette for effected tone has a lot to do with what I actually need and use live. We recently played a Talking Heads Tribute which was a tone changing challenge single night gig. I still feel the fundamentals of my search for the right tone (meaning "correct" for the Bass serving each song) are on my bass controls or my amp first. Once those are in the ballpark of whats needed, most of the time no one but me knows I have other stuff, analog or digital, processing my signal including the board op.

I am not cured from toying with effects FOMO, reading compressors reviews, trying other sounds occasionally but with my 3 units stated above, I can nail a bass sound anywhere from 1963 Beatles to Rob Zombie.

 

[prndltech]

Love my hx stomp and quad cortex!

 

[bass.slinger]

I also really like the H90 - killer octaver and surprisingly good dirt (in addition to the expected modulation and delay). I still find that I want to use a separate fuzz, envelope filter, and compressor - they just sound better to me.

 

[J Wilson]

One device, one cable in, one cable out. Simple.

I far prefer to his simplicity to a board, the interaction of different manufacturers pedals, all the interconnects, tracking down WHICH one isn't playing nice with the others, etc

Not the biggest efx guy, but I far prefer my ME50B to a floor full of pedals. By far.

In the OP's case, how can you go wrong buying most anything Eventide, one of the few makers where their floor units are very, very close to their studio standard rack units.

 

[CryingBass]

Bad digital is bad. Good digital is good

Analog is righteous.

 

[BrianVengeance]

Bad digital is bad. Good digital is good

Analog is righteous.

Digital has come a long, long , long way. You're not going to go wrong with most of what is on offer today, especially in a live setting and doubly so with a reputable name. Bad digital these days really comes down to I/O and UX.

As much as I love to cork sniff boutique pedals and analog, I don't have a lot of time for tap dancing during songs for the stuff that I play, so being able to switch on / off multiple things with one or two taps is a crucial time saver. I have more religion around analog dynamics, but next to the HXFX I have an AO Photon that is fully digital, stacks compression, and is a my hub for dirts. I do have analog pedals for always on compression (transients and heft), light overdrive (thickness and some grind), and wah... but the bigger character impact is the Photon.

And yes, I could use a switching system with all analog pedals to get a lot of the same results, but man what a faff to manage all of that. And if you want to change pedal order or routing... pfft. Cancel your weekend plans.

Outside of a live setting? Go nuts. You've got time to solve problems and muck about.

 

[Spectrum]

I have a Zoom MS-60B and it's definitely good, but the learning curve is steep. Once you get it set up, you can have multiple pedal chains to switch through, plus it has a built-in tuner. I don't always use it because it's not as simple as using discrete pedals with their own knobs, but I certainly wouldn't knock anyone who does use it. You have multiple versions of most types of effect: delays, choruses, phasers, synth pedals, compressors, reverbs, etc.

Only thing it's not great at is dirt. Everyone has their own favorite flavor of dirt, and chances are your multiFX pedal won't have that flavor. In my case it's my old Darkglass B3k; there's nothing on the Zoom that sounds like it, so I think it's a 2-pedal minimum for me. Maybe 3 if I need my favorite synth pedal.

But to get to the heart of the matter: I enjoy having a large collection of pedals for the same reason some people like to have lots of different basses. It's just another hobby, I guess. It's fun to switch them up and check out the cool paint jobs and all that.

 

[logdrum]

I use the Eventide H90 *and I just got a second one ) strictly for my experimental Avant Garde group, for cinematic and ambient patches. But for my more palatable projects, it is overkill and really overwhelming. I am a mild Eurorack guy with a couple of Skifs plus I have some analog synths. I dig a little bit of unpredictability but that's for jamming with some folks that are into that and would never work in a bar band situation or cover band and possibly the majority of TB although there are some people here that do that stuff as well.


Now the HX, and the Gig Board by Eleven, that's more gigable.

Although not advertised as such, the Source Audio Artifakt, the Ultrawave and the C4 are in a way multi effects but they do not do the complete thing that the HX, GigBoard and Zooms and other Multieffects do. I really like their approach . The Artifakt can do a drive and modulations at the same time but you might as well get a drive and a delay tape pedal. It is meant to be played and get some interesting results by playing the knobs. and dealing with it's unpredictability, like the glitch, crusher and vinyl engines. Then feed that to Evnetide's spacy algo's and you will get a lot of textures that you cannot just plan for.

I have to say that the Maleleko 6L6 analog delay pedal is one of those delays that have a desirable inconsistency

 

[DaveParker39]

AxeFX changed everything for me especially for playing by myself, recording, and rehearsing solo.

Everything I have ever recorded as a bassist and released has been with an AxeFX.

I don't even think about gear. I just plug in, hit the footswitch I want and go. Sure I edit patches but it's not like buying and selling effects.

I still use a largely modular setup live, but it's nice to not be thinking about gear sometimes.