STRING9: Electro-Harmonix did it again

Piing

Piing

Axe-Master
It is amazing how they can achieve polyphonic synthesis/modeling without a hexaphonic divided pickup. And the Freeze function is impressive

It would be great if they developed the technology from these pedals (MEL9, KEY9, C9, B9, SYNTH9...) plus guitar and pickups modeling, on a MIDI-programmable rack or floor unit. It could be a potential replacement of Roland VGuitar, but for regular pickups



@FractalAudio Cliff, a vision for the Axe-FX IV? :cool:
 
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Has anyone tried any of the EHX 9 series pedals with an E-bow? If so, how well do they work together?
 
JiveTurkey said:
They don't understand the concept of foot accessible presets. Or making pedals that don't break. Irritating brand that has great ideas but terrible execution, imo.
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Sadly enough I have to agree with JiveTurkey here. Speaking from experience, alas……
 
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I've owned several of the "9" pedals. Amazing stuff. Some elements didn't live up to my expectations (like the Fender Rhodes sound). And in the end I had no trouble letting go of them. Mainly because the Axe-Fx is also very capable of some stuf, like organ sounds.

Still, I kind of want this for its polyphony and freeze effect.

EDIT: ordered.

I'm still hoping for the day that they they will a device that combines all of these "9" pedals into one piece.
 
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yek said:
I've owned several of the "9" pedals. Amazing stuff. Some elements didn't live up to my expectations (like the Fender Rhodes sound). And in the end I had no trouble letting go of them. Mainly because the Axe-Fx is also very capable of some stuf, like organ sounds.

Still, I kind of want this for its polyphony and freeze effect.

EDIT: ordered.

I'm still hoping for the day that they they will a device that combines all of these "9" pedals into one piece.
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Preferably in a programmable gizmo…….
 
yek said:
I've owned several of the "9" pedals. Amazing stuff. Some elements didn't live up to my expectations (like the Fender Rhodes sound). And in the end I had no trouble letting go of them. Mainly because the Axe-Fx is also very capable of some stuf, like organ sounds.

Still, I kind of want this for its polyphony and freeze effect.

EDIT: ordered.

I'm still hoping for the day that they they will a device that combines all of these "9" pedals into one piece.
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Truth be told, I owned all of them at one point and eventually sold them all. They just kept giving me that “close but no sigar“ vibe… Not to be ”that guy” but some of the Simeon build presets outshine the EHX9 by miles. No just in terms of complexity, but also when it comes to consistency and reliability. Not to mention the programmability.
 
Microdesignum developed a midi preset device for the 9 series. I am not sure if it ever really got any traction. The 9 series pedals I had both failed at different times and that was that for me.
 
I've always loved Electro-Harmonix. It was the only brand I could afford in my teens. And their pedals seem to have more character than the MXR and BOSS stuff at the time. I remember you could dial a telephone number and hear demo recordings of their products. They're as innovative today as they were back then. Perhaps more. Mike Matthews is a bit of abrasive, but I like him.
 
Meh...it's no where near close enough to make me think of giving up my GR-55. 13-pin is still king.
 
fcs101 said:
Meh...it's no where near close enough to make me think of giving up my GR-55. 13-pin is still king.
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But the GR-55 is just pitch-to-MIDI triggering PCM samples. It is not modeling/synthesis. Of course you have access to infinite fantastic sounds though MIDI conversion, but it doesn't translate the playing nuances like these Electro-Harmonix pedals or like the VG-99, GP-10 and SY-1000. These are V-Guitar modeling, not MIDI Guitar.

It is like comparing the amp modeling technology with a MIDI-guitar triggering a library of samples of a guitar recorded through an amplifier.
 
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Piing said:
But the GR-55 is just pitch-to-MIDI triggering PCM samples. It is not modeling/synthesis. Of course you have access to infinite fantastic sounds though MIDI conversion, but it doesn't translate the playing nuances like these Electro-Harmonix pedals or like the VG-99, GP-10 and SY-1000. These are V-Guitar modeling, not MIDI Guitar.

It is like comparing the amp modeling technology with a MIDI-guitar triggering a library of samples of a guitar recorded through an amplifier.
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I get that, but just saying that for my purposes I see this as too limiting (maybe niche). It seems to do it's thing well, but the 55 does huge orchestral/string/voice stuff very well. You can also do a freeze/hold with it; that's actually one of my favorite things to do underneath a few repeating chords. Add that all of the other possibilities and there's, at least for me, no comparison. (The 55 also does capture nuances, it's not just a cold triggered rendition. I think many people fail to properly set up the pickup and/or the unit).

BTW-I researched between the SY-1000 and GR-55 long and hard before getting my 55 so I do understand.

EDIT: This could be a great product for someone getting into this type of thing. It would give you great functionality w/o other expenses that go with it.
 
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I would love to see a non hex pickup that could do all the midi stuff so I could trigger vst instruments etc. - there is a vst called jam origin which I have used but with varying degrees of success
 
That sounds amazing, I guess the Axe Fx cannot do it? In that case it would be my Xmas present.
 
fcs101 said:
I get that, but just saying that for my purposes I see this as too limiting (maybe niche). It seems to do it's thing well, but the 55 does huge orchestral/string/voice stuff very well. You can also do a freeze/hold with it; that's actually one of my favorite things to do underneath a few repeating chords. Add that all of the other possibilities and there's, at least for me, no comparison. (The 55 also does capture nuances, it's not just a cold triggered rendition. I think many people fail to properly set up the pickup and/or the unit).

BTW-I researched between the SY-1000 and GR-55 long and hard before getting my 55 so I do understand.
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Yes, the hold/freeze function with a powerful string pad is a pleasure to play. My favorite MIDI converter after having tried them all (including the GR-55) was the Axon AX100 MKII. I was using it live with a Kurzweill K2500R rack, a Fantom XR and a Nord Modular G2 engine.
 
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