You’ve got to use the secondary functions to get rid of all the flutter, secondary functions also include the bias, and low pass filter, as well as adding a spring reverb if desired. You can get the El Capistan to sound really clean. I feel it’s one of the greatest delays ever created.
mm... it's not really Flutter. But you are correct in that the secondary function on the W&F knob controls Tape Crinkle, which is what the guys were wanting to be rid of in the video. I never cared much for that crinkle effect myself, but the wow/flutter is a lovely modulation effect in the El Cap & Timeline.
I'm all set for delays, but it's a great package, with a great interface. Plus in time they'll release plug-ins for other iconic delays. Those probably won't be free, but that's still a lot better than having to buy an entire new pedal. As of now, it has an Echoplex, Deluxe Memory Man, and TC Electronic TC-2290 if I'm not mistaken, but there's several more they could do, like an Echorec drum delay, Roland RE-201, Ibanez/Maxon AD-230, Korg SDD-3000, Boss DD-2, etc.
Another exceptionally helpful comparison! Superb musicianship Pete. You know how to let us hear what the delays are doing and you offer just enough of a chord, strum or single note runs to let us listen into the pedal. Nicely done. The UA is absolutely a pro piece of kit, but I am not hearing it as Strymon killer or complete game changer. I have an El Capistan and also a Blue Sky. Both superbly musical. I'm not letting go of my El Cap. If you go into Secondary functions, you can clean things up even more or even add a little reverb to the El Cap. I wanted to be blown away by the UA, but instead, I admire it, but don't feel like I need to hurry and get one.
Ya the El Cap's secondary settings are not factory default. The tape krinkle sounds like it's set real high. Should have reset the pedal, and you really should both have known it's got tons of secondary functions, it's only been out for like a decade lol.
I’ve just bought a Starlight and just getting inti it. I may be mistaken but from what I’ve read, one factor regarding the clean top could be an option In the mobile app, there’s a ‘preamp coloration’ toggle which lets you choose whether the ‘dry’ signal is routed through the chosen effect preamp or not. Hence if that option is off the dry signal may be less modified than it would? Dunno, just a SWAG but I can kid myself I understand! Next, try it out …
On the strymon you can hear the usual strymon sound that it does to the dry sound (not the repeats), that slight compression, slight flattening and coloring of the sound. The starlight has a lot more purity and headroom, impressive! The top end is beautiful, whereas all the strymons colour it.
I think the UA pedal represents a better value because you get all three types of delay in one device (plus a fourth algorithm, the Cooper Time Cube, when you register). While there are some differences in the modeling between Strymon and UA, I wouldn't say that one is definitively "better" sounding than the other based on this video. They are both outstanding on their own and in direct comparison. Perhaps one brand is providing more accurate emulation of the original hardware than the other, but that's beyond the scope of this video and would take tremendous effort to conduct a comparison test. If anything, it reinforces how good Strymon's engineers are and continue to be. Their flagship large form factor pedals have functionality and a place in the market that isn't fulfilled by what UA has released so far. I can't help but think that a pedalboard consisting of the drive pedal(s) of a player's choosing followed by the UA Golden Reverberator, Astra, Starlight, and then Strymon's Iridium for amp/cab simulation would be an astonishingly great ampless recording and performance setup. An interesting aspect of UA's entry into the pedal market is the use of a quad-core ARM architecture. I own two of their audio interfaces and would not be at all surprised if they transition away from SHARC processors for their next-generation products.
All of Strymons engineers have left the company (except Pete Celi). There is a new engineer intern there (who sucks) who made the "cloudbur$t cash grab reverb pedal), and a sould patch wearing salesguy. Stymon company is almost dead now. They get money by releasing black painted version of their pedal and a $200 plugin... the people who left made companies like Meris.
You need to adjust the secondary functions of the el-Cap - there you kan turn of the tape crinkle (the thing you Call flytter) and also adjust bias to make it clearer and brighter :)
@@punottedbumhucker3974 that's not true, tape delay functioning properly should be really clean, it's only after it wears down that those "flaws" are introduced to the sound. Most all modern tape pedals have settings for both ends of the spectrum though as far as I know.
@@benjaminfowler4513 Tape Delay Pedals are trying to recreate the sound and behaviour of a real tape machine. These old analog machines never worked perfectly(I had a few). So I see no reason why you should use it as a very clean echo pedal, we have digital delays for that...
I note that Pete managed to get a ‘ball bag’ in there without getting bleeped out. Edit: I just saw my own comment, having forgotten all about it - and I had to find the ‘ball bag’. It’s at 05:23
Great vid! I know alot of hard work, $$$, and R&D went into the UA pedals. However, given the market, I believe they priced them a bit too high. $300 would have been more enticing. Cheers!
You can’t ignore the market when you talk about price. This is the price of a great quality mutli effects pedal as long as stupid people put the price the market will always be stupid
the stuff about not being able to eliminate wow and flutter on the el capstan - sounds like they had some tape crinkle dialled in - it's a secondary function and you can switch it off completely if you need
For the dual mono to TRS stereo stuff Old Blood Noise have a box called the Split Meld that combines and splits out the cables for pretty cheap. So can put trs to dual mono and back again on another set of inputs
The determining factor with digital pedals trying to sound like analog delays is how well they manage overdriven sounds. Analog delays tend to blend much better with overdrive. I wish you had tested this here with the analog settings on each pedal.
It seems like the strymon pedals has a slight high-mid/low-treble boost when engaged, regardless of it's settings. Is it a buffered signal? Different pre-amps most likely
I chose a carbon copy and a deco. I think I'd like a delay with easier access to dotted 1/8th delay than is availiable on the carbon copy deluxe but it's a great analog delay and the deco can do 10000 things. When I eventually get better with understanding delay and how I use it I'll likely replace the carbon copy.
The Starline wins... it’s a dig, el cap and brigadier in one. Plus dotted eight at the flip of a switch and blue tooth around corner. Plus-plus per Mr. Peat... USB-C!!!
There is something addictive about the Strymon's... for example I cannot live without my Mobius, it's killer. But, the Starlight offer's so much in a single pedal I had to buy one.
Captain, the pedal addiction is real! Lol. However, I agree with you guys the is nice, but I’ll keep my strymon pedals. I believe the starlite would serve the a smaller rig well! Enjoyed the show.
Great sound and playing. But brings up the question of value. Is the cost worth the increase in tone and function over lower cost but still quality sounding pedals? To much for my board.
Not quite a fair fight. Strymons have much deeper functionality that still feels like a natural extension of the effect. For example there is a whole world of flanging in the DIG that never gets talked about. It's not on a switch, you create it with the secondary delay. Incredible feature. El Cap has the looper.
Sorry for the comment but shouldn't these delays be demoed in stereo to do them justice? Stereo has become the industry standard since the 60s and it allows you to use both ears individually for some great effect as you are sitting in the room. Some in the audience might even notice.
Great playing guys. I've got a Timeline and a Capistan and they do way way more than I need. I actually got the Timeline to replace a guy on a synth who played loads of pads and ambience stuff. Timeline, Capistan and a volume pedal, you can't get more chill.
Get El Cap if you want an awesome emulation of a Roland Space Echo, which includes a spring verb and a bonus looping feature. Starlight is awesome, too, but I think I prefer UA's reverb pedal over this delay.
I was waiting for a comparison with Strymon, so thanks - although I would have favoured the Volante. A remark to „use head phones“: no-one plays guitar though head phones, so if I need head phones to hear the differences, this differences are not relevant - are they?
I have a Stymon Big Sky and a Timeline I ordered months ago and still haven't taken them of their boxes, but I really like the way that DIG is sounding... 🤔 I don't have to eat this month anyway. I hope someone is working on that pedal vaccine.
Thanks for the honest review, there's very little difference in the comparisons. I dig my UA interface and plugins but, given the price point and that the pedals are digital, I'd go for a Timeline over the Starlight any day. Actually, I'll stick with my Alexander Quadrant with 4 x delay types + presets, MIDI and expression control, in a single, pedalboard-friendly form factor. 👍
I enjoyed this - all in all it was a pretty interesting comparison, but I didn't hear anything that would make me want to switch from my El Capistan. Would be really interested in seeing a similar shootout on reverbs with the UA Golden (which I'm *really* interested in getting) up against an RV500, an Empress and maybe even a curve ball with a "simple" Hall Of Fame 2.
There isn't enough difference. That said... what would life be without at least just finding out? Yep, it's all subjective blah! That's just my opinion! Please don't quit. I love it. Pedal 21 affliction.
Great vid guys! I have the Strymon El Capistan and its great. The UA pedal seems fantastic but $399? I want to hear more delay sounds with overdriven tones like I use for solos. Keep the comparison vids coming!
Yes people do use two delays... and many people stack multiple strymons.. The timeline is amazing, but I understand it cannot replicate the other pedals 100%
You’ve got to use the secondary functions to get rid of all the flutter, secondary functions also include the bias, and low pass filter, as well as adding a spring reverb if desired. You can get the El Capistan to sound really clean. I feel it’s one of the greatest delays ever created.
Yes, I completely agree with this. The El Capistan is unrivaled.
I agree. El Cap has all the character you could want in a tape pedal.
What about the volunte? I feel like for ambient stuff that pedal is better then both.
Thanks I'll check El Capistan out .
mm... it's not really Flutter. But you are correct in that the secondary function on the W&F knob controls Tape Crinkle, which is what the guys were wanting to be rid of in the video. I never cared much for that crinkle effect myself, but the wow/flutter is a lovely modulation effect in the El Cap & Timeline.
Once again Pete takes two beautiful chords, through a delay and just adds that level of wow that doesn't spoil the mood. Dang, a great musician.
We definitely need an Analogue delay blindfold shootout.
It's been 5 years since I started playing the guitar.
I progressed more the first 2 years than the last 3 when I fell in love with pedals
Thats normal its a plateau you reach and its harder to get over the next one
Pete: Charming banter..
Lee: Shh!! SELL THE PRODUCT!
Always hahahahahah
I am a simple musician, I see an Andertons video, I watch, like, and comment.
Well, I’m selling my delays and buying the UA....exactly what I’ve been looking for! Brilliant playing as always from Pete
I'm all set for delays, but it's a great package, with a great interface. Plus in time they'll release plug-ins for other iconic delays. Those probably won't be free, but that's still a lot better than having to buy an entire new pedal. As of now, it has an Echoplex, Deluxe Memory Man, and TC Electronic TC-2290 if I'm not mistaken, but there's several more they could do, like an Echorec drum delay, Roland RE-201, Ibanez/Maxon AD-230, Korg SDD-3000, Boss DD-2, etc.
The playing is just fenomenal! Great job!
Glad you enjoyed the playing Filip. Let us know which delay was your favourite!
@@andertons All are great in my opinion... It depends for what you want to use it... I am going with the pink one
Another exceptionally helpful comparison! Superb musicianship Pete. You know how to let us hear what the delays are doing and you offer just enough of a chord, strum or single note runs to let us listen into the pedal. Nicely done. The UA is absolutely a pro piece of kit, but I am not hearing it as Strymon killer or complete game changer. I have an El Capistan and also a Blue Sky. Both superbly musical. I'm not letting go of my El Cap. If you go into Secondary functions, you can clean things up even more or even add a little reverb to the El Cap. I wanted to be blown away by the UA, but instead, I admire it, but don't feel like I need to hurry and get one.
Ya the El Cap's secondary settings are not factory default. The tape krinkle sounds like it's set real high. Should have reset the pedal, and you really should both have known it's got tons of secondary functions, it's only been out for like a decade lol.
was gonna say the same thing, not a clean setting there
When's the Joyo version coming out? lol
I have three delays on the board thanks to my G2. Belle Epoch Deluxe, Strymon DIG, and Strymon Volante. Fantastic. I’d love more, but who wouldn’t.
When will the next blindfold series drop???? I'm thirsty for some hot ass pedals
Did you set the secondary functions on the El Cap to "normal"?
Yep the tape crinkle is definitely turned way up and apparently they didn't know about that feature when doing the demo
I'll just hang on to my Meris Polymoon - Thank you very much :)
“Somebody is unlikely to buy all three of these” (strymon delays). I have two of them, and genuinely want the third haha.
For shure!!! Me too :)
And dont forget the beautiful Volante!
@@weschilton Volante, oh oh, cantare, oh oh oh oh! Uhhhhh, sorry, that's volare! :)
Same here !😄
Is it bad that I watched this video solely because of that gorgeous guitar which was seen in the thumbnail? 😉 Those are all cool pedals for sure!
Happen to me all the time.
I’ve just bought a Starlight and just getting inti it. I may be mistaken but from what I’ve read, one factor regarding the clean top could be an option In the mobile app, there’s a ‘preamp coloration’ toggle which lets you choose whether the ‘dry’ signal is routed through the chosen effect preamp or not. Hence if that option is off the dry signal may be less modified than it would? Dunno, just a SWAG but I can kid myself I understand! Next, try it out …
On the strymon you can hear the usual strymon sound that it does to the dry sound (not the repeats), that slight compression, slight flattening and coloring of the sound. The starlight has a lot more purity and headroom, impressive! The top end is beautiful, whereas all the strymons colour it.
I hear that sound too and it’s called The Strymon Sheen. Their pedals are awesome but I ended up selling them because of it.
I loved the El Capistan, but got reid of it because of that. Volante still have it, but REALLY less.
Damn, the UA sounds great.
Been waiting for an El Cap and Starlight comparison! Great review guys. Have to say I'm still a Strymon fan, although the Starlight is impressive.
During the comparison with with the El Cap I think you forgot to check the secondary buttons, the pedal can do without flutter
I use dual delays most of the time
Dotted 8 into a quarter note based upon song tempo
Yes, people have used to delays at once. Alex Lifeson used to sit on the song limelight at the end of the guitar solo.
I think the UA pedal represents a better value because you get all three types of delay in one device (plus a fourth algorithm, the Cooper Time Cube, when you register). While there are some differences in the modeling between Strymon and UA, I wouldn't say that one is definitively "better" sounding than the other based on this video. They are both outstanding on their own and in direct comparison. Perhaps one brand is providing more accurate emulation of the original hardware than the other, but that's beyond the scope of this video and would take tremendous effort to conduct a comparison test.
If anything, it reinforces how good Strymon's engineers are and continue to be. Their flagship large form factor pedals have functionality and a place in the market that isn't fulfilled by what UA has released so far.
I can't help but think that a pedalboard consisting of the drive pedal(s) of a player's choosing followed by the UA Golden Reverberator, Astra, Starlight, and then Strymon's Iridium for amp/cab simulation would be an astonishingly great ampless recording and performance setup.
An interesting aspect of UA's entry into the pedal market is the use of a quad-core ARM architecture. I own two of their audio interfaces and would not be at all surprised if they transition away from SHARC processors for their next-generation products.
All of Strymons engineers have left the company (except Pete Celi). There is a new engineer intern there (who sucks) who made the "cloudbur$t cash grab reverb pedal), and a sould patch wearing salesguy. Stymon company is almost dead now. They get money by releasing black painted version of their pedal and a $200 plugin... the people who left made companies like Meris.
I would go with the UAD because I like owning things most people don’t have
Nice collection of top notch pedals and a good 1st look review!
Thanks a lot for sharing.
You need to adjust the secondary functions of the el-Cap - there you kan turn of the tape crinkle (the thing you Call flytter) and also adjust bias to make it clearer and brighter :)
...and cut low end
Fact is, if you want a clean delay without any modulation you dont a tape echo in the first place...
@@punottedbumhucker3974 that's not true, tape delay functioning properly should be really clean, it's only after it wears down that those "flaws" are introduced to the sound. Most all modern tape pedals have settings for both ends of the spectrum though as far as I know.
@@benjaminfowler4513 Tape Delay Pedals are trying to recreate the sound and behaviour of a real tape machine. These old analog machines never worked perfectly(I had a few). So I see no reason why you should use it as a very clean echo pedal, we have digital delays for that...
I note that Pete managed to get a ‘ball bag’ in there without getting bleeped out.
Edit: I just saw my own comment, having forgotten all about it - and I had to find the ‘ball bag’. It’s at 05:23
Great vid! I know alot of hard work, $$$, and R&D went into the UA pedals. However, given the market, I believe they priced them a bit too high. $300 would have been more enticing. Cheers!
You can’t ignore the market when you talk about price.
This is the price of a great quality mutli effects pedal
as long as stupid people put the price the market will always be stupid
It is now, in late 2023, possible to get the UA Starlight & Golden Reverberator new for $319. That sold me. Plus the sounds.
the stuff about not being able to eliminate wow and flutter on the el capstan - sounds like they had some tape crinkle dialled in - it's a secondary function and you can switch it off completely if you need
they didn't change the el capistan's bias to get rid of the distortion/headroom either
As usual, stellar playing by Pete! The pedals sound awesome, too.
Coming back to this in 2023.....I would love to see Fjord Fuzz Löke in contest
That PRS is spectacular, so is it's owner
Are there any good delay pedals that don't cost as much as my amp?
For the dual mono to TRS stereo stuff Old Blood Noise have a box called the Split Meld that combines and splits out the cables for pretty cheap. So can put trs to dual mono and back again on another set of inputs
The determining factor with digital pedals trying to sound like analog delays is how well they manage overdriven sounds. Analog delays tend to blend much better with overdrive. I wish you had tested this here with the analog settings on each pedal.
To me the Strymons sound more shimmering. No right or wrong but it seems that you can’t remove it on Strymon but can add it on UAD.
It seems like the strymon pedals has a slight high-mid/low-treble boost when engaged, regardless of it's settings. Is it a buffered signal? Different pre-amps most likely
I chose a carbon copy and a deco. I think I'd like a delay with easier access to dotted 1/8th delay than is availiable on the carbon copy deluxe but it's a great analog delay and the deco can do 10000 things. When I eventually get better with understanding delay and how I use it I'll likely replace the carbon copy.
The Starline wins... it’s a dig, el cap and brigadier in one. Plus dotted eight at the flip of a switch and blue tooth around corner. Plus-plus per Mr. Peat... USB-C!!!
There is something addictive about the Strymon's... for example I cannot live without my Mobius, it's killer. But, the Starlight offer's so much in a single pedal I had to buy one.
You can live without the mobius guy dont’ be stupid
Starlight all day.
Captain, the pedal addiction is real! Lol.
However, I agree with you guys the is nice, but I’ll keep my strymon pedals. I believe the starlite would serve the a smaller rig well! Enjoyed the show.
I need help. Should I buy the UA Starlight or Boss DD-200? The Boss is cheaper, but I do love the UA as well.
Great sound and playing. But brings up the question of value. Is the cost worth the increase in tone and function over lower cost but still quality sounding pedals?
To much for my board.
Not quite a fair fight. Strymons have much deeper functionality that still feels like a natural extension of the effect. For example there is a whole world of flanging in the DIG that never gets talked about. It's not on a switch, you create it with the secondary delay. Incredible feature. El Cap has the looper.
UA is in it's element when stereo setting.
In the case of only emulation of tape delay, El cap is better.
UA have more versatility.
Guitarist of Evergrey, Henrik Danhage uses 2 and sometimes 3 delays and it sounds massive :)
If all UAFX pedals are the same, I imagine you’ll be able to save and recall user and artist presets through the control app?
Hey that's the guitar I found in my Taxi!
PRS and Strymon have a "thing" goin on I think. Awesome pairing.
For me it’s the UAD.
Sorry for the comment but shouldn't these delays be demoed in stereo to do them justice? Stereo has become the industry standard since the 60s and it allows you to use both ears individually for some great effect as you are sitting in the room. Some in the audience might even notice.
Plenty of guitarists use multiple delays; Devin Townsend, Kevin Shields, Andy Summers, Buckethead, Rabea Massaad...
I think the Volante in single head mode would be a better comparison to the Starlight since it's the newest Strymon tape delay pedal.
Great playing guys. I've got a Timeline and a Capistan and they do way way more than I need. I actually got the Timeline to replace a guy on a synth who played loads of pads and ambience stuff. Timeline, Capistan and a volume pedal, you can't get more chill.
Brigadier is so underrated.
Totally man, it’s a really great delay
Which delay pedal ? , I'm not sure sure sure sure sure sure sure....
I'm just sitting here with my Boss DD3T "Nah, I'm good" xD
EBS makes pedal friendly Y Cable!
Get El Cap if you want an awesome emulation of a Roland Space Echo, which includes a spring verb and a bonus looping feature. Starlight is awesome, too, but I think I prefer UA's reverb pedal over this delay.
The Dig V2 is MIDI enabled … so it can be leveraged with presets that way
I was waiting for a comparison with Strymon, so thanks - although I would have favoured the Volante. A remark to „use head phones“: no-one plays guitar though head phones, so if I need head phones to hear the differences, this differences are not relevant - are they?
It's because some people listen to it on Smartphone speakers and wonder why it sounds like crap. If you're listening on great speakers you're good!
And yeah, I'm playing my rig through a Walrus ASC 1 and Headphones.
I have a Stymon Big Sky and a Timeline I ordered months ago and still haven't taken them of their boxes, but I really like the way that DIG is sounding... 🤔 I don't have to eat this month anyway.
I hope someone is working on that pedal vaccine.
Thanks for the honest review, there's very little difference in the comparisons. I dig my UA interface and plugins but, given the price point and that the pedals are digital, I'd go for a Timeline over the Starlight any day. Actually, I'll stick with my Alexander Quadrant with 4 x delay types + presets, MIDI and expression control, in a single, pedalboard-friendly form factor. 👍
21:05 Pete realizes he almost made a boo boo! LOL
i got the dig and digitech obscura thats all you need, great pedals
I enjoyed this - all in all it was a pretty interesting comparison, but I didn't hear anything that would make me want to switch from my El Capistan.
Would be really interested in seeing a similar shootout on reverbs with the UA Golden (which I'm *really* interested in getting) up against an RV500, an Empress and maybe even a curve ball with a "simple" Hall Of Fame 2.
This is gonna be sick.
It was a close comparison!
There isn't enough difference. That said... what would life be without at least just finding out? Yep, it's all subjective blah! That's just my opinion! Please don't quit. I love it. Pedal 21 affliction.
Confirmed - DD8 is the way to go! Was it windy in the room today?
I've learned a lot, thank you!
The secondary functions in El capistan were not adjusted. Sounds like it has some crinkle.
In Monty Python voice: "If you've already got one..."
Great vid guys! I have the Strymon El Capistan and its great. The UA pedal seems fantastic but $399? I want to hear more delay sounds with overdriven tones like I use for solos. Keep the comparison vids coming!
3:36 empress echo system “hold my fookin beer”
.
TC Electronic Flashback, I'm good thanks
✌😎👌
.
The UA!
What is the song he's playing at the very beginning? I can't place it but it's Soo familiar..
Blindfold delay pedals!! Sweet tones btw!
I never see an exemplary amplifier of the boutique “ Dr. Z” kind, in your superior back line? Do you know of the Cleveland, Ohio based maker?
Funny, I got up off my ass to get my headphones before this started. Then, in the intro, “use headphones”. Perfect. I ❤️ Anderton’s. - From 🇺🇸
Why didn’t they include the Volante?
First thing I thought as well. They know the Volante would destroy both of these.
Surely, Pete will eventually commission an upgraded (maybe triple!) OD pedal and call it the Great Dane. That has to happen, right?
Should´ve added a delay to «Andertons TV!!!» at the end there 😞
I think I would go strymon on here it's a hard choice though. I look forward too new and expanded UA pedals.
this comment aged poorly re: new ua pedals
yes, obviously people use more delays at the same time! stack yer delays!
Before I watch it Dig ftw
There’s secondary features on the el cap
I love the DIG
According the price range in my country. UAD same as strymon timeline, i will go to timeline .. many options, midi ,more switches .
They are both awesome!
Why no eventide pedals?
I think the UA Starlight sounds better. It has mojo!
I believe strymons turn the original a tad bit glassy.
Im interested in the reverb. That next?
get the neunaber immerse mk2. its glorious
Yes people do use two delays... and many people stack multiple strymons.. The timeline is amazing, but I understand it cannot replicate the other pedals 100%
Of course the main trick on the DiG is the double delay
I often use the dig with one delay but in this context to not just show what the 2 delays sound like together is churlish
I’ve never met a delay pedal I didn’t like but the 12-bit mode on the DIG is a bit special.