I need a hardware multi-FX processor. Which should I get?

So I'm trying to move my live sets to all hardware and I'm down to only using Ableton for effects. Long term, I'm aiming toward using modular for all of my signal processing needs. But since that's thousands of dollars I don't have, the short term goal is to get a cheap-ish ($300-400) multiFX processor.

 

Is the Lexicon MX400 worth the money? Do you prefer the TC Electronics units? I'm guessing straight away I can disregard the Behringer. Any I'm missing?

 

Also, I'd like a dedicated (hardware) overdrive or distortion for my x0xb0x. What would you recommend? I have no idea here.

 

 

 

Edited December 29, 2015 by danke

any particular fx you're after? do you need it to use multiple fx at the same time?

 

are you only after rack units or interested in alternatives? the kp3 is awesome and very cheap for what you get. it has a more off-the-wall fx but if you are after more standard stuff (verbs, delays) there may be higher-end, more dedicated units to go for. the kp3 it has sampling/resampling if you're into that as well. plus it is just fun as hell to use. phono inputs is the only small annoyance.

  On 12/29/2015 at 8:04 PM, QQQ said:

any particular fx you're after? do you need it to use multiple fx at the same time?

 

are you only after rack units or interested in alternatives? the kp3 is awesome and very cheap for what you get. it has a more off-the-wall fx but if you are after more standard stuff (verbs, delays) there may be higher-end, more dedicated units to go for. the kp3 it has sampling/resampling if you're into that as well. plus it is just fun as hell to use. phono inputs is the only small annoyance.

Yeah, I'm looking for something that you can chain different FX internally. Def. needs reverbs and delays, other stuff doesn't matter quite *as* much, though EQ/dynamics and such would be great. For crazy stuff I can just go through my little modular first.

 

I think I looked at the Kaoss stuff at one point. Don't really need a looper (any more), but I'll look into it again, thanks!

 

As for overdirve/compression for the x0xb0x, and little pedal or something similar in size would be ideal I think.

Guitar pedal effect units might be a cheapish intro option to the world of external hardware

Definitely a Kaoss Pad. Either the first one or the third one. They're both fucking awesome little beasts. I use them all the time.

  On 12/29/2015 at 8:27 PM, mcbpete said:

Guitar pedal effect units might be a cheapish intro option to the world of external hardware

I feel like I would need way too many for that to be viable. Unless you mean like a Boss GT6 multifx sort of thing. I had one of those and it just didn't work out like I'd hoped, the interface was super lacking and pressing foot pedals wasn't very fun, besides not sounding very good. Other than that, I may as well start accumulating modules instead of pedals, right?

  On 12/29/2015 at 8:35 PM, Squee said:

Definitely a Kaoss Pad. Either the first one or the third one. They're both fucking awesome little beasts. I use it all the time.

I'm having trouble finding out specs on the kp3. Like, even how many inputs/outputs, how many FX can be used at once, etc. That Korg site is awful haha.

So, the Kaoss Pad 1, 2, and 3 can only use one effect at a time - BUT!

They released another one a couple of years ago. The name escapes me right now. Anyway, you can use four effects at the same time on it, but I haven't really seen anyone use it or hear of anyone raving about it. Also, I don't know anything about the effects. I hope they're similar to the ones on the KP3.

 

The Kaoss Pad Quad is what it's called.

 

  On 12/29/2015 at 8:44 PM, Squee said:

So, the Kaoss Pad 1, 2, and 3 can only use one effect at a time - BUT!

They released another one a couple of years ago. The name escapes me right now. Anyway, you can use four effects at the same time on it, but I haven't really seen anyone use it or hear of anyone raving about it. Also, I don't know anything about the effects. I hope they're similar to the ones on the KP3.

 

The Kaoss Pad Quad is what it's called.

 

 

 

Hm, that's an interesting one. I can only guess price point concerns made Korg design it so... not-as-useful. Something like this that you could use any of those FX for any of those 4 slots would be bangin. As it is... it doesn't look very exciting. Or even useful.

 

Thanks for the info!

Edited December 29, 2015 by danke

I'm just playing about with an Ensoniq DP4 and it's pretty deep, 4 separate effects or chains. Seems a rad unit and very flexible. Other than that I use a Lexicon PCM80 for multi effects.

  On 12/29/2015 at 9:35 PM, Chesney said:

I'm just playing about with an Ensoniq DP4 and it's pretty deep, 4 separate effects or chains. Seems a rad unit and very flexible. Other than that I use a Lexicon PCM80 for multi effects.

Those both look pretty nice. Do you find the PCM80 sounds better than current models, or is it just more for your money since its discontinued?

Don't disregard Behringer rack units. The Virtualizer Pro has a great reverb and vocoder. Not much in the way of chaining but they're cheap and good.

I have not heard any newer Lexicon models But I can't imagine they'd sound shit.

 

I have to admit, I really didn't like any of the effects in the KP3. It was really fun but I just felt that it was not right for what I was doing, I was constantly messing around and couldn't find anything I could settle on. Plenty of people can though and use it to great effect.

The KP3 isn't really a traditional effects unit though (clearly). Its strength lies in live use; and if you have something that can sequence CC data and program changes, it becomes amazing for realtime automated glitch effects.

  On 12/30/2015 at 4:43 AM, modey said:

The KP3 isn't really a traditional effects unit though (clearly). Its strength lies in live use; and if you have something that can sequence CC data and program changes, it becomes amazing for realtime automated glitch effects.

 

Word. My sequencer can do all the CC automating, and I have a knob box that I could use with something like the lexicon or similar. The interface of the kp3 definitely looks like it's geared toward live settings, but I might need two of them since it can only do one at a time. Trying not to lose too much by going from the infinite power of a laptop to hardware.

 

  On 12/30/2015 at 1:12 AM, Chesney said:

I have not heard any newer Lexicon models But I can't imagine they'd sound shit.

 

I have to admit, I really didn't like any of the effects in the KP3. It was really fun but I just felt that it was not right for what I was doing, I was constantly messing around and couldn't find anything I could settle on. Plenty of people can though and use it to great effect.

 

I don't doubt the kp3 is fun and useful, but I kinda get the feeling I'd feel the same way about not being satisfied with it. Maybe I'm judging a book by its cover, though.

  On 12/30/2015 at 4:47 AM, Mesh Gear Fox said:

pick up some cheap joyo pedals, they're great value

 

 

 

Pedals are nice, trying to keep it as compact as possible though.

tc fireworx for sure.

Edited December 30, 2015 by digit

  On 12/30/2015 at 4:47 AM, Mesh Gear Fox said:

pick up some cheap joyo pedals, they're great value

 

 

 

Donner looks promising, too. I've had my eye on their tiny, $35 analog delay for a while - it would have to be pretty awful to not be worth having around at that price. In fact, I'm probably going to grab one later this week. If it's halfway decent, a few Donner pedals rehoused in a single box with some kind of patch bay could be a nice thing.

 

 

EDIT: I've still got a soft spot for the old Boss SE-50 but the prices seem to be getting too high. Try to find one cheap that has a dead battery (the preset names will be gibberish if I remember right), they're very easy to replace.

Edited December 30, 2015 by RSP

Probably the best live fx unit is an Octatrack, but that's not in your price range.

 

It's not great for tweaking parameters live, but I just got a Roland GP-16 for $100. It's pretty light but is still a 1U module. It has every effect on your list, and has two mono inputs and stereo out. It has two effect blocks, 6 effects can be active in each, and you can chain the effects in anyway you want. It's great for amp simulation. Also has a pitch shifter. You can save some useful patches in a bank and the GP-16 becomes very versatile for live. I do not use it for live, however.

 

What I've found playing live is the need to embrace being minimal. An overdrive, delay and reverb will get your far, so again, the guitar pedal route. With multiple units you get multiple sends. Just attach them to a piece of wood and you're still very compact.

For saturation I use a pork loin. If I wanted to spend the money I'd get a strymon deco.

Sounds great on drums, or the master

  On 12/29/2015 at 8:58 PM, danke said:

 

  On 12/29/2015 at 8:44 PM, Squee said:

So, the Kaoss Pad 1, 2, and 3 can only use one effect at a time - BUT!

They released another one a couple of years ago. The name escapes me right now. Anyway, you can use four effects at the same time on it, but I haven't really seen anyone use it or hear of anyone raving about it. Also, I don't know anything about the effects. I hope they're similar to the ones on the KP3.

 

The Kaoss Pad Quad is what it's called.

 

 

 

Hm, that's an interesting one. I can only guess price point concerns made Korg design it so... not-as-useful. Something like this that you could use any of those FX for any of those 4 slots would be bangin. As it is... it doesn't look very exciting. Or even useful.

 

Thanks for the info!

 

 

 

A friend of mine has one of them, and from what I can tell it's kind of like having four 1st generation Kaoss Pad Minis in a single box.

 

 

Mid to late 90s was kind of the golden age of hardware multifx units, I'd suggest exploring stuff from that period. I've only tried a few of them, but the more entry level, 1u Lexicon stuff from that period always sounds really nice for the money to my ears, and I've got a soft spot for the old Boss SE-50 - not sure how much they go for now, but I paid $40 a few years back. I really enjoy the Alesis Wedge for reverbs and delays, too, which is another one people are practically giving away if you look for a while (mine was about $30 shipped from ebay a little over a year ago, which is on the low side but not too far from what they usually cost). It's more of a dedicated reverb though, there are some multi-effect algorithms but it's kind of limited in that regard.

 

I've never really gotten along with the kaoss pads myself. They're really fun but there's something about the sound that's kind of thin and metallic, reminds me a little of the way the early Digitech stuff like the RP1 leaves a kind of glassy sonic fingerprint on everything that goes through it, even in bypass. The Akai HEarus pedals (both versions) do that, too.

I'd agree on the Octa, it's how I have been using mine mainly. Effects are pretty good, very tweakable and fun to sequence.

 

Regarding KP3, yeah, it's the reason I sold mine. felt like it was gimmicking my sound. Not sure how that actually sounds, pretentious? Oh well.

Edited March 9, 2016 by Chesney

  On 12/30/2015 at 4:47 AM, Mesh Gear Fox said:

pick up some cheap joyo pedals, they're great value

 

i haven't used any joyo pedals but i have a two of the more interesting (unusual) Mooer effects ( which are similarly mass-produced and cheap) - the lofi machine (a bit crusher/reducer with a 3 way EQ switch and sampled noise) and slow engine (i dunno what it actually is. a kind of enveloper/auto-volume swell? basically it cuts the attack off the audio in an interesting and unique way).

 

i still love the kp3. if you are after delays or reverbs go for something dedicated, but if you want some far-out and interesting modulations, LFOs, loopers and other zany fx the kp3 is amazing. almost every effect has tap-tempo which makes even the craziest effect rhythmic and musical. the filters, delays and verbs sound just fine to me too, but obviously they have less tweakability than dedicated units if you're into that.

Yeah, as an instrument I think the KP3 is really cool, I'm just being all cork sniffer snobby about THE TONE, MAN

 

 

EDIT: Not like anything I recommended is any better, it's just that its flaws happen to work for me.

Edited March 9, 2016 by RSP

I kinda like the way the KP3 colours the sound. I have my monomachine plugged into it at all times, even when I'm not using the effects..

i won the kaoss quad, it's lot of fun. harsh and digital

this thing looks really cool, especially later on in the video where he's modulating two signals together: