I have an iridium, bigsky and timeline and think the sounds I’m getting are great from them. But the things I love about strymon pedals are two stupid things: 1) the midi implementation is great. If you want to you can make one pedal do the work of ten. In the iridium it’s so easy to program changes that mean you need less pedals. Who needs a transparent overdrive if I can just have midi turn the amps drive knob up and down. 2) I LOVE that their indicator lights tell you where the knobs are set for the current preset you are on. It makes it so easy to tweak and not get lost.
I was late to Strymon - first stop was the Iridium as my need was for an amp-less approach. I know you leant more towards the Stomp for flexibility. I have both but have always just ended up using the Iridium more for ease of use. Since getting the Iridium I've also acquired the Dig, Flint and Deco - all V2 - and have been really happy with them. I know I bang on about it a lot, but the Deco is permanently on my board now as it's my favourite always on pedal. I tend to move it around the signal chain and at the moment it's at the end, after the Flint and Dig (which I have after the Iridium) - all run in stereo. For now I've not gone the Strymon tape delay route as I still use a Digitech Obscura that does a decayed delay that works well for me. The Strymons seem to add something on top of the effect too - they seem to lift the sound, maybe add a touch of presence. Would love to hear your thoughts on the Deco at some point. Anyway, have a great Christmas, thanks for all the videos and congratulations again on the 100k
Total Strymon stan here. Strymon pedals are the gold standard of pedal sounds to me. Their sounds have character, that extra intensity you reference in your video. The interface is dead simple and intuitive. Every Strymon pedal I've used inspires me to explore and create new sounds. I mostly use them on my board when the equivalent digital sound in my modelers isn't quite as good, or when I want to save DSP. For my sound, the Deco and Compadre are always on and do a fantastic job of tone conditioning and signal boosting, placed at the very front of my signal chain. In fact, you can get quite a bit of mileage out of the Deco alone. All of the major effects used today (flanging, phasing, chorus, delay) are derivatives of tape delay and can be achieved with the Deco. It's my favorite Strymon pedal of them all. The new plug-in version of the Deco is amazing to use in front of other plug-ins, especially Neural DSP and Helix Native. Still exploring what else it's capable of doing.
That’s the best description to Strymon. They’re musical pedals. The sounds they get are ones we all love, but the way they use technology to enhance makes them different
I think you are maybe mixing things up a bit here ;) What you are testing is if the pedals have a so called true bypass/hardwire bypass when switched off. Analog dry-thru matters when the pedals are on. The DIG keeps the dry signal analog and mixes/blends in the fx signal at the output. That way the dry signal is not converted - but it will still be buffered. You should do the same test with both pedals turned on, but with the fx mix set to 0% - then you can compare analog dry thru vs fully ad/da‘d signal ;)
I’ve had the Big Sky for over 6 years. Even with all the new reverbs out there, and I have/had many of them, it’s not going anywhere. It still sounds so good.
I haven't tried Strymon delays, still happy with my TCE Alter Ego & Flashback but I bought a Big Sky and it offers some lovely reverbs, great pedal. The 2 Strymons I am really happy with are Flint & Deco. Flint fills the gap that a classic Fender amp offers and more - Spring, Plate, Hall and very musical Tremolos. Deco is another thing altogether and I treat it more as a studio 'rack gear' item than a pedal I would use live. A lot of thought has gone into Deco and having grown up with 8, 16 then 24 track machineswith usually a couple of 1/4 inch Studers or Revoxes side by side at the back of the room I think Strymon have captured the sort of recording and mix room I know best - the 'tape compression' is subtle but can be pushed into 'VU in the red' territory and the double-track and 'tape phase' AND beautiful tape delay options are really lovely. It's clear to me that the designers understand how things were before digital recording and have tried, successfully in my opinion, to capture a little of that analog magic!
I recently converted from a multi effects unit to Strymon pedals . I have a Compadre, Dig , Riverside, Cloudburst and Flint . Everything I need and nothing I don't need . Great versatile pedals . The ability to add an external expression pedal or favorite pedal is just icing on the cake . Also a smaller footprint with the incredibly ingenious top input jacks.
The two biggest updates for the Strymon v2 stuff is the addition of MIDI and the USB jack. The USB jack is of particular importance, because it makes them easy to user update the firmware, if necessary. And your last point is definitely Strymon's charm: it's so easy to get good sounds out of them.
I stayed away from Strymon for a long while, thought it was mostly over-hyped, shiny new stuff. Then I was looking to add a tremolo to my board, and my Sweetwater rep suggested the Flint. What an amazing pedal! I got it for tremolo, but the reverb is even better. Immediately, it became my permanent reverb, it's just so good. Will likely never come off my board. That was the beginning. Once I got a taste of the tone and build quality, I was hooked. I now also have a Dig and a Zelzah, as well as the Sunset for my overdrive. I was wrong, and these pedals are worthy of the hype they receive.
I previously had a Meris Polymoon. Absolutely loved it, incredible soundscapes; but there was no getting around the white noise/hiss it added, particularly at higher volume levels. Got myself a Volante. Yeah, I know it’s a totally different type of delay, but the point is the Volante is completely silent even with the amp cranked. Any way you slice it, Strymon stuff is very well designed/engineered.
I am a more recent Strymon convert. I started with the Iridium and the Cloudburst to establish my amp and reverb sounds. I recently bought used V1 DECO and DIG. They do everything I want and more. Some other pedals have too many options but Strymon works well with knobs and presets.
Analog dry through, killer Buffer, high input impedance, low output impedance... are a big win if you care about your tone. Strymon does that... and you pay for that attention to detail and added circuitry
I got turned onto Strymon when a buddy put the El Capistan on his board when it first came out, and they've been my choice of mod / verb / delay ever since! In the wholistic sense, they make the best. They sound the best (as in you might equal them, but you'll never beat them on sound quality), the parameters they offer are all of the things you want to play with and provide a massive breadth of options, and their interfaces are just intuitive and make it very easy to get the best results quickly (even on their most complicated pedals like the Big Sky and Time Line). The build quality is at the highest level so they're consistently reliable, and they make pedals that will stand the test of time. Even in the Eurorack scene the conversions of their verb / delay modules are perfect. Lastly, they also care about their customers and are guitarists / musicians themselves, so they make product they would want knowing that if it satisfies their high standards it will undoubtedly satisfy most peoples. Also, if you're someone that doesn't like them, all good! It's fantastic that we get to enjoy all of the different offerings available. :)
All my main effects are strymon and other than that I only use a noise reducer pedal and three EHX 9 pedals and a pitch fork. I really want the cloud burst now.
Your ears and testing are exactly like mine. Even with the shrine pedals powered off you can hear a difference versus other pedals. They really build top-notch devices.
I have a Flint and Volante, the Flint is reaching iconic status, just look at how many professionals have one on their board. BTW I think you are mixing up "Analog Dry Through" and "True Bypass" in your video, they are different concepts, you tested "True Bypass" - Happy Xmas !
Analog dry signal path seems to be one of the most important aspects of the digital effects I use. It makes sense that Strymon would use analog dry through signal. In my opinion, analog dry signal is critical when you are dealing with a modeler or profiler/capture device at the heart of your rig. Currently, the Tonex is my "direct to FOH" option and though others have had success using a Tonex into an HX Effects or GT1000 (core) or HX Stomp, I haven't. My experience with the HX Effects or GT 1000 Core with the Tonex is that the additional AD/DA conversion steps really degrade the signal. Because of this "tone" degradation, I changed to a Source Audio Collider and a Boss DD200 as my back end. Both of these devices have analog dry signal and sound much better for it, in my opinion. I'm easily able to switch between a Tonex, IR-X , or Two Notes CAB M+ driven by a tube amp and my pedalboard seamlessly integrates with the options. My board is: GTR ->MXR buffer ->Xotic SP Comp ->Timmy ->[Tonex or IR-X or CAB M+ with Tube amp] ->Boss DD200 ->Source Audio Collider -> Mixer -> FOH I can run in stereo or wet/dry/wet depending on how I cable into to my mixer. I'm currently considering a modulation device to go after the compressor and/or before the DD200
My board is a Strymon midnight love letter: compadre- Riverside - deco- Hx stomp xl (midi for the board via snapshots and Pitch, amp & cab, and eq)-fx loop with Mobius to timeline to Bigsky. It took a while to track down the big three in midnight! Super (overkill) board that I get to play out weekly.
Love em. Even the Sunset has stayed on my board since 2017 for versatility reasons (and sound one would hope). Packs a lot without taking up very much real-estate. Flint is a mainstay as well.. fantastic machine. Iridium, Volante and Timeline are brilliant
The one pedal I bought and didn’t care about the price. I got the v1 and I use the flanger setting on the modulation side and the saturation around 3 o clock My only issue with the deco, because I don’t use midi, is the need to physically turn knobs to get the chorus and delay settings. They’re worth the money in my opinion.
It's truly a testament to the team at Strymon that nearly their entire line has withstood the test of time like it has. Many of their flagship products are over a decade old - technology has made leaps and bounds in that time, but they are still an industry standard. I own a ton of them, and will continue to own more!
The hotone ampero 2 has analog dry thru. And the TC Electronic Flashback 2. It was never a big deal to me till you run two amps at once. That "lag" of the A/D conversion is noticeable.
Wishing you and your family a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year and heartfelt thanks for introducing me to Strymon via the Iridium and Volante which are the bedrock of my sonic bliss.
Volante is a must have for me. The pillowy drone of a galloping drum heads into a cooking Deluxe Reverb with some amp spring reverb is just too perfect a sound.
I’m addicted to that stuff. Although…, probably not entirely true, because I know lots of modulation pedals that I prefer over theirs and the same thing goes for the gain pedals. So I guess where they really shine is in delay and reverb land. I bought the Cloudburst a couple of months ago. When it came out I knew I had to have it. Since then I added the 2nd versions of the DIG, FLINT and the DECO and today I added a second hand Brigadier. They just sound sooo good. And it’s not like they’re the first high end quality pedals I have, but when…. Okay, example time: I still love the Neunaber Immerse. I think the reverbs in the immerse is just as good (at least), but it’s just not as easy to use, because of the size, the fact that it’s hard to read the lettering, all of these things. These Strymon pedals are just cleverly designed. As for the Meris test. I saw what you meant, but I couldn’t really hear it. But it made me wonder. What if I had three or four Meris type pedals instead of four Strymon pedals? I wouldn’t be surprised to find out that I actually WOULD hear the signal loss. So yes, I’m happy with my Strymon pedals. Although I don’t think I need more than I have now. Again, to me Strymon is all about delays and reverbs.
I'm sorry, but you're wrong about Meris. All of their pedals, except for the Ottobit, have an analog dry path. This was confirmed directly by Terry at Meris. It's the reason I only use Strymon and Meris pedals. I don't want to introduce latency to my signal path.
Even the ones that dont keep the signal analog come amazingly close to bypassed signal imo, the DECO and the FLINT I own dont affect the signal as far as I can tell
Howdy! Enjoyed the video - my first pedal was the Flint - It worked, but it never felt quite right, so I sold it. I am guessing that it was not an analog dry through, at least when the trem side was engaged. I don't know. I own the Mobius, Volante, and Brig. The mobius is cool, but I found myself going back to analog modulation pedals. If I gigged, I would have the Mobius on the board though - a lot in that in a single pedal and it does sound good. Ok - best for last - I love the Volante and the Brig - they just sound great and feel great and they don't leave my boards. Full disclosure - I play occasionally with friends and a lot at home - so grain of salt, etc.
Others have caught up to them on reverbs and modulation, but their delay pedals (and rotary and arguably verb/trem) are still amongst best in class. And the timeline and big sky defined the modern midi-controllable pedal and I think still have the best interface (I had an lvx, sold it and went back to the dig and a suhr discovery). My board is combination of boss analog modulation and fuzz/dirt pedals and strymon delay/reverbs. The big box boss stuff requires more menu diving and doesn’t sound better especially for bread and butter tones. I wish they’d re-release their big box pedals with dual effect capabilities. Or even call it the ‘duo’ sky if they don’t want to destroy the value of their existing boxes. And yes analog dry through is a real thing, it can be overcome, but you can definitely hear it on the mobius (their one pedal that’s not analog through because it’s a digital modulation pedal).
The only strymon that impressed me enough to buy it is the lex rotary, the rest could be had elsewhere for less, but the lex is actually cheaper than a neo vent and not far off, and neither sound quite as dimensional as a real rotary cab anyway but are much more convenient
My favourite Strymon is the Magneto eurorack module. It not a pedal, though I do have in with an Empress Zoia Euroburo in a small Pod case, so I can put it anywhere. I like the modulation, extra features and the built in spring reverb emulation is cool too. The Brig does sound good, but I'd prefer the Boss DM-101, and have a real BBD delay with stereo outs and a bit of a funkier character. Had the Big Sky, and is was lovely, but I think things have moved on in power. And I wouldn't go back to Big Sky from Meris Mercury X. Similar with Timeline vs Meris. But, it's a testament to Strymon how those now pretty old pedals can stand toe to toe, and sometimes beat out the most powerful modern pedals on pleasantness of tone, but maybe not sheer power/flexibility.
Woah wait Meris claims: "In all of our products that feature a mix control, the mix happens in a digitally controlled analog mix bus. This allows for zero latency in the dry path." So if there's a mix control for the Meris LVX there's analog dry thru to exploit there. Are you perhaps evidencing a buffering effect instead among the waveform comparisons? That wouldn't cause phasing problems due to latency and support, say, the That Pedal Show advocacy for Meris products in their wet/dry amp setups while possibly explaining the discrepancy you're seeing..?
Strymon stuff sounds great. I have an LVX and love it for what it can do but there's no denying that great sound quality that comes thru every strymon pedal.
Hi John. Have you done a video on the Strymon Cloudburst. It is an unusual but very addictive pedal. It's an ambient reverb and sounds amazing. Very spacy sounds with a sort of string choir sound in the forte mode. I would love to hear you give a go. Cheers.
Just my worthless thoughts: Strymon make some really nice pedals and the builds are quite lovely. They have spent lots of resources on MIDI which is nice for a niche group of players and not so much for the pedal person wanting to keep it simple. For example: I had purchased the Rotary hoping to use it secondarily on guitar, but more for the Hammond. For guitar I suppose one is not looking for upper/lower rotor perfection as you would for keyboards. So, for the amount spend on MIDI on this pedal, better algorithms and rotor control would be money well spent, as the rest of the pedal and its interfaces are excellent. I'm wondering if anyone else sees a trade-off in pedal resources/features in their favorite pedal.
Ha, funny what you say about the wow and flutter on Helix models....I find it way too much. Maybe this is because I started my home studio recording on tape and wow and flutter simulation triggers memories of all the issues it used to bring.
Personally I feel like their reverbs are second to none. Guess that’s why I own two. The Flint and the Blue sky and both permanently reside on my acoustic/electric rigs
I didn't believe the hype til I picked up a NightSky and then a Timeline and an Ola. For people complaining they are expensive- scour the used market and they are very reasonable. I've always had to tweak pedals but with the Strymon, they just sound massive.
Since you're someone who experiments with an open mind: Try NOS tubes in any of your tube amps. RCA/blackplates for American and Mullards for UK. Surprised me how much different all the different tubes can sound in an amp.
I love your videos and this was a great video on Strymon products @JohnNathanCordy I have 4 Strymon pedals for 5 maybe more years. The Flint is the oldest. I have the El Capistan, the Deco, and the Iridium. All 1st gen. They have been staples in my board with the exception of the Iridium which comes in & off the board consistently
JB Eckle and I have had many a deep chat on the Strymon stuff. I regularly conclude these chats with the thought that Strymon seem to make your life just a bit far too easy. Now maybe this highlights masochistic tendencies on my part a bit as I believe pedals should sound good if you work at it and equally bad if you work at it. It is extremely difficult to get bad tones out of Strymon. Maybe that is their strongest selling point?? They're ibuprofen free pedals.
I have a Timeline, because of the analog dry through and a boost function, it's the perfect delay pedal. I have 2 flints, one on my acoustic board, one on my electric board and it's not analog dry through but has a boost function on both sides , so you can keep the level good when engaging. They are expensive, unless you get a double pedal, then it is like 2 affordable pedals in one housing. You do get a power supply with each pedal, so thats cool too. I think it's worth paying a little bit extra to get good quality! And Strymon deliver every time.
I like them but i find them to be big. Not everything needs to be a double pedal, they need to release single pedals as well (i know they just did with 2 or 3 pedals) Personally i really wanted to get El Capistan and Flint however i use a small pedalboard (8 pedals) and it meant getting four pedals off my pedalboard. Therefore i decided to stick with Boss as always 😀
I'm a little surprised you prefer pristine DDL, over echo, given the obvious EJ influence. I personally prefer that break up on the retunr by I grew up with an Echoplex and RE-501 so it's just ingrained I guess but the Wampler Tape Echo I have is a really good substitute without the hassle :) Merry Xmas, John
People complaining about strymon prices are the same ones paying top dollar for JHS or boss one trick pony pedals. Maybe your paying a bit more, but you're definitely getting waaaay more than with JHS or really any other hype pedal brands.
I’ve never understood why it’s called an “El Capistan” not an “El Capitan” did they just make up their own goofy sounding word that sounded like the Spanish word for captain? I’ve always thought of Strymon as the highest of high end pedals. Their BigSky is still the best reverb pedal ever, even though I sold mine for the walrus R1 (most of the features and 1/3 the real estate and 1/2 the price)
I just play with a little bit of Marshall gain & dry with no reverb or delay!! I just love how it's organic sounding & the opposite of what everyone else is doing... Also, I think a lot of people use reverb and delay because they're trying to mask the fact that their tone is horrible with out it... Most of the time people have really farty gain with no note separation, especially on the low strings.
@@shckltnebay basically the same reason people buy hardware synths. It’s all about the knobs. Can’t underestimate the importance of usability/user experience.
Because they're expensive and sound awfully digital. I really don;t know why either. Cheaper delay pedals don;t sound so f'd up. I do like my Keeley eccos tho, it has some neat digital sounds and isn;t cheap (I got it wicked cheap)
One of the few high end pedal companies that are truly worthy of their hype. The Flint is an absolute mainstay on many players boards including my own. 👌😎🎸🤟
Pretty pedals. Sound great. AND overhyped. One dimensional. Overpriced. Obnoxiously boutique. The boutique pedal M.O. = High price point /Low functionality. And Strymon knows it.
Bro wtf is that intro track lmao! Sounds like the cheesiest late 80s AOR ballad crap that no one likes anymore. Not really what Strymon pedals are for. I mean you’re a gifted soloist but you need to pick better tracks in less cheesy genres lol
I agree with the sentiment. There's a lot of cork-sniffery that happens in the guitar community. A lot of the time the difference between expensive and budget is about the features you get, not how good the effect sounds.
I have an iridium, bigsky and timeline and think the sounds I’m getting are great from them. But the things I love about strymon pedals are two stupid things:
1) the midi implementation is great. If you want to you can make one pedal do the work of ten. In the iridium it’s so easy to program changes that mean you need less pedals. Who needs a transparent overdrive if I can just have midi turn the amps drive knob up and down.
2) I LOVE that their indicator lights tell you where the knobs are set for the current preset you are on. It makes it so easy to tweak and not get lost.
I was late to Strymon - first stop was the Iridium as my need was for an amp-less approach. I know you leant more towards the Stomp for flexibility. I have both but have always just ended up using the Iridium more for ease of use. Since getting the Iridium I've also acquired the Dig, Flint and Deco - all V2 - and have been really happy with them. I know I bang on about it a lot, but the Deco is permanently on my board now as it's my favourite always on pedal. I tend to move it around the signal chain and at the moment it's at the end, after the Flint and Dig (which I have after the Iridium) - all run in stereo. For now I've not gone the Strymon tape delay route as I still use a Digitech Obscura that does a decayed delay that works well for me. The Strymons seem to add something on top of the effect too - they seem to lift the sound, maybe add a touch of presence. Would love to hear your thoughts on the Deco at some point. Anyway, have a great Christmas, thanks for all the videos and congratulations again on the 100k
There is something magical about the El Capistan for sure. I have V1 and it’s just that damn good.
Total Strymon stan here. Strymon pedals are the gold standard of pedal sounds to me. Their sounds have character, that extra intensity you reference in your video. The interface is dead simple and intuitive. Every Strymon pedal I've used inspires me to explore and create new sounds.
I mostly use them on my board when the equivalent digital sound in my modelers isn't quite as good, or when I want to save DSP. For my sound, the Deco and Compadre are always on and do a fantastic job of tone conditioning and signal boosting, placed at the very front of my signal chain. In fact, you can get quite a bit of mileage out of the Deco alone. All of the major effects used today (flanging, phasing, chorus, delay) are derivatives of tape delay and can be achieved with the Deco. It's my favorite Strymon pedal of them all. The new plug-in version of the Deco is amazing to use in front of other plug-ins, especially Neural DSP and Helix Native. Still exploring what else it's capable of doing.
The Flint is one of my desert island pedals. It's just so musical.
That’s the best description to Strymon. They’re musical pedals. The sounds they get are ones we all love, but the way they use technology to enhance makes them different
100% agree. I have a V1 Flint and I'll never part with it
@@joshuatavares2384 I like that description. "They are musical pedals" As opposed to effects pedals. I really love my Cloudburst.
Purchase a Strymon unit (second hand) and you can sell it for the same price you paid for it. Excellent re-sale value.
I think you are maybe mixing things up a bit here ;) What you are testing is if the pedals have a so called true bypass/hardwire bypass when switched off. Analog dry-thru matters when the pedals are on. The DIG keeps the dry signal analog and mixes/blends in the fx signal at the output. That way the dry signal is not converted - but it will still be buffered. You should do the same test with both pedals turned on, but with the fx mix set to 0% - then you can compare analog dry thru vs fully ad/da‘d signal ;)
I’ve had the Big Sky for over 6 years. Even with all the new reverbs out there, and I have/had many of them, it’s not going anywhere. It still sounds so good.
I haven't tried Strymon delays, still happy with my TCE Alter Ego & Flashback but I bought a Big Sky and it offers some lovely reverbs, great pedal. The 2 Strymons I am really happy with are Flint & Deco. Flint fills the gap that a classic Fender amp offers and more - Spring, Plate, Hall and very musical Tremolos. Deco is another thing altogether and I treat it more as a studio 'rack gear' item than a pedal I would use live. A lot of thought has gone into Deco and having grown up with 8, 16 then 24 track machineswith usually a couple of 1/4 inch Studers or Revoxes side by side at the back of the room I think Strymon have captured the sort of recording and mix room I know best - the 'tape compression' is subtle but can be pushed into 'VU in the red' territory and the double-track and 'tape phase' AND beautiful tape delay options are really lovely. It's clear to me that the designers understand how things were before digital recording and have tried, successfully in my opinion, to capture a little of that analog magic!
I recently converted from a multi effects unit to Strymon pedals . I have a Compadre, Dig , Riverside, Cloudburst and Flint . Everything I need and nothing I don't need . Great versatile pedals . The ability to add an external expression pedal or favorite pedal is just icing on the cake . Also a smaller footprint with the incredibly ingenious top input jacks.
It’s all started at line 6 where they worked prior…
The two biggest updates for the Strymon v2 stuff is the addition of MIDI and the USB jack. The USB jack is of particular importance, because it makes them easy to user update the firmware, if necessary. And your last point is definitely Strymon's charm: it's so easy to get good sounds out of them.
I’ll take my strymon if only for the huge sweet spots they have. Currently hx stomp xl, control centre, dig, deco, flint is a great combination
I have the Strymon BlueSky, Riverside and the Compadre and they are all phenomenal!!! Highly recommended
I stayed away from Strymon for a long while, thought it was mostly over-hyped, shiny new stuff. Then I was looking to add a tremolo to my board, and my Sweetwater rep suggested the Flint. What an amazing pedal! I got it for tremolo, but the reverb is even better. Immediately, it became my permanent reverb, it's just so good. Will likely never come off my board. That was the beginning. Once I got a taste of the tone and build quality, I was hooked. I now also have a Dig and a Zelzah, as well as the Sunset for my overdrive. I was wrong, and these pedals are worthy of the hype they receive.
I previously had a Meris Polymoon. Absolutely loved it, incredible soundscapes; but there was no getting around the white noise/hiss it added, particularly at higher volume levels. Got myself a Volante. Yeah, I know it’s a totally different type of delay, but the point is the Volante is completely silent even with the amp cranked. Any way you slice it, Strymon stuff is very well designed/engineered.
I am a more recent Strymon convert. I started with the Iridium and the Cloudburst to establish my amp and reverb sounds. I recently bought used V1 DECO and DIG. They do everything I want and more. Some other pedals have too many options but Strymon works well with knobs and presets.
Analog dry through, killer Buffer, high input impedance, low output impedance... are a big win if you care about your tone. Strymon does that... and you pay for that attention to detail and added circuitry
That's one of the main reasons I like them is how they don't color the base tone whether on or off.
I got turned onto Strymon when a buddy put the El Capistan on his board when it first came out, and they've been my choice of mod / verb / delay ever since! In the wholistic sense, they make the best. They sound the best (as in you might equal them, but you'll never beat them on sound quality), the parameters they offer are all of the things you want to play with and provide a massive breadth of options, and their interfaces are just intuitive and make it very easy to get the best results quickly (even on their most complicated pedals like the Big Sky and Time Line). The build quality is at the highest level so they're consistently reliable, and they make pedals that will stand the test of time. Even in the Eurorack scene the conversions of their verb / delay modules are perfect. Lastly, they also care about their customers and are guitarists / musicians themselves, so they make product they would want knowing that if it satisfies their high standards it will undoubtedly satisfy most peoples.
Also, if you're someone that doesn't like them, all good! It's fantastic that we get to enjoy all of the different offerings available. :)
All my main effects are strymon and other than that I only use a noise reducer pedal and three EHX 9 pedals and a pitch fork. I really want the cloud burst now.
Your ears and testing are exactly like mine. Even with the shrine pedals powered off you can hear a difference versus other pedals. They really build top-notch devices.
I have a Flint and Volante, the Flint is reaching iconic status, just look at how many professionals have one on their board. BTW I think you are mixing up "Analog Dry Through" and "True Bypass" in your video, they are different concepts, you tested "True Bypass" - Happy Xmas !
Analog dry signal path seems to be one of the most important aspects of the digital effects I use. It makes sense that Strymon would use analog dry through signal.
In my opinion, analog dry signal is critical when you are dealing with a modeler or profiler/capture device at the heart of your rig. Currently, the Tonex is my "direct to FOH" option and though others have had success using a Tonex into an HX Effects or GT1000 (core) or HX Stomp, I haven't. My experience with the HX Effects or GT 1000 Core with the Tonex is that the additional AD/DA conversion steps really degrade the signal.
Because of this "tone" degradation, I changed to a Source Audio Collider and a Boss DD200 as my back end. Both of these devices have analog dry signal and sound much better for it, in my opinion. I'm easily able to switch between a Tonex, IR-X , or Two Notes CAB M+ driven by a tube amp and my pedalboard seamlessly integrates with the options.
My board is:
GTR ->MXR buffer ->Xotic SP Comp ->Timmy ->[Tonex or IR-X or CAB M+ with Tube amp] ->Boss DD200 ->Source Audio Collider -> Mixer -> FOH
I can run in stereo or wet/dry/wet depending on how I cable into to my mixer. I'm currently considering a modulation device to go after the compressor and/or before the DD200
My board is a Strymon midnight love letter: compadre- Riverside - deco- Hx stomp xl (midi for the board via snapshots and Pitch, amp & cab, and eq)-fx loop with Mobius to timeline to Bigsky. It took a while to track down the big three in midnight!
Super (overkill) board that I get to play out weekly.
I had a friend in college about 13 years ago that had a Blue Skye and El Capistan and they were incredible even then.
Love em. Even the Sunset has stayed on my board since 2017 for versatility reasons (and sound one would hope). Packs a lot without taking up very much real-estate. Flint is a mainstay as well.. fantastic machine. Iridium, Volante and Timeline are brilliant
The Deco is my favourite, such a great pedal. I could gig with that alone.
The one pedal I bought and didn’t care about the price. I got the v1 and I use the flanger setting on the modulation side and the saturation around 3 o clock
My only issue with the deco, because I don’t use midi, is the need to physically turn knobs to get the chorus and delay settings.
They’re worth the money in my opinion.
It's truly a testament to the team at Strymon that nearly their entire line has withstood the test of time like it has. Many of their flagship products are over a decade old - technology has made leaps and bounds in that time, but they are still an industry standard. I own a ton of them, and will continue to own more!
The hotone ampero 2 has analog dry thru. And the TC Electronic Flashback 2. It was never a big deal to me till you run two amps at once. That "lag" of the A/D conversion is noticeable.
Wishing you and your family a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year and heartfelt thanks for introducing me to Strymon via the Iridium and Volante which are the bedrock of my sonic bliss.
Volante is a must have for me. The pillowy drone of a galloping drum heads into a cooking Deluxe Reverb with some amp spring reverb is just too perfect a sound.
I’m addicted to that stuff. Although…, probably not entirely true, because I know lots of modulation pedals that I prefer over theirs and the same thing goes for the gain pedals. So I guess where they really shine is in delay and reverb land. I bought the Cloudburst a couple of months ago. When it came out I knew I had to have it. Since then I added the 2nd versions of the DIG, FLINT and the DECO and today I added a second hand Brigadier. They just sound sooo good. And it’s not like they’re the first high end quality pedals I have, but when…. Okay, example time: I still love the Neunaber Immerse. I think the reverbs in the immerse is just as good (at least), but it’s just not as easy to use, because of the size, the fact that it’s hard to read the lettering, all of these things. These Strymon pedals are just cleverly designed.
As for the Meris test. I saw what you meant, but I couldn’t really hear it. But it made me wonder. What if I had three or four Meris type pedals instead of four Strymon pedals? I wouldn’t be surprised to find out that I actually WOULD hear the signal loss.
So yes, I’m happy with my Strymon pedals. Although I don’t think I need more than I have now. Again, to me Strymon is all about delays and reverbs.
I'm sorry, but you're wrong about Meris. All of their pedals, except for the Ottobit, have an analog dry path. This was confirmed directly by Terry at Meris. It's the reason I only use Strymon and Meris pedals. I don't want to introduce latency to my signal path.
Even the ones that dont keep the signal analog come amazingly close to bypassed signal imo, the DECO and the FLINT I own dont affect the signal as far as I can tell
Howdy! Enjoyed the video - my first pedal was the Flint - It worked, but it never felt quite right, so I sold it. I am guessing that it was not an analog dry through, at least when the trem side was engaged. I don't know. I own the Mobius, Volante, and Brig. The mobius is cool, but I found myself going back to analog modulation pedals. If I gigged, I would have the Mobius on the board though - a lot in that in a single pedal and it does sound good. Ok - best for last - I love the Volante and the Brig - they just sound great and feel great and they don't leave my boards. Full disclosure - I play occasionally with friends and a lot at home - so grain of salt, etc.
Volante, flint, and sunset live on my board. Just great stuff
Others have caught up to them on reverbs and modulation, but their delay pedals (and rotary and arguably verb/trem) are still amongst best in class. And the timeline and big sky defined the modern midi-controllable pedal and I think still have the best interface (I had an lvx, sold it and went back to the dig and a suhr discovery).
My board is combination of boss analog modulation and fuzz/dirt pedals and strymon delay/reverbs. The big box boss stuff requires more menu diving and doesn’t sound better especially for bread and butter tones. I wish they’d re-release their big box pedals with dual effect capabilities. Or even call it the ‘duo’ sky if they don’t want to destroy the value of their existing boxes.
And yes analog dry through is a real thing, it can be overcome, but you can definitely hear it on the mobius (their one pedal that’s not analog through because it’s a digital modulation pedal).
The only strymon that impressed me enough to buy it is the lex rotary, the rest could be had elsewhere for less, but the lex is actually cheaper than a neo vent and not far off, and neither sound quite as dimensional as a real rotary cab anyway but are much more convenient
Worth every cent.
Was considering subbing out my Dig and Flint for an LVX and Mercury X. This was very timely.
DIG, BlueSky, ElCapistan, Iridium, Sunset on my board. Love them. They are classics.
Flint V2, Brig, and Ultraviolet here. Plan to add more. I like them. I run stereo.
Volante and Deco stay despite Kemper and Eventide H90. Nothing can touch the Deco. It’s just incredible.
My favourite Strymon is the Magneto eurorack module. It not a pedal, though I do have in with an Empress Zoia Euroburo in a small Pod case, so I can put it anywhere. I like the modulation, extra features and the built in spring reverb emulation is cool too. The Brig does sound good, but I'd prefer the Boss DM-101, and have a real BBD delay with stereo outs and a bit of a funkier character. Had the Big Sky, and is was lovely, but I think things have moved on in power. And I wouldn't go back to Big Sky from Meris Mercury X. Similar with Timeline vs Meris. But, it's a testament to Strymon how those now pretty old pedals can stand toe to toe, and sometimes beat out the most powerful modern pedals on pleasantness of tone, but maybe not sheer power/flexibility.
I keep coming back to this just to listen to the guitar part in the beginning. Did you write this?
Woah wait Meris claims:
"In all of our products that feature a mix control, the mix happens in a digitally controlled analog mix bus. This allows for zero latency in the dry path."
So if there's a mix control for the Meris LVX there's analog dry thru to exploit there.
Are you perhaps evidencing a buffering effect instead among the waveform comparisons? That wouldn't cause phasing problems due to latency and support, say, the That Pedal Show advocacy for Meris products in their wet/dry amp setups while possibly explaining the discrepancy you're seeing..?
Strymon stuff sounds great. I have an LVX and love it for what it can do but there's no denying that great sound quality that comes thru every strymon pedal.
Hi John. Have you done a video on the Strymon Cloudburst. It is an unusual but very addictive pedal. It's an ambient reverb and sounds amazing. Very spacy sounds with a sort of string choir sound in the forte mode. I would love to hear you give a go. Cheers.
I only have the cloudburst and the sound possibilities out of this small pedal is outstanding.......!
Just my worthless thoughts: Strymon make some really nice pedals and the builds are quite lovely. They have spent lots of resources on MIDI which is nice for a niche group of players and not so much for the pedal person wanting to keep it simple. For example:
I had purchased the Rotary hoping to use it secondarily on guitar, but more for the Hammond. For guitar I suppose one is not looking for upper/lower rotor perfection as you would for keyboards. So, for the amount spend on MIDI on this pedal, better algorithms and rotor control would be money well spent, as the rest of the pedal and its interfaces are excellent.
I'm wondering if anyone else sees a trade-off in pedal resources/features in their favorite pedal.
Ha, funny what you say about the wow and flutter on Helix models....I find it way too much.
Maybe this is because I started my home studio recording on tape and wow and flutter simulation triggers memories of all the issues it used to bring.
Personally I feel like their reverbs are second to none. Guess that’s why I own two. The Flint and the Blue sky and both permanently reside on my acoustic/electric rigs
I have BigSky Timeline and Sunset and the Ojai for power so yes, I am all about Strymon.
The more boutique pedals I buy, the more I just want Boss pedals.
Blue Sky gen 1 and Riverside. Both sound great.
I didn't believe the hype til I picked up a NightSky and then a Timeline and an Ola. For people complaining they are expensive- scour the used market and they are very reasonable. I've always had to tweak pedals but with the Strymon, they just sound massive.
Got two Strymon pedals, Cloudburst and UltraViolet.
Since you're someone who experiments with an open mind: Try NOS tubes in any of your tube amps. RCA/blackplates for American and Mullards for UK. Surprised me how much different all the different tubes can sound in an amp.
I have owned both the Timeline and Big Sky. They are the highest quality company. You get your dollars worth. No Hype. The best out there IMHO
The Deco is arguably Styrmon's coolest pedal. Once you "get it" it becomes a staple.
Beautiful playing ❤
I love your videos and this was a great video on Strymon products @JohnNathanCordy I have 4 Strymon pedals for 5 maybe more years. The Flint is the oldest. I have the El Capistan, the Deco, and the Iridium. All 1st gen. They have been staples in my board with the exception of the Iridium which comes in & off the board consistently
Do Strymon pedals allow you to mix the analog dry thru with the wet output?
JB Eckle and I have had many a deep chat on the Strymon stuff. I regularly conclude these chats with the thought that Strymon seem to make your life just a bit far too easy. Now maybe this highlights masochistic tendencies on my part a bit as I believe pedals should sound good if you work at it and equally bad if you work at it. It is extremely difficult to get bad tones out of Strymon. Maybe that is their strongest selling point?? They're ibuprofen free pedals.
I have a Timeline, because of the analog dry through and a boost function, it's the perfect delay pedal. I have 2 flints, one on my acoustic board, one on my electric board and it's not analog dry through but has a boost function on both sides , so you can keep the level good when engaging. They are expensive, unless you get a double pedal, then it is like 2 affordable pedals in one housing. You do get a power supply with each pedal, so thats cool too. I think it's worth paying a little bit extra to get good quality! And Strymon deliver every time.
tremolo is great on acoustic@user-ri3gh6yb5k
What an opening!
I like them but i find them to be big. Not everything needs to be a double pedal, they need to release single pedals as well (i know they just did with 2 or 3 pedals) Personally i really wanted to get El Capistan and Flint however i use a small pedalboard (8 pedals) and it meant getting four pedals off my pedalboard. Therefore i decided to stick with Boss as always 😀
I'm a little surprised you prefer pristine DDL, over echo, given the obvious EJ influence. I personally prefer that break up on the retunr by I grew up with an Echoplex and RE-501 so it's just ingrained I guess but the Wampler Tape Echo I have is a really good substitute without the hassle :) Merry Xmas, John
I like the Nightsky reverb but the rest is a bit? they are hyped a bit. Chase Bliss is where its at for pushing new ideas
Fooled me. The helix sounded more classic so I think that's what got me. Your amp tone is a lot more boutique
Timeline and Mobious on my board forever. Sounds way better than my Helix.
Love strymon... Timeline is still my favorite pedal ever. I just sound better and play better when it is my delay!
Give me a Flint, Volante and a Lex and I'm done. I wouldn't need anything else 🤟😎
Who is this channel supported by?
People complaining about strymon prices are the same ones paying top dollar for JHS or boss one trick pony pedals. Maybe your paying a bit more, but you're definitely getting waaaay more than with JHS or really any other hype pedal brands.
Jhs seems insanely overpriced. I got their Univibe pedal for super cheap, but I’d never pay even close to market price for it
I’ve never understood why it’s called an “El Capistan” not an “El Capitan” did they just make up their own goofy sounding word that sounded like the Spanish word for captain?
I’ve always thought of Strymon as the highest of high end pedals. Their BigSky is still the best reverb pedal ever, even though I sold mine for the walrus R1 (most of the features and 1/3 the real estate and 1/2 the price)
Has nothing to do with Capitan or Captain, if you took the time to check out the webpage you would know what it means
All these Strymon users are happy, but I'd be happy too if I were that rich that I could buy a unit costing £'s X3 in NZ!
Chase Bliss EOM
You don’t need then is you play good enough
You don’t need
But maybe you want
HYPE!
I think you can achieve way more with Eventide.
I love the blahaj sharks
I just play with a little bit of Marshall gain & dry with no reverb or delay!! I just love how it's organic sounding & the opposite of what everyone else is doing... Also, I think a lot of people use reverb and delay because they're trying to mask the fact that their tone is horrible with out it... Most of the time people have really farty gain with no note separation, especially on the low strings.
Strymon pedals are like buying a separate computer for each app you use.
And that’s the only way you can buy the app
Without menu diving
@@shckltnebay basically the same reason people buy hardware synths. It’s all about the knobs. Can’t underestimate the importance of usability/user experience.
strymon is worth it
Because they're expensive and sound awfully digital. I really don;t know why either. Cheaper delay pedals don;t sound so f'd up. I do like my Keeley eccos tho, it has some neat digital sounds and isn;t cheap (I got it wicked cheap)
I love the El Capistan!
Bc of analog dry through! Lol
One of the few high end pedal companies that are truly worthy of their hype. The Flint is an absolute mainstay on many players boards including my own. 👌😎🎸🤟
i really like there cloudburst pedal , but 320 euro , pfff , sorry , but to me thats silly money for a pedal
Pretty pedals. Sound great. AND overhyped. One dimensional. Overpriced. Obnoxiously boutique. The boutique pedal M.O. = High price point /Low functionality. And Strymon knows it.
I sold my tubes amp bought Helix never look back
Brig
I’m sure they’re lovely pedals, but my poor ass won’t be buying them anytime soon.
How to kill Merix in ten minutes.
Bro wtf is that intro track lmao! Sounds like the cheesiest late 80s AOR ballad crap that no one likes anymore. Not really what Strymon pedals are for. I mean you’re a gifted soloist but you need to pick better tracks in less cheesy genres lol
I dont like them. Too expensive when Boss sounds better.
Better is a bit of an overstatement I think. They can sound equally as good for cheaper.
You're poor you probably work at Macdonalds.😂
Way to be a total asshole.@@abelinolopez1957
I agree with the sentiment. There's a lot of cork-sniffery that happens in the guitar community. A lot of the time the difference between expensive and budget is about the features you get, not how good the effect sounds.
@@abelinolopez1957 wow! 😮
Merry Christmas, play on. . . . . .