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When I saw the announcement of a new Strymon pedal in my inbox, I thought it was an April Fool's Day joke, until I remembered that we're still in March.

My 2nd thought was, "Who would want a Riverside (single-stage) from Strymon, when they could just get this new dual gain pedal?"

I have a Zuma and a DIG, which are both nice items to have, but I just can't get excited about digital dirt. Forget that it's $300 for a moment. Why get digital dirt, when you can get time-tested analog drive? These pedals aren't complicated enough, that I can really see someone wanting to save 20 presets with an external controller. I just don't see the appeal of these at all.

Other companies have been pushing forward with new DSP-driven stuff (Hologram, EQD, Meris, et cetera, et cetera) and Strymon seems to be going backwards.

http://www.strymon.net/products/sunset/

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

Heathens

echorec wrote:When I saw the announcement of a new Strymon pedal in my inbox, I thought it was an April Fool's Day joke, until I remembered that we're still in March.

My 2nd thought was, "Who would want a Riverside (single-stage) from Strymon, when they could just get this new dual gain pedal?"

I have a Zuma and a DIG, which are both nice items to have, but I just can't get excited about digital dirt. Forget that it's $300 for a moment. Why get digital dirt, when you can get time-tested analog drive? These pedals aren't complicated enough, that I can really see someone wanting to save 20 presets with an external controller. I just don't see the appeal of these at all.

Other companies have been pushing forward with new DSP-driven stuff (Hologram, EQD, Meris, et cetera, et cetera) and Strymon seems to be going backwards.

http://www.strymon.net/products/sunset/

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

Negative hype for this, especially with the Brothers coming out

mamsk wrote:Negative hype for this, especially with the Brothers coming out

I wouldn't be critical of one item undeservedly, in order to boost another. In the case of this new red box, I feel the criticism is deserved. I genuinely don't see the appeal of digital dirt, unless it's going to be delivered in a more wallet-friendly application.

In a world that already has the Sherman Filterbank 2, Elektron Heat, EQD Palisades, and the CB Brothers en route, there are some really powerful, versatile, and unique drive units available for people looking to spend $250 or more on the perfect gain device. The Sunset seems like an AM radio, greatest hits package of domesticated sounds for dad rockers and church noodlers. I really want to see Strymon grow and keep releasing new stuff, but not fucking digi dirt.

vidret wrote:

vidret wrote:maybe they feel like they've done all the other stuff, so they're just covering their bases.

It's still really boring tho.

How about something with:

insane filtering
arpeggiating
pitchshifting

but no. analog drive pedal.

just realized that's almost the ottobit.

I don't know how many people know this yet, but at least one of Meris' founders was a former Strymon developer. It makes me wonder if they felt their ideas would never be fully realized, unless they moved on. ---It could also be based on a variety of other issues (working relationships, business logistics and financial concerns). Strymon has deliberately tried to stay small. They could have a larger team and be producing 5x as many pedals. If they wanted more dealerships and higher production numbers, the opportunities are certainly there.

vidret wrote:maybe they feel like they've done all the other stuff, so they're just covering their bases.

It's still really boring tho.

How about something with:

insane filtering
arpeggiating
pitchshifting

but no. analog drive pedal.

Parallax dude! They need that so they can make their S9 or whatever they want to call their H9.

vidret wrote:maybe they feel like they've done all the other stuff, so they're just covering their bases.

It's still really boring tho.

How about something with:

insane filtering
arpeggiating
pitchshifting

but no. analog drive pedal.

I may be mistaken, but I believe the filter designer who did the Line 6 FM4 & Mobius left with the old Strymon founder to Meris.

Edit: Echorec'd

Not that Strymon can't/haven't hired a replacement, but what has been coming out lately (besides the woefully misunderstood Deco) isn't promising.

echorec wrote:

vidret wrote:

vidret wrote:maybe they feel like they've done all the other stuff, so they're just covering their bases.

It's still really boring tho.

How about something with:

insane filtering
arpeggiating
pitchshifting

but no. analog drive pedal.

just realized that's almost the ottobit.

I don't know how many people know this yet, but at least one of Meris' founders was a former Strymon developer. It makes me wonder if they felt their ideas would never be fully realized, unless they moved on. ---It could also be based on a variety of other issues (working relationships, business logistics and financial concerns). Strymon has deliberately tried to stay small. They could have a larger team and be producing 5x as many pedals. If they wanted more dealerships and higher production numbers, the opportunities are certainly there.

Indidnt know that, but it wouldnt surprise me.
The Ottobit looks fucking insane and the Mercury 7 is super sweet.
Didnt comment in the other thread but i wqs definitely watching thise demos.

Strymon don't really have to try anymoee, the TGP dad-rock worship covers band crowd will buy whatever the fuck if the price is wrong.

Yeah looks really rad.

i wouldn't be surprised if they have their best people working solely on that eurorack tape delay at the moment

If they're going to do digital dirt, why not do some of the stuff that's hard to do with analog? Like the stuff folks were talking about in the wave-folding dirt thread? Why not make a digital, wave-shaping dirt pedal? Why not make a dirt pedal that can send midi signals based on amplitude, or have expression outs that respond to clipping strength? Or maybe make a pedal that only distorts every ither waveform in the cycle or varies type based on input strength (like, it's an overdrive until you hit it harder and it becomes a bitcrusher)?

Why make a digital thing that does something that's super easy to do better with analog?

wfs1234 wrote:If they're going to do digital dirt, why not do some of the stuff that's hard to do with analog? Like the stuff folks were talking about in the wave-folding dirt thread? Why not make a digital, wave-shaping dirt pedal? Why not make a dirt pedal that can send midi signals based on amplitude, or have expression outs that respond to clipping strength? Or maybe make a pedal that only distorts every ither waveform in the cycle or varies type based on input strength (like, it's an overdrive until you hit it harder and it becomes a bitcrusher)?

Why make a digital thing that does something that's super easy to do better with analog?

Basically yeah, but no because dad rockers wont spend $300 on it.

Meanwhile, ILF tears your new dirtbox to shreds for not being weird and niche enough.
We fight the good fight.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ow6XsZfU5RU[/youtube]

Dad-rock me, Amadeus!

I knew about this a week or two ago when (I think) CME accidentally released a promo on IG and quickly rescinded it.
My reaction is still the same as it was before:


These guys have all sorts of potential hype for a Destroyer pedal but no, let's make another drive within 6 months of releasing the last one.
Honestly, Merris is heading towards being the company that overtakes Strymon for experimental/cool-as-shit pedals.

Also, "we used DSP to make it sound like real transistors". Why not just use actual transistors and decrease the price by ~$250?

Iommic Pope wrote:

wfs1234 wrote:If they're going to do digital dirt, why not do some of the stuff that's hard to do with analog? Like the stuff folks were talking about in the wave-folding dirt thread? Why not make a digital, wave-shaping dirt pedal? Why not make a dirt pedal that can send midi signals based on amplitude, or have expression outs that respond to clipping strength? Or maybe make a pedal that only distorts every ither waveform in the cycle or varies type based on input strength (like, it's an overdrive until you hit it harder and it becomes a bitcrusher)?

Why make a digital thing that does something that's super easy to do better with analog?

Basically yeah, but no because dad rockers wont spend $300 on it.

Meanwhile, ILF tears your new dirtbox to shreds for not being weird and niche enough.
We fight the good fight.

Yeah, from a brand marketing aspect NOT making a digital wonderbox of dirty dirt magiks makes a lot of sense. They're a corksniffery kind of brand. They likely want to have a full line of effects for the few people who would buy it just because it's Strymon. As a brand not having dirt is a bad move for them, but having a digital dirt is.