State of the Flanger: 2027 (and beyond!!!)

[qersty]

Oh! Inverting the delay line is what I'm into. Negative feedback is awesome too but it's not as much of a deal maker when a pedal has it.

[Dandolin]

yeah - it's very cool - I only really see it on through-zero designs....

[Dandolin]

my favorite Panasonic bbd comparison table:

[Dandolin]

lined up a bunch of flangers with Chankgeez yesterday
Subdecay Blue Shift short time flanger with the MN3209 (256 stage bbd) is mighty sweet - the sweep sits nice and high, up outta ya dry signal's fundamentals, plus the ratio of apparent comb-filtering to pitch shift is very nice with the manual past 1 o'clock. Overall, a very sweet-toned, if "light" flanger effect, and t'would be my choice to gigboard, should I get back to giggery.

An 8Ts Aria with the same chip was very similar, with just a touch more range on the feedback/resonance control (but sadly no lfo wondergussy and a wonky soft-touch switch). Neither one of them was getting close to self-oscillation, though. Pre-flanger gain stacking helped a little bit, but it was close-but-no-cigar in the end....

I wondered whether that oscillation shyness had anything to do with the relatively short delay time range on the MN3009 housed in those flangi, but on reflection, I doubt it. Check out this demo of the Guyatone PS-004, which runs an MN3006 with only 128 stages (half the delay time). Not only does it oscillate like a cheezy UFO in a b-movie, but it seems to lean into it...hard.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Jd9tIeIDtg[/youtube]

still, might have something to do with it...depending on how the chip is clocked. It's well known that you can clock an MN3007/3207 into the stratospherically short delay times, if ya can crack the capacitance conundrum and really drive that clock chip. Likewise, I suppose pushing the outer limits on the max delay of a shorter brigade chip might result in some noisier, chorusier, but...wilder[?] swangs....

Anyway, seems like a good time to break out the feedback looper

The cheapie Arion I picked up recently was the day's surprise - very cool throaty tone, kinda reminiscent of negative feedback - sounds great, and quite distinct from the mass of BF2 derivatives out there (not that there's anything wrong with those)...not too shabby for $33.

my Vox 1902's switch failed mechanically before I even got to show it off to Chank

to my utter humiliation, I failed the Starlight DLX test Haven't used it in a while, and it was taking way too long to set up a decent sound - gotta go back and do my homework on that one

And last but not least, there was the wondrous Fender/NeXt flanger, which was, as expected, awesome in it's sweep range, ability to oscillate, and kinda freaky ability to swallow all your bass and spit it out boosterazazzed. Not necessarily a thing for the ones out there that want their flangerazazzed tone to resemble their non- flangerazazzed tone as closely as possible (you guys might want to go on a field trip to That Pedal Show HQ and have Dan give you a subliminal flanger demo on his Thorpy while Chank and I rattle the windows with the NeXt).

Also, thanks to Chank, I may soon be able to open up a busted NeXt to solve the mystery of what chip is shacked up in there with tiny transistorized Meghan Trainor!

The only real downer besides the double switch imbroglio was my inexplicable failure, despite Chank's specific and timely reminder, to turn them all on at once.



t'would've been aws, I am sure, especially given the wonder that ensued upon the turning-on of five magnificent lofi warblesources at once, but that is a tale for another thread did I mention homies that we're living in a golden age of lofi warblers?

[Chankgeez]

Meghan Trainor?



Good write-up though, Dandolin!

[Errant Tiger]

I have very little to say except that I really love my Starlight Mk II. Only flanger I've had and it does all I need.

[retinal orbita]

This thread, plus a generous helping of flangey post punk I’ve been listening to has really got me hungry for another flanger. I mentioned I have a DOD Bass Stereo Flanger but I’m always weary the switch will crap out on me. And I’d like to test some others out.

[Dandolin]

my first flanger was a DOD Performer 575 full stop. No manual knob, but since it had a Reticon 512 in there, I guess it didn't need one...arguably

not that I knew or cared at the time.

after that, I went flangerless until this place and deciding I needed flanger matrix on ma fuzz. then came the rabbit hole.

if you like the basic sound of that DOD, but maybe want to get a lil freakier with ya flangin' ya might want to check out palthegiraffe - I like the cut o' his jib
http://www.palthegiraffe.com/

if yer diggin on the post-punk, BF2 wouldn't be a bad thing, or a Starlight (yaz ), but you might get even more joy outta a vintage MXR or workalike (like the Guyatone Moving Box or aforementioned Vox 1902), but alas the internet internetting has driven the prices on alla those up up up....

The Arion/Aria/NeXt are particularly good, usually cheap vintage J-flangers. Aria also made a very nice dual-speed flanger more towards the BF2 tone, but with a cool easter egg that let's you trick it into spitting out a signal with both lfo speeds operating simultaneously (don't know how/why most likely two lfos and wonky switching scheme, least likely two independent flanger circuits).

Also, early digiflangers like the Ibanez DCF-10 and related Maxons have something unique and good going on - definitely different than either bbd or the latest FZ1 (or other chip)-based modelled jawn (and not knocking that either).

The Electric Mistress and its progeny/copies are another thing too (thinner/waterier/chorusier more Summers than McGeoch), and the A/DA is righteous and it's own thing yet again (maybe the edgiest thing) but if you wanna McGeoch it, MXR it - in a way it's a beautiful midway between the A/DA and BF2.... BF1 is more Mistressy, imo....

[gila_crisis]

I love a lot this 80A Flanger from Line6 (M9 and HX have it). Setted right you can get this wonderful selfoscillating flanger space guns creapy horror movie sounds ^^

[Chankgeez]

80A Flanger

Sounds like it's modeled on the A/DA. So, that makes sense.

[retinal orbita]

@dandolin - these are great suggestions!! Thank you. Will have to start watching some vidz.

[chromandre]

my favorite Panasonic bbd comparison table:

lined up a bunch of flangers with Chankgeez yesterday
Subdecay Blue Shift short time flanger with the MN3209 (256 stage bbd) is mighty sweet - the sweep sits nice and high, up outta ya dry signal's fundamentals, plus the ratio of apparent comb-filtering to pitch shift is very nice with the manual past 1 o'clock. Overall, a very sweet-toned, if "light" flanger effect, and t'would be my choice to gigboard, should I get back to giggery.

An 8Ts Aria with the same chip was very similar, with just a touch more range on the feedback/resonance control (but sadly no lfo wondergussy and a wonky soft-touch switch). Neither one of them was getting close to self-oscillation, though. Pre-flanger gain stacking helped a little bit, but it was close-but-no-cigar in the end....

I wondered whether that oscillation shyness had anything to do with the relatively short delay time range on the MN3009 housed in those flangi, but on reflection, I doubt it. Check out this demo of the Guyatone PS-004, which runs an MN3006 with only 128 stages (half the delay time). Not only does it oscillate like a cheezy UFO in a b-movie, but it seems to lean into it...hard.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Jd9tIeIDtg[/youtube]

still, might have something to do with it...depending on how the chip is clocked. It's well known that you can clock an MN3007/3207 into the stratospherically short delay times, if ya can crack the capacitance conundrum and really drive that clock chip. Likewise, I suppose pushing the outer limits on the max delay of a shorter brigade chip might result in some noisier, chorusier, but...wilder[?] swangs....

Anyway, seems like a good time to break out the feedback looper

The cheapie Arion I picked up recently was the day's surprise - very cool throaty tone, kinda reminiscent of negative feedback - sounds great, and quite distinct from the mass of BF2 derivatives out there (not that there's anything wrong with those)...not too shabby for $33.

my Vox 1902's switch failed mechanically before I even got to show it off to Chank

to my utter humiliation, I failed the Starlight DLX test Haven't used it in a while, and it was taking way too long to set up a decent sound - gotta go back and do my homework on that one

And last but not least, there was the wondrous Fender/NeXt flanger, which was, as expected, awesome in it's sweep range, ability to oscillate, and kinda freaky ability to swallow all your bass and spit it out boosterazazzed. Not necessarily a thing for the ones out there that want their flangerazazzed tone to resemble their non- flangerazazzed tone as closely as possible (you guys might want to go on a field trip to That Pedal Show HQ and have Dan give you a subliminal flanger demo on his Thorpy while Chank and I rattle the windows with the NeXt).

Also, thanks to Chank, I may soon be able to open up a busted NeXt to solve the mystery of what chip is shacked up in there with tiny transistorized Meghan Trainor!

The only real downer besides the double switch imbroglio was my inexplicable failure, despite Chank's specific and timely reminder, to turn them all on at once.



t'would've been aws, I am sure, especially given the wonder that ensued upon the turning-on of five magnificent lofi warblesources at once, but that is a tale for another thread did I mention homies that we're living in a golden age of lofi warblers?

this is really cool I didnt even know it could get any tighter than the HF-2 (which is 512 I think), FL99 has dual 512. Now where can I get a flanger with a 64 stage BBD ?

[Dandolin]

sign me up for that one

although, the sweep might be so high, i'll need to plump for that bat ear mod

[sylnau]

I haven't found the perfect flanger for me yet. I like the SubDecay Starlight MkII... but it's not perfect. When I engage it, I lost some of the lows in my tone (it sould like the volume drop, but it's not a volume thing).

Tried the ADA and did not like it.

[Dandolin]

Definitely intrigued by the Buffalo FX Reticon 5106 flanger that's getting close to release, moreso, tbt, than the recent Thorpy jawn.