Rack effects tone-suckage tests. GMajor2, Eclipse, +more

  • Thread starter Thread starter bognerman
  • Start date Start date
B

bognerman

New member
Just did some tests last weekend. Are there any good new units out there? LOL

Rocktron Intellifex LTD
sucked the least tone, but the effects were limited and didn't sound as good as some of the other units.

TC Electronic Gmajor-2
sounded smooth, but was like it was in a tunnel.

Digitech 1101
SUCKED tone badly. Nothing good to say about this unit. "Digital and transistory"

Lexicon MPX-G2
smoothed the tone a little but, dropped a little bit of low end, but sounded ok.

Eventide Eclipse
Sounded a bit "harsh" or hard, but didn't alter the voice of the amp very much. The note attack was pretty abrupt and fatiguing though. Maybe added a bit of upper-bass.

Eventide H3000, 3500 ?
How do these sound compared to the Eclipse?
 
LMAO! haha Straight and to the point I guess.

To me, TC Electronic stuff sound way too digital...I am always intrigued by the Gforce, but when I hear clips, I think to myself..."No way."

This is why I like some rocktron stuff. Sure, not as pristine sounding, but the analog signal feature is the selling point for me. I never use the digital path and with TC/etc you are stuck with it..
 
Rocktron Intellifex = I agree. The original tone comes through REALLY well

TC G-major. Sounds like you had a phasing issue. Is there a kill dry feature? Did you use it in parallel? It seems too early for you to determine it sucks

Digtitech GSP-1101 = AGREED! With the internal modelling it sounds pretty good. With my Fish and M4, not so good. it robbed my haunting, chewy mids and turned those preamps into RP-10's :(

I've decided I don't want Eventide stuff. I can't deal with long preset loadtimes. This is why I sold my Fireworx.
 
crwnedblasphemy":2ee2bf5o said:
LMAO! haha Straight and to the point I guess.

To me, TC Electronic stuff sound way too digital...I am always intrigued by the Gforce, but when I hear clips, I think to myself..."No way."

This is why I like some rocktron stuff. Sure, not as pristine sounding, but the analog signal feature is the selling point for me. I never use the digital path and with TC/etc you are stuck with it..
Click to expand...

hehe.. yah, didn't want to type too much as I feared people wouldn't read it all :-)

Have you tried the newest rocktron stuff? Worse/better than the older stuff?
 
guitarslinger":346hrm24 said:
Rocktron Intellifex = I agree. The original tone comes through REALLY well

TC G-major. Sounds like you had a phasing issue. Is there a kill dry feature? Did you use it in parallel? It seems too early for you to determine it sucks

Digtitech GSP-1101 = AGREED! With the internal modelling it sounds pretty good. With my Fish and M4, not so good. it robbed my haunting, chewy mids and turned those preamps into RP-10's :(

I've decided I don't want Eventide stuff. I can't deal with long preset loadtimes. This is why I sold my Fireworx.
Click to expand...

I think I was running the G-Major correctly. The amp only has series loop (100b). It didn't sound *that* phasey, but it did have this slight "smallish" tunnel thing going on. It wasn't horrible, it just wasn't as good as some of the others.

I was really hoping the GMajor2, 1101, or Eventide would work out as they have that "morph" feature that won't cut off delays. It would be great to not have such abrupt changes from leads back to rhythm.

I'm still interested in an old Eventide 3000 or 3500 (if it sounds great) just to get some of those effects.

I've thought about the TC2290, but after talking with them, they no longer have parts to fix the units, so that's a risky $1300 investment!
 
I see.


Yeah, I have a 2290, and it's perfect for what I want, but I've worried about servicing it too :(


The Roland SDE-2500 absolutely owns if you're looking for a solid delay unit that sounds "right", and has the "it" factor.
 
I used an Intellifex and Rolls MIDI controller since 96' and it was usable for many years. I noticed a considerable tone suck though but got by with some EQ adjusments. I switched to a Gmajor, GCX audio switcher and Ground Control Pro about 3 years ago. I liked it much better than the Intellifex. Now I'm using a G-System and I'm very happy. I think TC gear is great but everybody is entitled to their opinion. I haven't heard the Digitech. I just hear that it's very good for it's price range. Not sure what that means for it's sound quality.
 
If you are looking for time based effects, reverb, delay, chorus, pitch etc... the G-Force works great in a parallel set up, just make sure you use the Kildry function.
 
I love the H3000 DS/X, but like Gene said the lag really sucks. I use it for a few effects overall and I am putting some pedals out front for modulation. The H3000 is very transparent to me and has a warmer feel than the Eclipse, though I really liked the Eclipse as well. I had the G Force and it sounded thin compared to the H3000, the G Major II I have over this weekend and it is already on it's way back to Sweetwater, did not like it at all compared to the H3000.
 
Thanks guys.

Yah, I've been pondering getting an audio switcher, but trying to keep the size down 1st.
I know if I get a switcher, then I'll get a rack drawer and immediately start a hunt for a
bunch of fancy pedals.

In theory, a delay pedal (or 2), chorus, maybe flanger/dejavibe, and a compressor would
be all I'd need.

I think if I were using a parallel loop, the GMajor2 would have been fine. The Intellifex
and G2 won out though, although I'm going to try the Eclipse again tomorrow night.

I still am gassing for a new head too :doh:
 
bognerman":1b1p59yb said:
Thanks guys.

Yah, I've been pondering getting an audio switcher, but trying to keep the size down 1st.
I know if I get a switcher, then I'll get a rack drawer and immediately start a hunt for a
bunch of fancy pedals.

In theory, a delay pedal (or 2), chorus, maybe flanger/dejavibe, and a compressor would
be all I'd need.

I think if I were using a parallel loop, the GMajor2 would have been fine. The Intellifex
and G2 won out though, although I'm going to try the Eclipse again tomorrow night.

I still am gassing for a new head too :doh:
Click to expand...

well then it sounds like you're screwed! :lol: :LOL:
 
Good review man, thanks :) .



My belief that the reason that a mixer is necessary for rack effects units, is to minimise the tone suckage. And because of that, I don't want rack effects!



Although I am a little disappointed by the results for the Digitech GSP1101, I'm still keen on getting one. I want to use it as a separate preamp with built-in effects, to run beside my MarkIV in stereo. I already have a poweramp so it just makes sense to only get a preamp rather than a whole new amp head. Plus I don't want to sell the poweramp (Mesa/Boogie 50/50).
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top