Need Suggestions for MultiFX

[FunkyFlashFive]

Headrush Flex Prime would do all of those things, simultaneously if you wanted, and come in at half your budget.

 

[Swift713]

Keep your analog octave pedal. I have an H9 as the center of my board but it’s octave down options don’t hold up to my Foxrox Octron

 

[Just Wrong]

I was in a pretty well attended brewery closing last show and one of the great players was using an old Line 6 pod. Sounded great as the other guys. Yes that line 6 with the funny shape from like the 2000's. Of course he was pushing his Princeton into a very nice breakup and he had an OG TS9

I didn’t have the bean-shaped Pod, but I had this one… it’s going for a whopping $700 on reverb

 

[meisi]

Yes, but that’s why I’m worried about the Stomp. It will reach that point before the H90 and the One? I can’t find if the 2023 One uses the same DSP as the 2018 Stomp.

that’s why digital can be risky - haven’t proven test of time. If you had an og rack pod you know what you’re getting into with that stuff

I’m diehard analog pedals and tubes amps so I have to state my bias. I did have a delay module that was epic until it died but I think some line6 do survive time.

 

[InkCow]

If you consider the stomp to be too old to invest in, you're basically discounting the HX One as well. Yes, the pedal is newer, but the effects/software are exactly the same as the rest of the HX line. Besides, doing synths on an HX One would be a challenge, unless you settle for just the octaver, which you already use. That would be no improvement. Generally you need 3 effects for a synth tone: Octaver, distortion/OD/fuzz and some form of modulation, usually chorus or an envelope filter. That basically rules out the One.

FWIW, the HX One has a whole slew of synths and filters that get into synth territory. It’s up to the individual whether or not they’re satisfactory, but this paragraph is not particularly accurate.

 

[mikeynets]

Re: the HX Stomp

I don’t know anything about digital effects, but I’m worried that, like other tech (computers, phones, etc.), it will become unusable in some near future — that the hardware won’t keep up with the software. Also, that USB-B port…

But I take it I shouldn’t be worried about future software bogging down the HX Stomp?

I guess theoretically Line 6 could stop supporting legacy devices at some point, but the stomp can be used totally independent of software on a computer. hx edit is nice to tweak settings, organize presets and make backups, but it’s not necessary.

If Line 6 offered no future updates and ended support today, the stomp is still a solid piece of gear.

Another way to look at it: analog pedals work indefinitely and don’t become obsolete because of newer versions. The stomp isn’t operating system or subscription dependent so while it’s digital, it’s still more or less a standalone digital pedal. The updates are just gravy.

And as far and I/O — 1/4” isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.

 

[HelpImaRock]

HX Stomp will be just fine for your uses. If you're not ready to commit to the ecosystem, get an HX One. It'll only do one thing at a time but it does everything well (so long as you like the sound).

I've found I like an outboard Freeze pedal because the one on the HX One doesn't do momentary, and I'm usually using it along with a Freeze earlier in the chain. I'd get either the OG Freeze, the Deep Freeze, or the MXR Layers.

I'm also not a fan of the Line 6 tuner display. I use a Sonic Research Turbo Tuner. Another tuner option could be one of the newer Zoom pedals like the MS70CDR+. It doesn't sound as good as the HX One but you can chain multiple effects and the tuner has a good display.

 

[Just Wrong]

I agree with the above sentiments RE: HX Stomp. The thing is, a used Stomp can usually be found for only about what the Subsonic and Mantic Hulk likely cost you, the sounds- if you find they suite your needs- don't just go away even if they release a "better" version (the same way there are still people playing Line 6 M9s and other older digital tech), and any updated new Helix they do make isn't likely to be making huge strides in any of the effects you mentioned beyond what they've already achieved (which is all pretty great IME). It's a great box that can still be found for the price of a few boutique analog effects, but is exponentially more powerful.

I also have an H90, and what it does is great but I think for the typical player and for more basic effects it is not the best choice (I'd wager that most H90 users are pairing it with other FX, and probably often other multi-FX units like the HX Stomp). It has killer synth tones, good pitch shifting (honestly for basic shifting the Helix stuff is probably at least on par with the H90- they actually hired many of the engineers that worked on the Digitech pitch-shifters to develop their own Line 6 polyphonic algorithms, the Eventide stuff though is known for what it does with pitch-shifted signals like huge stereo modulations and less for just the basic shifted voices), and the ambient tones (big spacey delays, reverbs, modulation) are unbeatable IMO (though also somewhat limited vs the many more options in something like the Helix, even if the individual Helix options might be somewhat less impressive), but way overkill for someone just looking for OC-2ish synthy tones, simple pitch-shifting, and a little basic reverb. I think the Stomp fits that role better, and you'd be able to easily set up a single preset on a Stomp that would look and act like a simple analog FX chain and toggle on or off FX as needed to cover all your needs while the H90 can only run two effects at once so you'd need to bounce around multiple presets to get all your sounds.

How do you find the pitch shifters in the H90? My understand is that Eventide is one of the best at digital pitch shifters, but someone on Reddit says he needs to put a compressor before the H90 for decent tracking.

 

[GotGroove]

FWIW, the HX One has a whole slew of synths and filters that get into synth territory. It’s up to the individual whether or not they’re satisfactory, but this paragraph is not particularly accurate.

Whelp. Time to (re)do my homework. Thanks for the correction!

 

[sunbeast]

How do you find the pitch shifters in the H90? My understand is that Eventide is one of the best at digital pitch shifters, but someone on Reddit says he needs to put a compressor before the H90 for decent tracking.

Honestly I haven't really played too much with just basic realtime pitch shifting as I don't use sounds like that much (I still use an OC-2 for OC-2 sounds, etc). I have spent some decent time with the polyphonic synth algorithm though, and it is great and for me didn't require any extra fiddling to get a good response which suggests that their poly shift processing works pretty dang well. I'll try to mess with straight shifting maybe later tonight and get back.

 

[Just Wrong]

my only rec is stick with the analog pedal until you can compare it with digital.

If I were to re-do my analog board (I have a subsonic, too) I’d get the compact hx with the extra small foot switches mounted to it.

I think you’ll be able to sell your subsonic fine but will have trouble replacing it exactly if regretting.

That is good advice. The Mantic is also hard to find, and I actually prefer it to and use it more than the Subsonic. I’m sure though I’d be satisfied with replacing both with an Octamizer.

I will keep the CIOKS for a bit though. These just went up in price by $50 here in Canada.

 

[meisi]

That is good advice. The Mantic is also hard to find, and I actually prefer it to and use it more than the Subsonic. I’m sure though I’d be satisfied with replacing both with an Octamizer.

I will keep the CIOKS for a bit though. These just went up in price by $50 here in Canada.

I’ll also add to my biases, lol -

Most of my gear is over 20yrs old.

Only recently did I start GAS’ing for new toys again. Over that time; the zoom units and other digital units (I see you Roland COSM) have been tossed aside as e-waste but the stomps and tube amps have easily lived on.

Keep the quality gear. It’s worth owning if you consider yourself a musician, even if only as a hobby. Having kids really reignited my hobby and need for such outlets.jf I told my wife I needed $10k in gear to have fun she’d roll her eyes. Fortunately I spent it before we met! lol!!

 

[Just Wrong]

I’ll also add to my biases, lol -

Most of my gear is over 20yrs old.

Only recently did I start GAS’ing for new toys again. Over that time; the zoom units and other digital units (I see you Roland COSM) have been tossed aside as e-waste but the stomps and tube amps have easily lived on.

Keep the quality gear. It’s worth owning if you consider yourself a musician, even if only as a hobby. Having kids really reignited my hobby and need for such outlets.jf I told my wife I needed $10k in gear to have fun she’d roll her eyes. Fortunately I spent it before we met! lol!!

I’ve been playing for 20 years and have bought and sold and rebought tons of pedals. I play them for a while, they go into a drawer for a few months and I sell them. I always bought into the “analog is better” without ever really trying for myself. But I’m at the point where I think I’ll just try a decent multifx pedal to see if it sticks.

 

[meisi]

I’ve been playing for 20 years and have bought and sold and rebought tons of pedals. I play them for a while, they go into a drawer for a few months and I sell them. I always bought into the “analog is better” without ever really trying for myself. But I’m at the point where I think I’ll just try a decent multifx pedal to see if it sticks.

I was very very tempted to finally jump for the line6 boards after a long stint away since owning a spyder 1x12 when they first entered the market, a flextone later, the delay module that is epic, and one of those modular stomp boxes with tap tempo stereo tremolo that sounds great.

IMO, as long as you’re happy with the current release of the software and not hoping for some vast improvement you will likely be fine and know what you’re getting into.

My second hold off with digital is deep diving menus or needing computers and too much knob fiddling. I’ve always been faster with dedicated boxes and knobs. Analysis paralysis comes to mind on the unlimited digital options and configurations - for me. I put it akin to those big touch interfaces in cars vs having knobs to immediately address climate control and the radio needs while driving.

 

[Eli_Kyiv]

Zoom B3n does almost everything you want. I'm not sure about the freeze though. Maybe you can get the desired effect from some of the compressor model.

 

[ETJ]

Zoom B3n does almost everything you want. I'm not sure about the freeze though. Maybe you can get the desired effect from some of the compressor model.

On the B3n you could certainly do it with the looper or a cleverly-parametered delay.

I figure if Wooten and Miller have it on their boards, it ain’t half bad

 

[klattman]

The newer zoom boxes sound great. The interface is somewhat clunky but they also aren’t expensive.

The HX stomp is sort of the de facto standard and it’s easy to dial in what you want once you learn it. (I never use a computer.). I do have a compressor with a good level in front of it so I can adjust when using different basses without having to make separate patches to account for gain staging.