Subdecay Starlight DLX Flanger? Anyone ever tried one?

[AlexGlassLungs]

They still make the smaller version of this pedal but no longer make the DLX with tap tempo, Subdecay says they’re too hard to build and often times don’t work and take hours to figure out the issues they have. With all that said Tap Tempo flangers are almost impossible to come by. The only others I know of are the Chase Bliss Spectre (very chorusy sounding, extremely noisy) and the Diamond Quantum Leap (extremely underrated, cant do through zero but can do a cool half tempo feature). If anyone has any info on the Starlight DLX or has played one please add here. Also if you know of any other tap tempo flangers on the market or why no builders attempt to do this especially since tap Tremolo is almost a Standard now as well as tap phaser and vibrato...

[sylnau]

I had one...

The Starlight Mk2 sound a lot better and is simple to use which is a plus for me. I'm not a big fan of pedal with tap tempo.

[echorec]

I have a Starlight DLX, (2) Cluster Flux units, and the blue-knob mod Spectre (among others). They're all unique pieces in different ways. I wouldn't say that I find my Spectre to be unpleasantly heavy on chorus or noise per say. It sounds like a whale choir more than anything, but I wouldn't say it reminds me of a CE-1 or CE-2. As far as other TT flangers, you might look into the Source Audio Orbital, which is MIDI-equipped, so you could likely program several tempos/presets via external control. The Strymon Orbit can also receive external TT commands. That's one I really like to use with secondary flangers and other modulation. (maybe we'll see a Meris flanger in the near future? that'd be a fun one.) For TT phasers in a compact build, the Midnight Phaser just came out via Red House. That's near the top of my current wish list.

Thoughts on the Starlight DLX? It's certainly exotic. It's colder and more metallic than most flangers. You can do these sorts of step/sequence patterns with it, which is quite uncommon amongst flangers. (the Quasar DLX V1 & Promteheus DLX also do these pseudo s&h rhythmic patterns, too) I don't use it all the time, but it's one of my go-to's for instant sci-fi. If you're intro Krautrock or soundscapes, it's not something to part with. In listening to demos, the smaller version certainly sounds duller (warmer), whereas the DLX is often-defined by a brighter clang quality. I've also heard people go into pseudo-phaser territory with the MKII. The DLX can certainly do bubbling, trem-like pulses, but I don't think that it can really mimic a phaser as well as the MKII.

If you've listened to Kayzer's demo (and surely you have several times), then you've got a solid idea of some of the sounds inside. Is it the end-all flanger? Probably not. It's definitely top-5 for me. I've never played a vintage Mu-Tron Flanger or a Lovetone ? Flanger, but I'd speculate the DLX is just as equipped to do extreme sounds and non-traditional modulation as well as the Lovetone.

[AlexGlassLungs]

Thanks for all the info! This only made me want a DLX even more, I really hope one pops up on reverb soon!