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Best unit for Shadowssounds

PostPosted: 18 May 2012, 11:26
by hansaustria
Can you give a ranking for the following units ( loaded with EFTP ) !! :clap:


Magicstomp / Alesis Quadraverb plus / Zoom 508 / Zoom RFX 2000 !

Regards
Hans

Re: Best unit for Shadowssounds

PostPosted: 18 May 2012, 12:53
by dave robinson
If you mean the best unit out of those listed it would be the Magicstomp for me, I found that the Zoom RFX was too clean in the echo department for the stuff we need, but I use mine as an excellent compression unit in my studio.
The Zoom 508 is OK with the right programmes and I found that the Alesis Quad Plus is OK but noisy, I had one of those first and returned it because of the hiss. The Alesis Quad GT is my preferred one in that range as is the closest to the desired sound.
Hope this helps. :)

Re: Best unit for Shadowssounds

PostPosted: 18 May 2012, 16:26
by geoff1711
Hi Hans

I've had Quadraverb, and various Zooms, plus the Magicstomp, all I have now is the Magicstomp which is loaded with Geoff Strachans patches, the others had EFTP.

Absolute authenticity is not that important to me, but the Magiscstomp sounds good, and that's good enough.

Geoff

Re: Best unit for Shadowssounds

PostPosted: 18 May 2012, 16:27
by Didier
hansaustria wrote:Can you give a ranking for the following units ( loaded with EFTP ) !! :clap:


Magicstomp / Alesis Quadraverb plus / Zoom 508 / Zoom RFX 2000 !

Regards
Hans

According to Charlie Hall himself, the list in the order of increasing performance is :

Zoom 508 Free
Zoom RFX-2000 £40
Zoom RFX-2200 £40
Alesis Quadraverb Plus £50
Alesis Quad GT £50
Zoom G2 £15
Zoom G2.1u £15
Zoom G7.1ut £45
Zoom G9.2tt £45
Yamaha Magicstomp £25
Alesis Q2 £135
Alesis Q20 £135

At this should be added the Zoom G2.Nu and G2.1Nu which likely fit between the G2 and the G7.

Didier

Re: Best unit for Shadowssounds

PostPosted: 18 May 2012, 18:19
by dave robinson
Didier wrote:
hansaustria wrote:Can you give a ranking for the following units ( loaded with EFTP ) !! :clap:


Magicstomp / Alesis Quadraverb plus / Zoom 508 / Zoom RFX 2000 !

Regards
Hans

According to Charlie Hall himself, the list in the order of increasing performance is :

Zoom 508 Free
Zoom RFX-2000 £40
Zoom RFX-2200 £40
Alesis Quadraverb Plus £50
Alesis Quad GT £50
Zoom G2 £15
Zoom G2.1u £15
Zoom G7.1ut £45
Zoom G9.2tt £45
Yamaha Magicstomp £25
Alesis Q2 £135
Alesis Q20 £135

At this should be added the Zoom G2.Nu and G2.1Nu which likely fit between the G2 and the G7.

Didier


'According to Charlie Hall' - I believed all of that for ten years and it didn't achieve the desired results for us. The Atlantis, ESE and even the humble Copicat provided a more authentic tone. My modified Quad GT is the only Alesis unit that I would still use, having had the Q2 and hearing the Q20 - as excellent as they are there is no 'soul' or vintage tone in there and I'm well rid of them. Tin hat in place - but someone post some evidence proving otherwise and I'll reconsider my opinion, thus far - nobody has done.
For now I'm firmly in the camp of the ESE Echomatic followed by the Atlantis which is equally good. :)

Re: Best unit for Shadowssounds

PostPosted: 19 May 2012, 09:21
by Didier
dave robinson wrote:'According to Charlie Hall' - I believed all of that for ten years and it didn't achieve the desired results for us. The Atlantis, ESE and even the humble Copicat provided a more authentic tone. My modified Quad GT is the only Alesis unit that I would still use, having had the Q2 and hearing the Q20 - as excellent as they are there is no 'soul' or vintage tone in there and I'm well rid of them. Tin hat in place - but someone post some evidence proving otherwise and I'll reconsider my opinion, thus far - nobody has done.
For now I'm firmly in the camp of the ESE Echomatic followed by the Atlantis which is equally good. :)

According to my own listening experience, none of the digital units has enough processing power to provide both the correct tone and echoes, there are always some compromises.
I have heard very good results with a Q20 when it was used with a PB Box, it compared well with a TVS3.
I have heard an ESE Echomatic VI, a wasn't convinced.
I have also heard the Atlantis played live by Colin Price-Jones and Phil Kelly, and it was also very good.
I have more recently heard a DIY unit which also provided very good results.

Didier

Re: Best unit for Shadowssounds

PostPosted: 19 May 2012, 09:24
by Didier
Didier wrote:
dave robinson wrote:'According to Charlie Hall' - I believed all of that for ten years and it didn't achieve the desired results for us.

The question was about EFTP units.

The Atlantis, ESE and even the humble Copicat provided a more authentic tone. My modified Quad GT is the only Alesis unit that I would still use, having had the Q2 and hearing the Q20 - as excellent as they are there is no 'soul' or vintage tone in there and I'm well rid of them. Tin hat in place - but someone post some evidence proving otherwise and I'll reconsider my opinion, thus far - nobody has done.
For now I'm firmly in the camp of the ESE Echomatic followed by the Atlantis which is equally good. :)

According to my own listening experience, none of the digital units has enough processing power to provide both the correct tone and echoes, there are always some compromises.
I have heard very good results with a Q20 when it was used with a PB Box, it compared well with a TVS3.
I have heard an ESE Echomatic VI, and wasn't convinced.
I have also heard the Atlantis played live by Colin Price-Jones and Phil Kelly, and it was also very good.
I have more recently heard a DIY unit which also provided very good results.

Didier

Re: Best unit for Shadowssounds

PostPosted: 19 May 2012, 09:39
by Arnulf
Hi Hans!
I have tha Magicstomp, I have not tried out other units. But the Magicstomp gives me a great sound. I used for a couple of years on a small Marshall DFX 15. Later on my new AC15 cc1 with warfedale speaker and now on the same amp with Tayden ACE 25. I've turned treble and bass to about 12 o'clock, all the other knobs to 0. The Magicstomp takes care of the sound! I have to admitt that I am just a bedroom player. I have tested it on stage, and it gives a fantastic sound!

best regards
Arnulf

Re: Best unit for Shadowssounds

PostPosted: 19 May 2012, 13:06
by dave robinson
In my humble opinion the reason for the digital units not capturing the essence of the old analogue machines, tape or otherwise, is that they don't have the options to process the impurities of retro equipment into the patches, which although were faults that the manafacturers' would rather not have had, actually added to the 'musicality' of the sound that is needed, for like for like reproduction of those old Shadows sounds. TVS have actually achieved this with their mostly solid state unit. :idea:

Re: Best unit for Shadowssounds

PostPosted: 19 May 2012, 14:24
by ecca
Worst 508, nothing like.
Best by far Q20.