Got the Polara for reviewing today. It's certainly unimpressive
An upgraded Digiverb with better sounds, better bypass, trails and a few new sounds. Nothing more. the Halo seemed like the worst shimmer verb I've heard, the Mix control either mixes in too much or too little reverb, the amount of decay is really meh, the Modulated verb doesn't bring anything that good to the table. Oh and maybe I'm doing something wrong with the Reverse, but it seems to be pretty much just wet? And yeah, i am in the mono output...
Quite a disappointment I have to say Save yourself the pain and just get a Hall of Fame or Supernatural. And if you want the reverse, just get the Digiverb (and I can't believe I'm saying that since I didn't really enjoy it that much...)
I got polara awhile ago and love it to bits. I've been gigging with it and love the way the reverb sits in the mix. The only thing I don't like about it is the spring setting. It's the worst most over the top spring reverb Ive ever heard.
DarkAxel wrote:Got the Polara for reviewing today. It's certainly unimpressive
An upgraded Digiverb with better sounds, better bypass, trails and a few new sounds. Nothing more. the Halo seemed like the worst shimmer verb I've heard, the Mix control either mixes in too much or too little reverb, the amount of decay is really meh, the Modulated verb doesn't bring anything that good to the table. Oh and maybe I'm doing something wrong with the Reverse, but it seems to be pretty much just wet? And yeah, i am in the mono output...
Quite a disappointment I have to say Save yourself the pain and just get a Hall of Fame or Supernatural. And if you want the reverse, just get the Digiverb (and I can't believe I'm saying that since I didn't really enjoy it that much...)
I just assumed it would be the same as a supernatural as far as the sounds are concerned.
I guess not
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It's probably the same basic algorithms with some fixed settings changed and not knob adjustable. I think the iStomp, Hardwire, current RP multi stuff, and the Polara are all using the same processors and algorithms/code, but different pre-tweaking for different products. Makes me curious how deep the editing on the RP360 gets, since that's pretty cheap and has some dandy effects stuff covered.
Downside of the Polara vs Hardwire reverb or Digiverb is no Gate reverb, the one Pumpkin Pieces calls the "No More Sorry" preset for how well it nails that MBV sound.
D.o.S. wrote:Broadly speaking, if we at ILF are dropping 300 bucks on a pedal it probably sounds like an SNES holocaust.
friendship wrote:death to false bleep-blop
UglyCasanova wrote:brb gonna slap my dick on my stomp boxes
It's an RV7 (which is an upgraded Digiverb) in a smaller package with the shimmer effect from the Supernatural swapped in instead of gated. No dsp or circuit changes at all. The RV7 has an analog effect level control rather than a dsp mix control, and thus doesn't do 100% wet outside of reverse. If you like how the RV7 sounds, you'll like the Polara. Simple as.
The Supernatural has different dsp than the RV7, and has a digital mix control for 100% wet on all modes.
disclaimer: I'm an engineer with DigiTech/DOD good deals
sorry guys, just seems like an incredibly boring pedal to me Digitech went in the right direction with a few things, like the switchable trails and stereo ins/outs, but the sound of it has yet to catch up for me
I got an RP360 this week and I reckon it's better than a Magicstomp! The editing software and firmware are both light years superior, amp and cab models sound great direct, which is what I got it for, and it's got a very simple and friendly UI. Calibrates to any expression or volume pedal, mono or trs. Beats the M9 only on the amount of effects you can use at once, but you still can't use multiple phasers or delays or anything, just one of each effect. You can assign one effect parameter to the expression pedal at a time only, and have the wah or volume take over if kicked on in stomp mode. The Lexicon reverbs sound great, especially the ambience. The delays are good, and you can use the delays and reverbs at the same time, into amp models and EQs and shit, so yeah, it's really a fantastic value. It is whammy size, and yes it has whammy shit too, which can be placed after your reverb, mayne....any order you want for the effects is where you can get creative and freaky with it.
So you should be able to make a delay>reverb>whammy>gate>overdrive, or a reverb>gonkulator>step filter>echoplex>jazz cab, and other such nonsense.
Gone Fission wrote:curious how deep the editing on the RP360 gets, since that's pretty cheap and has some dandy effects stuff covered.
It's standard Digitech as far as how deep the editing goes. The software is like a basic version of Amplitube, which I am really loving. The effects tend to have as many knobs & switches as the pedals and amps they're based on, and you can drag them around into any order.
That makes this thing a serious threat in an effects loop, if you were to use it just for creating creating crazy modulated/filtered/amped reverbs and delays at full wetness. There is a scatter trem that could be placed after one of the reverbs to make it sound like a particle verb, for instance...
Did a dive into the RP360XP manual. Some of the stuff gives you more control, like six parameters for the tape echo mode, and some less, like two for the Boss-style chorus. We're not talking Eventide or Strymon level deep parameters, but we're also not talking that level of expense, so there's that.
D.o.S. wrote:Broadly speaking, if we at ILF are dropping 300 bucks on a pedal it probably sounds like an SNES holocaust.
friendship wrote:death to false bleep-blop
UglyCasanova wrote:brb gonna slap my dick on my stomp boxes
As a dedicated reverb/delay in a loop, it can actually go way beyond Eventide and Strymon, if only in the area of what you can do to your repeats/swells/dwells/drones/etc, but I think that should be quite enough for most who are interested in that sort of thing.
There is a smaller representation of the virtual rig in the firmware menu, but I haven't tried editing it that way yet. The software is just fine for the moment, and I'm already hooked on the notion of having a bunch of little cartoon pedals to play with inside a big real one.
It's much more like a Magicstomp or a Pod than an M9. I can see why they stuck with the RP series when deciding what to call it. The stomp mode lets you have 3 effects to turn off and on, while still having all the other effects going, so it's better than the M9 in that regard, but it does not have the M9's instant switching up of what those 3 effects are, so you'll have to make some presets with different pedal arrangements. The main thing to expect going in is that you will have to make your own sounds to get it working the way you want it to. The presets are fine for what they are, but they're all basics/classics and there's not really any crazy shit that flaunts the possibilities of unrestricted pedal placement. You'll have to make that stuff yourself, but the tools are all there, to create delay and reverb-first pedalboards that are like extra deep algorithms unto themselves.
Today's discovery: Modfactor stuff! It is in fact a Modfactor SLAYER in its own right (seriously), offering similar control over far more effects. The LFO link feature allows you to modulate one parameter per preset by LFO link, such as phaser or vibrato speed. So, you can take the two-knob vibrato effect, link the 4-knob LFO to the vibrato's speed knob, and make it sine/tri/squaredip between two different speeds, at a rate of your choosing. It can also be applied to the pitch effects, for auto-whammy ala Pitchfactor, Ring Thing, etc. The Modfactor is the only other pedal I know of that has this, and it has a few more waveforms to choose from besides sine/tri/square, but the amount of effects it can be applied to in the 360 absolutely dwarfs the Modfactor. Whatever the math is on that doesn't matter, the 360 wins by a landslide because it extends to pitch and delay effects.
Also, Scatter Trem. It's only two knobs, but it's very similar to the Undulator effect in the Modfactor, and potentially much cooler depending on what you put before or after it.
On the negative side, a sad discovery: None of the delays or reverbs goes 100% wet. They all just have level control, no mix. They can all get loud enough to be heard over the dry signal, but there is no way to kill it, in the effects or in the setup menu. That makes it much less of an effects loop player than I was thinking before...although I found a workaround of sorts: the slow gear swell gate before a delay can cut the attack of whatever is being fed in, and it make the repeats fade in rather than 'chopping' in, sort of like adding smear to make a delay more reverby. So, auto-swell>delay>reverb>mod>comp>fuzz>amp>cab still makes for some pretty deeply mangled reverb editing.
I love how the amps and cabs affect the character of the delays and reverbs. All of the delays reach oscillation, which can be kicked in by expression, LFO link, or footswitch. None of the reverbs go infinite, but the Lexicon Hall has a nice long decay, and all the reverbs can be paired with any of the delays, and EQ'd, gated, cabbed etc, so they're still capable of being much more than what they are alone.
Last edited by Warpsmasher on Sat May 23, 2015 9:24 am, edited 1 time in total.
Haha, I own an Eclipse too, that was my first Factor killer! And a TC Fireworx, and Kurzweil Mangler, and I'm still super stoked on the 360. The software really makes it a tweaker's paradise, but still imposes just enough limitation to make you get creative.
I always felt jipped by those LFO-link knobs on the Modfactor, because it was a feature I didn't care enough about to justify how many knobs and how much of the pedal's overall tweakability it took up. Now here it is, tossed into a lowly Digitech RP like an afterthought, and put to far better use. LOL.
So, now I am copping some cool glitchy Raptio/Possessed-like stuff, by using the expression pedal and LFO link against each other on different delay parameters. God damn does this shit need 100% wet. It's the only thing stopping it from ending whole species of effects gear.
I also got the wah to make some wet squishy glitch sounds with the same trick. Evil...
Save yourself the pain and just get a Hall of Fame or Supernatural. And if you want the reverse, just get the Digiverb (and I can't believe I'm saying that since I didn't really enjoy it that much...)
Digitech went in the right direction with a few things, like the switchable trails and stereo ins/outs, but the sound of it has yet to catch up for me 
