Thank you for including a synth demo portion, however brief - that's very important to me since I don't use pedals for guitars. Another great demo - I own the Hologram Dream Sequence & Panda Particle because of your demo. Keep up the great and entertaining work.
Of all the lo-fi sort of chorus/vibe/filter pedals, I feel like this one most accurately resembles the sound of a broken tape machine. That modulation is very reminiscent of wow and flutter, and the way the filtering interacts with it is really pleasing and gives it that natural feeling. I feel like this is a similar random modulation circuit to that of the Meet Maude delay, which I own and really love. I wish I could get all the Fairfield stuff, thanks knobs for these great demos!
At some point I just want a pedal that cost $499 and basically plays whatever the hell it wants and ocasionally screams "Fuck You!" in Gilbert Gottfried's voice.
A couple months ago I was looking for a really good lofi pedal, and I was torn between the Warped Vinyl, the Julia, and the Shallow Water. I am happy to say that I went with the Shallow Water. This thing is so freaking awesome. The randomness of the modulation and the filter are what really make it sound authentic.
It's funny how Knobs videos make me feel happy each time. It's not euphoria but that slight esthetic joy that I can experience flicking through a book on Paul Rand or Saul Leiter. I guess you can call it "art". The experience of other youtube pedal demonstrations with their generic blues or rock has the opposite effect and I immediately wonder why i found that pedal so wonderful just before. Knobs good for the soul, bad for the purse.
This might be the coolest youtube channel concept I've come across in 2020. Holy shit, love the playing and explanations. I bought this pedal and couldn't decide whether to keep it or not, and this video showed me why I love it. Subtle, highly tweakable within a narrow range of effect, for excellent results. Always on. Always.
Also worth mentioning, the j-fet transformer in this pedal is itself a huge plus. It introduces beautiful breakup perfectly compatible with the modulation effect.
Andrew Clock probably the instant lofi junky because of the master volume knob and the footswitch doesn't pop. (My generation loss footswitch pops occasionally).
Andrew Clock to me the SW sounds pretty unique as far as the filtering and dirtiness it adds. They're all pretty much good for different reasons though.
Andrew Clock the lo fi junky is cool, but beware the compression is HEAVY. You'll get a lot of floor noise as a result. If you're looking for a more standard chorus/vibrato, I'd recommend the Walrus Audio Julia. But the lo fi junky does do the Tycho/Boards of Canada sound really well. Currently I have a gen loss (and it replaced a lo fi junky). The gen and high/low pass knobs can get you a lot of sounds that is very unique to that pedal. The span knob can get you super deep vibrato too (much deeper than the junky, almost too much for me), and I love that it's random modulation, like the shallow water. I just ordered a shallow water but plan on keeping my gen loss at the end of my chain as a sort of "lo fi mastering" stage, to fuck up loops and such.
thistownneedsmusic yeah the ilfj is noisy. And it is so so so compressed. If anyone ever wondered what compression does, just show them the lofi junky. So damn compressed. Hahaha I wish the generation loss had a master volume. That would make it complete. I love them both really. One of my best lofi tools, however, is my trusty rusty Line 6 Echo Park in the tape mode. It is so so so lovely.
Xander Rose Xander Rose I'm complimenting knobs because I like the way it sounds sorry if there was something wrong with it. Didn't mean to start any fights or whatever man sorry. Anyway I don't think my rig is better than anybody else's it's all a personal choice bro. Anyway I don't wanna get in an argument
I've been creatively inspired by demos before. I've been entertained by other demos. I've been nonplussed at countless others. This is however perhaps the first time I've been so emotionally stirred by a pedal demo. The sounds. The sentiments. The creative concept. All the warm fuzzies. (I will say that it certainly does help to be demo-ing a damn cool box from Fairfield) Excellent work.
My band was actually called “Trio of Schmucks” but the other two schmucks off’d each other in a game of ‘Schmuckshambo’ so now it’s just me and I simply go by “Schmuck”.
It’s nice to finally find a reviewer who plays the same style of music that I play. Now I don’t have to guess how well a pedal will fit my style since I can just watch ur videos haha
Whoa, I want that pedal... Or... Do I just love the artistry? That is to say, I'm finding it's a good idea to watch other demos too before buying every pedal that Knobs makes beautiful, which, of course, is all of them.
At some point I'm watching these going, "damn... This one sounds good too." Question for you, Knobs: what is your personal board/rig looking like these days? Given your access to so many incredible sounds, what do you perform with? I think I'm not the only one on here who would be interested to hear your music...
I'm pretty sure he is actually a fairly successful musician who would rather do this kind of stuff anonymously in his spare time. At least that's the theory I like best.
I thought about this the other night, which is kind of the same theory I ended up with as well. Although, it would be neat to know.. It would also kind of kill the mystery (for me, at least) which makes Knobs such an alluring channel. He/She (They?) know that these videos are all about the pedals and providing great sounding videos featuring what we all want, no-talk audio demos. As an added bonus, the time is put in to give us something entertaining to watch while listening. I went through every video this weekend... I'm hooked... =X
What if he really is Ronald Jones from the Flaming Lips. I mean, similar sounds came out of his mind during his time with the band. Just check the cd "Lightning Strikes the Postman" ... Ring modulator madness!!!
Pair this with one of those loopers from your other videos (mood for example) and you get “strum once get 10 minutes of ambient goodness” -type of setup :)
Any similar VST plugin equivalents? I currently have XLN Audio's RC-20 and Aberrent DSP's Sketch Cassette 2,both are great. But still doesn't compare to this pedal
This sounds super cool, but it seems like the range of the LPG could be tweaked a little more to let more high end through. I noticed that it was doing a fair amount of filtering even at 75%. I've used the Make Noise LPG on my synths, so I'm familiar with the concept.
The LPG is full range, the pedal can be used with the brightest synth sounds no problem. This control is dependent on the volume of the source, the guitar in this video must have been low output.
I was about to ask the same thing! Inside of Logic there are some built in options that might be able to get you close. I’ve been messing with the Waves Abby Road plugins like for making tape and vinyl sounds. J35 or something like that
@@SPaulAndrewMaertens ooooh! The J35 is a great idea. I’ve been able to generate some interesting sounds with that. However, there is something so subtly mature about this pedal that I’m just unsure how to recreate in a vst. The subtle pitch shifting, the use of feeding back that subtly distorted/pitch shifted tone back into the signal and adding delay/reverb. Just not sure how to create a chain like that with a vst.
@@JamesCA Yeah, you're so right! I'm not a skilled enough producer to have a more nuanced answer. I think if I got this pedal, messed around with it for a while, and then tried to apply that with my plugins I might get somewhere. But there really does seem to be some magic in the circuitry here!
yep sounds to me as if they took a BBD chorus/delay unit and then added few elements from west coast /buchla world. like some sort of 292 lowpass gate and 266 source of uncertainty: controls are similar, depth, speed of random fluctuating signal, lag to round the transients. and finally lowpass gate with its characteristic 6dB/oct filter sweep.
Anyone else switch the jumpers around inside for synth use? Is it worth it? Does it deplete the sound? Anyone got any suggestions for patches with beats and field recordings?
Knobs: Beautiful, charismatic curator of out-of-stock pedals
moogaudio.com lists it as 'in stock'
Seven years later, it's very much in-stock.
Thank you for including a synth demo portion, however brief - that's very important to me since I don't use pedals for guitars. Another great demo - I own the Hologram Dream Sequence & Panda Particle because of your demo. Keep up the great and entertaining work.
Thank you!!
Sounds like you've plugged your guitar into a lake! I like it 🙂
Absolutely need this pedal NOW!! Wow! Another home-run by Fairfield and Knobs
I need this. I didn't know I needed it, I didn't know what KFM was, but now I know I need this.
Of all the lo-fi sort of chorus/vibe/filter pedals, I feel like this one most accurately resembles the sound of a broken tape machine. That modulation is very reminiscent of wow and flutter, and the way the filtering interacts with it is really pleasing and gives it that natural feeling. I feel like this is a similar random modulation circuit to that of the Meet Maude delay, which I own and really love. I wish I could get all the Fairfield stuff, thanks knobs for these great demos!
Imagine SW in MM's effect loop
I still haven’t bought this pedal. I still watch this video every week. I really need to get it
At some point I just want a pedal that cost $499 and basically plays whatever the hell it wants and ocasionally screams "Fuck You!" in Gilbert Gottfried's voice.
The Nutman, they're working on that next, just in time for winter NAMM.
Hahaha!!!
Pretty sure my Unpleasant Surprise already does that.
They're called Escorts. You provide the ukulele.
@foodie please make one haha
You have the best produced pedal vids I've ever seen.
A couple months ago I was looking for a really good lofi pedal, and I was torn between the Warped Vinyl, the Julia, and the Shallow Water. I am happy to say that I went with the Shallow Water. This thing is so freaking awesome. The randomness of the modulation and the filter are what really make it sound authentic.
These demos don't belong on TH-cam they should be in a Swedish art gallery
shut up
Ah, the expected TH-cam Nazi is here.
nrvana8775 me?
Meddie Diablo no, Xander
And they should be songs on Spotify and iTunes etc
It's funny how Knobs videos make me feel happy each time. It's not euphoria but that slight esthetic joy that I can experience flicking through a book on Paul Rand or Saul Leiter. I guess you can call it "art". The experience of other youtube pedal demonstrations with their generic blues or rock has the opposite effect and I immediately wonder why i found that pedal so wonderful just before. Knobs good for the soul, bad for the purse.
Just found you guys and our tuts recently and I am just in love with them
This might be the coolest youtube channel concept I've come across in 2020. Holy shit, love the playing and explanations. I bought this pedal and couldn't decide whether to keep it or not, and this video showed me why I love it. Subtle, highly tweakable within a narrow range of effect, for excellent results. Always on. Always.
Also worth mentioning, the j-fet transformer in this pedal is itself a huge plus. It introduces beautiful breakup perfectly compatible with the modulation effect.
I find your play style VERY interesting. It reminds of some weird dream or an episode of adventure time. I wish I could see what you were doing!
you can hear it
@@LfunkeyA ok Mr.big ears some of us aren't that cool
I love this chill and unique modulation effect. Ordered and on the way....
William Mitchell lucky
This is exactly my jam. Will be good buddies with the Generation Loss, and Instant Lofi Junky. Another brilliant piece, dude.
Andrew Clock probably the instant lofi junky because of the master volume knob and the footswitch doesn't pop. (My generation loss footswitch pops occasionally).
Andrew Clock to me the SW sounds pretty unique as far as the filtering and dirtiness it adds. They're all pretty much good for different reasons though.
Andrew Clock the lo fi junky is cool, but beware the compression is HEAVY. You'll get a lot of floor noise as a result. If you're looking for a more standard chorus/vibrato, I'd recommend the Walrus Audio Julia. But the lo fi junky does do the Tycho/Boards of Canada sound really well.
Currently I have a gen loss (and it replaced a lo fi junky). The gen and high/low pass knobs can get you a lot of sounds that is very unique to that pedal. The span knob can get you super deep vibrato too (much deeper than the junky, almost too much for me), and I love that it's random modulation, like the shallow water. I just ordered a shallow water but plan on keeping my gen loss at the end of my chain as a sort of "lo fi mastering" stage, to fuck up loops and such.
thistownneedsmusic yeah the ilfj is noisy. And it is so so so compressed. If anyone ever wondered what compression does, just show them the lofi junky. So damn compressed. Hahaha I wish the generation loss had a master volume. That would make it complete. I love them both really. One of my best lofi tools, however, is my trusty rusty Line 6 Echo Park in the tape mode. It is so so so lovely.
I'm gonna get this and replace my mattress with it.
Maybe not physical comfort but emotional comfort is all there!
Also sounds like lots of confusing feelings and emotion (basically adolescence in aluminum)
Now we're talkin
Xander Rose Xander Rose I'm complimenting knobs because I like the way it sounds sorry if there was something wrong with it. Didn't mean to start any fights or whatever man sorry. Anyway I don't think my rig is better than anybody else's it's all a personal choice bro. Anyway I don't wanna get in an argument
Ben Vroman
Sensitive feels here
thanks for including synths with this - will be good to see more pedal reviews that do this as well as guitars.
clicked on this video expecting some weird lofi indie song. I am leaving this video with one of these pedals currently coming to my house
spare 300 dollars sir?
Any pedal that's always on is instantly more valuable to me.
this brightened my day immensely.
I've been creatively inspired by demos before. I've been entertained by other demos. I've been nonplussed at countless others. This is however perhaps the first time I've been so emotionally stirred by a pedal demo. The sounds. The sentiments. The creative concept. All the warm fuzzies.
(I will say that it certainly does help to be demo-ing a damn cool box from Fairfield)
Excellent work.
Thank youuuuu
I always imagine Salad Fingers narrating the text in these videos.
Yes! Bingo!! This is the Salad Fingers pedal.
God this is soooo accurate.
Immediately started reading all the text aloud in a Salad Fingers voice.
Yesssss!!!
this sounds like background music in adventure time :)
Fall in love with this pedal... Knobs videos are absolutely gorgeous.
4:41, I died.
the adventure time pedal
no
yes
Thank you for not playing two thousand blues licks like every video made by a duo of schmucks! So refreshing!
danyjr Stop hating on That Pedal Show.....I see you throwing that shade...
Nah he means Rob Chapman
Those schmucks are OK too, but I'm glad knobs does the knobs thing. It's not a zero-sum game.
My band was actually called “Trio of Schmucks” but the other two schmucks off’d each other in a game of ‘Schmuckshambo’ so now it’s just me and I simply go by “Schmuck”.
Knobs you have an amazing eye for composition.
Oh, this is a pure delight!
This sounds WONDERFUL!
This is the pedal I've been waiting for. Holy shit I can't wait for this to arrive; like something out of a dream.
Fuzz cobwebbed dreams...strings and all....love it...cant afford it....damn you Knobs:)
It’s nice to finally find a reviewer who plays the same style of music that I play. Now I don’t have to guess how well a pedal will fit my style since I can just watch ur videos haha
stunning pedal
this is beautiful
This is exactly the kind of effect I've been looking for. Exactly.
Great demo as always!!!
Beautiful.
I just stumbled upoun this pedal and sold! This pedal sounds so good
it works that old rotary fx so good!
I am addicted to this
Another good dream :)
this is absolutely amazing. odd AND musical. brilliant.
Beautiful
Cool for my synths too!
Whoa, I want that pedal... Or... Do I just love the artistry? That is to say, I'm finding it's a good idea to watch other demos too before buying every pedal that Knobs makes beautiful, which, of course, is all of them.
This pedal reminds me of the Vincent Gallo record 'When'. Especially the opening track 'Laura'.
me too!
Thinking the same thing, love that album
4:01 Cool. Well done vid
very cool! love your videos, and killer pedal!
Reminds me of some tones from Flying Lotus - Until The Quiet Comes.
I’ve wanted this pedal for over a year now! I just need to do it already!! I bet it would be so sick on a bass if used right
new upload !!
This whole video soothed my heart...
Sweet review
4:40 Beautiful
Lovely
HI @Knobs!!!! I'm so excited! thank you for this new video! (Matt: your humbly obsessed appreciator of art)
At some point I'm watching these going, "damn... This one sounds good too." Question for you, Knobs: what is your personal board/rig looking like these days? Given your access to so many incredible sounds, what do you perform with? I think I'm not the only one on here who would be interested to hear your music...
I'm pretty sure he is actually a fairly successful musician who would rather do this kind of stuff anonymously in his spare time. At least that's the theory I like best.
he actually recently announced that he's working on an album!
I thought about this the other night, which is kind of the same theory I ended up with as well. Although, it would be neat to know.. It would also kind of kill the mystery (for me, at least) which makes Knobs such an alluring channel. He/She (They?) know that these videos are all about the pedals and providing great sounding videos featuring what we all want, no-talk audio demos. As an added bonus, the time is put in to give us something entertaining to watch while listening. I went through every video this weekend... I'm hooked... =X
What if he really is Ronald Jones from the Flaming Lips. I mean, similar sounds came out of his mind during his time with the band. Just check the cd "Lightning Strikes the Postman" ... Ring modulator madness!!!
Borisvski god wouldn't that be insane
Pair this with one of those loopers from your other videos (mood for example) and you get “strum once get 10 minutes of ambient goodness” -type of setup :)
I didn't even get to the end of this video before buying one!!
This is your heart on knobs ^
Was this based on the Don Buchla low pass gate?
Love ambient
Instant boards of canada machine
THOSE SYNTHSSSS
instant tim hecker
Mine's en route now. Excited to wade. Miss chatting w/chu!
Beautiful demo. Was the fuzz before or after the Shallow?
Any similar VST plugin equivalents? I currently have XLN Audio's RC-20 and Aberrent DSP's Sketch Cassette 2,both are great. But still doesn't compare to this pedal
This is art on so many levels.
That little face on the pedal next to the LED... is that a smirk?
Nice
Can someone recommend some musicians or bands that use these amazing synthy sounds that knobs promote?
YouthDrummer pretty good question. No one actually uses these pedals
YouthDrummer I use these pedals, check out my band: Radiohead. We're alright but I'm sure we will creep into the scene soon.
+1 for trying to be funny
Boards of Canada
Cremation Lily
Just bought one
This sounds super cool, but it seems like the range of the LPG could be tweaked a little more to let more high end through. I noticed that it was doing a fair amount of filtering even at 75%. I've used the Make Noise LPG on my synths, so I'm familiar with the concept.
The LPG is full range, the pedal can be used with the brightest synth sounds no problem. This control is dependent on the volume of the source, the guitar in this video must have been low output.
Yeah, Simon's got it. I turned down the guitar for preference. It can get wide open.
everytime i look up a pedal if i see it being reviewed by this channel, i know my wallet will feel it later
I'm gonna wait for the Behringer clone....
hilarious
Very cool man, unraveling the talent of the manufacturer and creator of the circuit is how we make the world a better place to live, CONGRATS!
i think he was joking
jack o'nada
+1 Me too...
Yeh, even so...
why don’t i hear the shallow water hiss anywhere in this video ? i’m trying to get rid of it on mine 😢
Geniale!
sounds like Pure Imagination around 0:39
Nice to see the Korg PSS-50. It's a cheap doinky little thing, but fun to mangle.
Do you put out any recordings of your music? i'd buy 'em.
at 2.15 is that a PENNINES riff?
4:34 Boards of Canada sounds
Pretty much everything coming out of it sounds like BoC... it's like BoC in a box...!
wow. this is incredible. does anyone recommend vsts that accomplish a similar sound/effect? any advice is appreciated.
I was about to ask the same thing! Inside of Logic there are some built in options that might be able to get you close. I’ve been messing with the Waves Abby Road plugins like for making tape and vinyl sounds. J35 or something like that
@@SPaulAndrewMaertens ooooh! The J35 is a great idea. I’ve been able to generate some interesting sounds with that. However, there is something so subtly mature about this pedal that I’m just unsure how to recreate in a vst. The subtle pitch shifting, the use of feeding back that subtly distorted/pitch shifted tone back into the signal and adding delay/reverb. Just not sure how to create a chain like that with a vst.
@@JamesCA Yeah, you're so right! I'm not a skilled enough producer to have a more nuanced answer. I think if I got this pedal, messed around with it for a while, and then tried to apply that with my plugins I might get somewhere. But there really does seem to be some magic in the circuitry here!
3:14 made me feel.. So.. So good. So sleepy and snowy.. And..
in love with your videos
awesome.. :o
Meddie Diablo. on my way to the Swedish art gallery!
Lovely sound! Interesting to see concepts like LPGs come out of the modular synth world into pedals. I wonder: does the chorus/vibrato involve a BBD?
yes it does involve a BBD
Good to know, thanks!
yep sounds to me as if they took a BBD chorus/delay unit and then added few elements from west coast /buchla world.
like some sort of 292 lowpass gate and 266 source of uncertainty: controls are similar, depth, speed of random fluctuating signal, lag to round the transients. and finally lowpass gate with its characteristic 6dB/oct filter sweep.
What exactly is that little synth at 4:08? Looks like an old casio or yamaha. It's cute as hell and that demo song is catchy.
It's a Korg Super Section
Having 000 is like being knighted by the chancellor of the universe.
Cool demo, wonder how it would pair with Maude🤔 oh think of the happy couple! dark, gooey love...
Am I having a stroke or they very subtly warping the video or zooming in and out? Maybe the LFO is so powerful it's messing with my eyes. Weird.
I so want to throw a beat on that underwater lick at 5:23 and send it to Frank Ocean and make millions and buy this pedal with those millions.
Where y’all having this in your pedal chain?
Anyone else switch the jumpers around inside for synth use? Is it worth it? Does it deplete the sound? Anyone got any suggestions for patches with beats and field recordings?
I want this so badly, but it's already sold out
Are you saying that you bought a 1k synth and a 300usd pedal to sound like a 30$ cheap keyboard? Pure genius
30$ keyboards don't sound like this
what synthesizers do you use in this video?
Korg PSS-50, Arturia Microbrute, Teenage Engineering OP-1 (in that order)