Anyone "upgrade" to an external delay pedal?

E

eric_

Member
Just wondering how many of you are supplementing your Axe FX III with separate delay pedals? I'm particularly interested in midi-compatible delays like the Chase Bliss Tonal Recall, Strymon Volante etc. with which the Axe FX could communicate directly for preset and tempo changes. Although I've also thought about adding more "basic" delays like an EHX Memory Man 1100, Skreddy Echo or Strymon El Capistan.

Have you found that external delay pedals like these have been a noticeable improvement over those in the Axe FX?
 
Just one guy's opinion, but a delay pedal is probably one of the last things that I'd supplement the Axe with. I have Strymon Timeline and Big Sky pedals that, for kicks, ran through Out/In 3 for a brief period of time after buying the Axe, but "retired" them shortly thereafter. To me, the Axe delays and reverb are great. That said, even with the recent updates to the Axe compressors and drives, I have a variety of analog (gasp) pedals that will continue to live in front of my Axe, including a Keely mod TS, Full-Drive 2, O.E. Cali 76 and RevivalDrive, Prince of Tone, Jan Ray, and Steel String. No intention of putting time based pedals back into the lineup.
 
Emerald Green said:
@Guit'rilla - As jan ray in the axe is one of my favorite drives - how would you say it compares to the real pedal?
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The truth is, I haven't used the Axe version very much. Generally speaking, for the Axe equivalents of the pedals that I mentioned in my post, my initial reaction is that the Axe versions tend to sound darker and more compressed (not in a sustainy sort of way). The former can be dialed out with some effort, but, to my ears at least, I still prefer the reaction and tone of the analog pedals, including the Jan Ray. All of that said, if you've got the Axe drive set up in a way that makes you happy, I'd stick with it. There are some Axe drives that I really like and fill the gaps between my board pedals and, with all of the drive combinations available in the Axe, I don't have any intention of buying any more pedals.
 
I replaced a timeline/bigsky with an fx8 and that got replaced with the iii. The only delay type pedals I want are something to get glitchy with (cooperfx outward, red panda particle, etc) but that's for one specific delay thing. Anything else the iii can already do and do well IMO.
 
David Tesch said:
That would make zero sense. Some artists still run boutique amps with the Axe for FX because the effects are so clean, that's fine. But using it as a modeler with and outboard delay would be a downgrade.
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Not necessarily true. Some people like external pedals like the Strymon because it's more plug and play. They can just poke around for a preset they like in the external pedal and start playing.

While the Axe Fx can pretty much create all of those effects from what I've heard, many take some time and knowledge to dial in.
 
I purchased a Source Audio Nemesis and Eventide H9 to supplement my AxeII when patches started pushing cpu limits more often - I don't think the Nemesis or H9 delays are better than AxefxII and, despite the midi capability of these pedals, the Axefx delays are more flexible in terms of control/switching options and are at least tonally equal to my ears. I kept these pedals after AxeIII upgrade and use them in situaltions, though fewer than with AxeII, where cpu limits are challenged. For "fxblock outsourcing" I like to keep pre-distortion fx inside the box as I find external pre-distortion signals require more careful management than post-distortion external signals. So if I have to go outside the box, I look to offload post--distortion mods, reverbs, and delays in that order as long as the external replacement is at least of equal quality. So given this strategy, Nemesis, and H9 (and my old AxeII) are keepers for me and reside in the loops of my Axe3.
 
I'm using a few outboard effects still for flexibility reasons. I have one H9 in a loop for extreme effects that I might want on the fly, so the Undulator effect, Harpeggiator, and Dynaverb for instance (I generally cycle between 9 presets I can select via midi and mix in with an expression controller). It saves CPU, and I like the h9 for a different flavor overall to the algorithms. Not better or worse, just different. In a separate loop, I use a EHX Superego with a wah in its loop, and a Pigtronix infinity looper. Both of those pedals are mixed into a second H9 so I can process just those sounds.

It's generally possible to recreate those sounds within a III alone, but now we're talking about many more presets. And again, there's a specific flavor to all of these outboard effects that seems specific to each. Thinking beyond the III, my feeling is that having everything in one box or device (e.g. all effects and instruments within a DAW) leads to device specific constraints, whereas a hardware signal chain can have some unique cumulative properties.
 
I love all the delays and verbs in the axe but for me the Strymon Volante has tape delays that have more character and are way easier to dial in than adding filters, EQ, and modifiers to the current tape delays in the axe fx.

plus it has midi so it’s easy to recall a setting if I find something I like and that inspires me.

but the rest of delays and all the reverbs are top notch and better than what most pedals could do.
 
I turned off the verbs in my Ultra presets and ran it thru a Strymon Big Sky and it was pure heaven. It allowed me to have several goto Strymon presets as well as my favorite Ultra presets. Very versatile as any given Ultra preset, as a core sound, could give multiple variations on the fly with the Strymon using MIDI. With my III so far I have not found it necessary to set it up.
 
I use a full pedalboard in front of the Axe III. I like the ability to tweak mid-set which I'm not sure I could do successfully with the Axe effects.

BTW, the Axe takes pedals just as well as the real amps.
 
boyce89976 said:
I use a full pedalboard in front of the Axe III. I like the ability to tweak mid-set which I'm not sure I could do successfully with the Axe effects.

BTW, the Axe takes pedals just as well as the real amps.
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And it saves on the memory for not adding the effects in the preset.
 
I’ve been thinking about getting an Erica zen delay for synth stuff even though I could probably create a sims old effect with some Aclxe blocks and save a lot of money.

Having a hardware box with all the ready to tweak knobs makes for some fun hands on jamming, and it would match my dB-01 bass line.....
 
I replaced all my small Strymon pedals with the FXIII effects, but it took a bit of time and effort. I still use the 3 big Strymon pedals with Out/In 3 because they have a lot of ready to go presets that can also be tweaked and saved. The FXIII could probably replicate/replace many of the big Strymon presets but I don't have the time to figure it out. It would be great if Fractal included more FX presets created using the existing FX blocks. Third party offerings of amp rigs, cab irs, etc are very popular for the FXIII. I would think similar products emphasizing FX effects with ready made presets imitating many of the unique sounds from the big 3 Strymon pedals, Eventide H9, etc would be popular.
 
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