user635341's Reviews

Underrated

I bought one on a whim after seeing it available cheaply online. It's no Space Echo, but it actually has an amazing character. The preamp distorts easily and is amazingly phat, it rounds off the input signal nicely. If you stuck it in a pedal on its own it would be a winner. The 8-track tape in the echo is very unique sounding, it almost sounds like a chewed-up cassette but still has a lushness reminiscent of a more expensive echo when the feedback is high. I found with a strong input signal the feedback runs away very quickly, usually with the pot around 1-2 o'clock. The EQ is quite transparent but very effective for changing the tone of the echoes, although pushing the Treble control will introduce more noise into the signal. Overall it's a fairly quiet unit but does have a noise floor higher than more modern equipment.

It wasn't immediately obvious to me, but you can get a wet-only signal by plugging in to the 'From PA' input, which I found slightly unituitive but it works fine, although of course it bypasses the preamp.

My only gripe with the unit is the fact that there isn't a very wide range of delay times available. You can get a half-decent slapback delay with it and more middle-of-the-road delay times but it won't do ultra-long delays, which is a shame.

Overall it's great, if you can find one reasonably cheap I'd recommend it. As they were manufactured in Japan you might need a transformer to use it, mine was modified by the previous owner to run at 230v.

Preferred Settings + Usage:

Solid

Not seen much discussion of this bit of kit on the internet, especially in regard to its use with Live, so I'm gunna jot some thoughts down here. It's really solidly built, which is refreshing considering generally MIDI controllers (at least ones I've had experience with) feel cheap and frail compared to most other music hardware. The encoders and faders feel amazing, and the way the encoders transmit information is really clever; if you turn more slowly, it will change parameters in smaller, more detailed increments, and if you turn more quickly, it will change parameters in larger increments over the same throw. This feels really natural, like it's matching your movements. The buttons are also nice to press and not noisy or clacky.

Its integration with Live is amazing, the control script is really well thought out and using it with the controller is intuitive. I bought this to replace a NanoKONTROL2 with its Mackie Control script and it's a massive upgrade. I wanted a single controller to control everything I needed to in Live (mostly rack macros and the navigation of an arrangement-based set with markers) and this seems quite adequate so far.

It can't do absolutely everything, you're limited to controlling the volume of only 16 tracks over two 'set-ups', and I had to manually map marker navigation to some of the buttons I wasn't using, but I don't think any controller can do it all, even a Push. However if I would have liked anything added to the script, it would be a way to control the volume of more than these first 16 tracks. I would also have liked the actual chassis to have been made of metal to add a bit of weight, although this is personal preference. A button to fold / unfold groups would be cool too.

In conclusion, in this form factor, the build quality and functionality far surpasses anything else I've tried. It's a bit expensive but I'm happy, and Mathias at Faderfox seems like a nice bloke and is responsive to e-mails which is reassuring.