My absolute favorite pedal, basically an “always on” for me is my Strymon Deco. Mostly I just use it for just a little bit of the beautiful saturation, but it’s also great when I let it really dig in to the sound and make heavier saturation and modulations. Can’t live without it! 🔥🔥
@@nubianrose_theband excellent pedal! I replaced it with the Chroma Console just for space reasons but I absolutely miss it. I’ll probably pick one up in the future if I find a good used deal
Hi Miles, love your videos. As someone just getting into hardware synth from vst, can you please make a easy guide vdo on how to route, connect pedals, to connect multiple synths. I see people perform dawless but there are some many complicated wiring going on, not sure what connects to which in or output. And how to sync tempo on every hardware. Thank you
@@MilesAwayOfficial I'm also very interested in how your studio is set up! Do you ever use a patchbay or do you just plug each effect pedal in as you need it?
First! I always love your videos dude, keep up! I actually sold my whole pedalboard to get into Eurorack as an effects rig but pedals still have a big appeal to me, especially the ones on this list. I will eventually rebuild a high quality board with lots of those pedals lol. The one on my radar currently is the Chase Bliss Mood but I’m debating going for the microcosm instead.
I have both. Yes running guitar licks into arbhar/morphagene/data bender/nautilus/sea legs/ is awesome but at the same time you cannot get amazing reverbs like mercury x and big sky in eurorack even with FX AID. Pedals like vongon polyphrase you just cant mimic imo. Btw what modules are in your rack?
@@Dan_Delix eurorack does really appeal to me, I’m sure eventually I’ll bite the bullet and make a case! Chase Bliss Mood is awesome, I have a review video on it. I eventually sold it and prefer the workflow of the Microcosm but I really miss the right side freezing of the Mood
@@MilesAwayOfficial dude, I’d love to see what you’d do with eurorack! That would open up a whole other avenue for your channel that I think would be so interesting to see.
Nice list! I'm building up my synth pedal board now, so this video is like crack 😅 Also, you were pretty helpful in our brief back and forth about reverb pedals...snagged the Mercury7 and am in love. Cheers!
I really enjoyed your video and it's given me food for thought when considering future purchases. I do have to say, though. My absolute favourite pedal is the Soma Cosmos. I'm not surprised it didn't make your top ten as it's not for everyone, but I love its randomness and craziness. Perfect for me to build those ambient layers.
@@tomjw1306 I am absolutely in love with the SOMA cosmos but it’s my newest pedal so I’m still learning its quirks. Video coming this winter, but it’s amazing so far
My fave go to pedal is the Microcosm. I also use many Walrus pedals(Lore, Sloer, Fable, Descent). I've got an Erica Synths NightVerb on backorder and just got the Boss RE-202 Space Echo(I think a very underrated pedal).
Love the Gamechanger Light Pedal. Very quirky reverb. We have very similar taste in pedals. I have 6 of your top 10 list. I prefer the Eventide H90 over the LVX though.
Great list of pedals and I own quite a few of them from your list. One of the pedals I enjoy using is the Champion Leccy Swan Hunter. It's a fantastic reverb and delay with that lofi goodness 😍
Great video! I‘d love to see a video of you comparing the reverb pedals (for synths) Slöer, Blue Sky MX, Nightverb, and Meris Mercury X in terms of which is best for what.
@@underwatersunlight3795 it's excellent, it's probably about on par with some of the Big Sky and Meris algos to me, but its really best at big heavy reverbs to drench your sound. The more premium reverbs like the Big Sky Cloud and Meris Prism can do those massive tails without immediately turning whatever you are playing into a drone/ambient. They sit a bit lighter within the signal. Also the pedals are going to do realistic sounds like Spring/Rooms much better. But Summit reverb is incredible!
@@MilesAwayOfficial Thanks for that! I don’t own any reverb pedals (yet?). I own the Summit and love its reverb. But I lacked the comparison to those dedicated reverb pedals. So, thanks a lot!
Thermae is by far mine. It's sound is amazing. Have the microcosm and light oedal too, gonna be saving up for the rest if these. They all sound so rad!
@@theshillpill6937 on my list for sure. I’m trying to see what makes the most sense as the best big synth to review and do patches, as many epic ones came out recently
@@alexandrebaroni1057 thanks for the reply! For more context, I have a Pro-3 and Teo-5. I’m not entirely concerned with flexibility, but I do like sounds from both the 3rd wave and Gemini.
@@MilesAwayOfficial I love Vongon pedals (last word is key 😉) and Polyphrase is really slick. It is indeed a digital delay (I know that Meraki is analog, but the UI/UX is very sympatico) but it has a send loop. I wish that send loop was stereo, but we can't have everything... yet?
I have quite an overlap, just the OTO BIM and BAM instead of the two Meris boxes. Some people don't like their UI but ZOIAs UI gives me creeps. And I sold my Bigsky some years ago. I kind of got allergic to Strymon reverb sound although the new algos are better. But I had enough strymon sheen in my life. Great video, great channel!
Surprised only 1 Strymon pedal made your list. Deco and El Cap have been featured on so many synth YT channels . I have the El Cap and sold the Deco. I have limited use in a song for release with warbly tape effects. I'm shocked they haven't introduced tape hiss as as "feature". lol
@@BlackMan614 both excellent! I still have the El Cap, I love it so much especially the really warbly delays. Deco is great too, but I replaced it with the chroma console, the sweeten mode is similar for stereo saturation
Is it possible to try Eventide H90? I have one, but it's the first pedal that I have. I would like to know what do you think comparing with other great ones in this list.
Love the gear videos, but have you considered making videos explaining your production process and workflow? I'm always fascinated to see how others work, especially when it involves incorporating hardware into making tracks.
@@AudioLomtik I have many videos like that! The algorithm doesn’t show them lol. Check out my videos on layering synths, writing chords, how I produced a song with 1billipn views, how I made a song on top of a mountain . :) lots of past workflow videos
Hey miles can you tell me one thing, even with the volume boosted on microcosm, how do you bump the fx volume on micro to really hear some of the algos? I end up having to compress the hell out of, saturate with fabfilter saturn set it up as a send and return in pre in ableton and ends up with a good amount of noise floor because of but its the only way i can really boost the volume on it. Any tips on how you boost the microcosm and other fx pedals?
@@joeymc5272 if I remember correctly there’s a shift function to turn up effect volume, I leave it on max. I would also just turn up the gain on your interface. It’s a quiet pedal sometimes but it’s really clean and doesn’t have much noise so you can crank it
@@MilesAwayOfficial ya thats what i usually do with the secondary function on micro and crank interface gain but for some reason it tends to be quiet sometimes. Do you put a limiter on the master and boost things there before exporting might i ask?
Hey Miles I’m kinda disappointed in the hologram M 🤷🏻♂️ I bought the black edition but after a good year I still wonder what’s so special about it or is there something wrong with mine ? It’s a difficult pedal to compare also 😮
@@Headphones_Only my tips for the Microcosm: 1. Play sparsely, if you play busy parts it gets messy 2. Clock to midi for anything other than mosaic 3. Run a good reverb after it It’s possible the pedal just isn’t for you! But those 3 tips should help
The Meraki is actually the same price as the Suhr Discovery, and the Suhr is soooo much more legit. And are we still talking about granular in 2024? The Microcosm is like a Red Panda pedal. It's a box of faux creativity and listening to it makes me hate ambient. It's like if you asked bad AI to make Tycho sounds. I'd rather hear somebody noodling around with the Scatter knob on 2010s Roland stuff. At least I could enjoy that ironically. I respect almost anything Strymon/Empress makes even if I'm not exactly sold on the Zoia. They make functional stuff. But the interface on most pedals is so bad that it's worse than using a '90s rack module. Everybody should have an SPX90 just as a frame of reference before they dump $600 on some multi-FX pedal. You could have TWO Lexicon MPX1s for the price of a Meraki or LVX or Microcosm. I don't even know how I feel about Meris. I love the Polymoon but I also hate it because Meris is the actual worst ever at interfaces. They're so bad they finally gave up and put a huge screen on the LVX. I guess that's good LOL.
@@RaquelFoster I don’t know the Suhr! Gotta check it. Is that stereo? And I respectfully disagree, granular delay is a big part of how I make the atmospheres behind all my songs. Check out anything off my 2023 record, Space Between Two Halves.
well he did say *Top 10 Best Pedals* so where he spends his money is his concern. It's like your friend Uncle Jerry who spends his money on the most expensive way to make out like his channel is popular, ie he buys subs views and likes. Hey it's his money right?
Some of them are multi effects so in the end it’s often cheaper to buy a multi fx pedal rather than buying 5 different single/dual/triple effects pedals IF you intend using the whole setup. You need to consider also the cables aspect as well, its not free and do you have the mixing capabilities.
I wanted to love the Mercury X but the way some of their algorithms lean to one side when at higher mix % was too distracting. Can't fault the quality at all though, the OTO BAM is where I ended up.
My absolute favorite pedal, basically an “always on” for me is my Strymon Deco. Mostly I just use it for just a little bit of the beautiful saturation, but it’s also great when I let it really dig in to the sound and make heavier saturation and modulations. Can’t live without it! 🔥🔥
@@nubianrose_theband excellent pedal! I replaced it with the Chroma Console just for space reasons but I absolutely miss it. I’ll probably pick one up in the future if I find a good used deal
I second that, it’s a beauty, I’ve got the Mk1 and everything just becomes better through it
@@Kung_Fu_JesusExactly. It just make everything better! 😁
Hi Miles, love your videos. As someone just getting into hardware synth from vst, can you please make a easy guide vdo on how to route, connect pedals, to connect multiple synths. I see people perform dawless but there are some many complicated wiring going on, not sure what connects to which in or output. And how to sync tempo on every hardware. Thank you
@@3082frank will keep this idea on hand and consider it!
@@MilesAwayOfficial I'm also very interested in how your studio is set up! Do you ever use a patchbay or do you just plug each effect pedal in as you need it?
@@mimterest will explain in the video but I have a simple patch bay!
First! I always love your videos dude, keep up! I actually sold my whole pedalboard to get into Eurorack as an effects rig but pedals still have a big appeal to me, especially the ones on this list. I will eventually rebuild a high quality board with lots of those pedals lol. The one on my radar currently is the Chase Bliss Mood but I’m debating going for the microcosm instead.
I have both. Yes running guitar licks into arbhar/morphagene/data bender/nautilus/sea legs/ is awesome but at the same time you cannot get amazing reverbs like mercury x and big sky in eurorack even with FX AID. Pedals like vongon polyphrase you just cant mimic imo.
Btw what modules are in your rack?
@@Dan_Delix eurorack does really appeal to me, I’m sure eventually I’ll bite the bullet and make a case! Chase Bliss Mood is awesome, I have a review video on it. I eventually sold it and prefer the workflow of the Microcosm but I really miss the right side freezing of the Mood
@@MilesAwayOfficial dude, I’d love to see what you’d do with eurorack! That would open up a whole other avenue for your channel that I think would be so interesting to see.
Nice list! I'm building up my synth pedal board now, so this video is like crack 😅
Also, you were pretty helpful in our brief back and forth about reverb pedals...snagged the Mercury7 and am in love.
Cheers!
Mercury 7 and the Polymoon, what a combination!
@@interstellarcastaway my pleasure and congrats! Meris makes such good reverb and delay, glad you are enjoying it 😀
I really enjoyed your video and it's given me food for thought when considering future purchases. I do have to say, though. My absolute favourite pedal is the Soma Cosmos. I'm not surprised it didn't make your top ten as it's not for everyone, but I love its randomness and craziness. Perfect for me to build those ambient layers.
@@tomjw1306 I am absolutely in love with the SOMA cosmos but it’s my newest pedal so I’m still learning its quirks. Video coming this winter, but it’s amazing so far
My fave go to pedal is the Microcosm. I also use many Walrus pedals(Lore, Sloer, Fable, Descent). I've got an Erica Synths NightVerb on backorder and just got the Boss RE-202 Space Echo(I think a very underrated pedal).
@@wren23_bass-synths love all those as well! We have similar taste in pedals. Anything Granular going into nightverb is an amazing combo, enjoy !
Great video! And great selection of pedals! And great "Number 3" song, great vocals!
@@andivax thanks so much man!
Love the Gamechanger Light Pedal. Very quirky reverb. We have very similar taste in pedals. I have 6 of your top 10 list. I prefer the Eventide H90 over the LVX though.
@@ktreier light pedal is just so unique! Glad you have a similar list. I need to review the H90. Will see if I can eventually find one
Amazing video and selection of pedals! But the sounds on each demo are simply incredible man! What a vibe 🫠🤘
@@Sinesquares thank you so much!!
Great list of pedals and I own quite a few of them from your list. One of the pedals I enjoy using is the Champion Leccy Swan Hunter. It's a fantastic reverb and delay with that lofi goodness 😍
@@Studio8FX that pedal has been on my list for a while! It’s hard to find in canada however
Great video!
I‘d love to see a video of you comparing the reverb pedals (for synths) Slöer, Blue Sky MX, Nightverb, and Meris Mercury X in terms of which is best for what.
@@underwatersunlight3795 this video is on the way! Just hang tight, probably coming December :)
@@MilesAwayOfficial Awesome! Looking forward to it!
@@MilesAwayOfficialBy the way, in terms of sound quality, I‘d love to know your opinion on the Summit‘s reverb compared to those pedals.
@@underwatersunlight3795 it's excellent, it's probably about on par with some of the Big Sky and Meris algos to me, but its really best at big heavy reverbs to drench your sound. The more premium reverbs like the Big Sky Cloud and Meris Prism can do those massive tails without immediately turning whatever you are playing into a drone/ambient. They sit a bit lighter within the signal. Also the pedals are going to do realistic sounds like Spring/Rooms much better. But Summit reverb is incredible!
@@MilesAwayOfficial Thanks for that! I don’t own any reverb pedals (yet?). I own the Summit and love its reverb. But I lacked the comparison to those dedicated reverb pedals. So, thanks a lot!
Thermae is by far mine. It's sound is amazing. Have the microcosm and light oedal too, gonna be saving up for the rest if these. They all sound so rad!
Amazing! We have similar tastes. Thermal is seriously special
I hope you get an opportunity to try/review the super Gemini, been torn between that and the 3rd wave
I have both. Different products. 3rd wave is more versatile. If you decide to go only to one, I will start with 3rd wave.
@@theshillpill6937 on my list for sure. I’m trying to see what makes the most sense as the best big synth to review and do patches, as many epic ones came out recently
@@alexandrebaroni1057 thanks for the reply! For more context, I have a Pro-3 and Teo-5. I’m not entirely concerned with flexibility, but I do like sounds from both the 3rd wave and Gemini.
@@theshillpill6937 I only have Polybrute 6 as main analog synth. Looking for Teo-5 that I tried at Guitar Center. I really liked it.
Some I already have and love, some will now go on my Christmas wish list. 😎
Awesome to hear!!
I'm curious if you've tried the Vongon Polyphrase. It seems like Meraki competes directly, but lacks the effects loop.
Haven't tried anything Vongon, looks cool! its a digital delay right?
@@MilesAwayOfficial I love Vongon pedals (last word is key 😉) and Polyphrase is really slick. It is indeed a digital delay (I know that Meraki is analog, but the UI/UX is very sympatico) but it has a send loop. I wish that send loop was stereo, but we can't have everything... yet?
Which is the most versatile - the Merris Reverb or Delay? Do you really need both or is there lots of overlap?
@@MadelnMachines you are in luck I did a full comparison video a few months back between them both, check my channel for LVX vs Mercury X
Good question.
@@MilesAwayOfficial I’ll check it out
I half expected a surprise Eventide Orville/Harmonizer/H3000/etc unit as #1.
Thanks for sharing ✌🏼 very cool
@@NTayls80 thanks for watching!
I don't use pedals so much... but definitely two pedals from your list are on my shopping list at this moment. Nice video. Cheers!
@@SmallWorldBigThings thanks for watching!
Nice list. I love my Meris Otto Bit. Can use it as a filter, fuzz, sequenser and just plain madness 🤓
@@nebelweiss6999 I need to try the Ottobit! I’ve heard great things about
I have quite an overlap, just the OTO BIM and BAM instead of the two Meris boxes. Some people don't like their UI but ZOIAs UI gives me creeps. And I sold my Bigsky some years ago. I kind of got allergic to Strymon reverb sound although the new algos are better. But I had enough strymon sheen in my life. Great video, great channel!
Thank you! I need to check out OTO
Surprised only 1 Strymon pedal made your list. Deco and El Cap have been featured on so many synth YT channels . I have the El Cap and sold the Deco. I have limited use in a song for release with warbly tape effects. I'm shocked they haven't introduced tape hiss as as "feature". lol
@@BlackMan614 both excellent! I still have the El Cap, I love it so much especially the really warbly delays. Deco is great too, but I replaced it with the chroma console, the sweeten mode is similar for stereo saturation
Is it possible to try Eventide H90? I have one, but it's the first pedal that I have. I would like to know what do you think comparing with other great ones in this list.
@@alexandrebaroni1057 I’d really like to try one! If I can find a deal or rental I’ll make a video
Very digital sounding. If you like that, it’s quite powerful for a pedal.
Love the gear videos, but have you considered making videos explaining your production process and workflow? I'm always fascinated to see how others work, especially when it involves incorporating hardware into making tracks.
@@AudioLomtik I have many videos like that! The algorithm doesn’t show them lol. Check out my videos on layering synths, writing chords, how I produced a song with 1billipn views, how I made a song on top of a mountain . :) lots of past workflow videos
@@MilesAwayOfficial Thanks, I didn't realize that, I'll take a look.
Love the Big Sky and Meris
Cool list! I've been resisting buying for a long time.... but this day will come and I'll buy MERCURY X or Strymon MX.
@@ultimateXsounds both are fantastic, you really can’t go wrong. Which one are you leaning towards?
@@MilesAwayOfficial I think the MERCURY X
Hey miles can you tell me one thing, even with the volume boosted on microcosm, how do you bump the fx volume on micro to really hear some of the algos? I end up having to compress the hell out of, saturate with fabfilter saturn set it up as a send and return in pre in ableton and ends up with a good amount of noise floor because of but its the only way i can really boost the volume on it. Any tips on how you boost the microcosm and other fx pedals?
@@joeymc5272 if I remember correctly there’s a shift function to turn up effect volume, I leave it on max. I would also just turn up the gain on your interface. It’s a quiet pedal sometimes but it’s really clean and doesn’t have much noise so you can crank it
@@MilesAwayOfficial ya thats what i usually do with the secondary function on micro and crank interface gain but for some reason it tends to be quiet sometimes. Do you put a limiter on the master and boost things there before exporting might i ask?
What patch are you using on the Zoia?
@@robbyhuckabee2938 it’s a looper ambient one I made from scratch in my ZOIA review, check my channel for the video!
Fantastic! CitizenCon is over so I can finally watch your videos ;)
@@pedro.camacho appreciate you watching bro!
Hey Miles I’m kinda disappointed in the hologram M 🤷🏻♂️ I bought the black edition but after a good year I still wonder what’s so special about it or is there something wrong with mine ? It’s a difficult pedal to compare also 😮
@@Headphones_Only my tips for the Microcosm:
1. Play sparsely, if you play busy parts it gets messy
2. Clock to midi for anything other than mosaic
3. Run a good reverb after it
It’s possible the pedal just isn’t for you! But those 3 tips should help
No Walrus Sloer?
@@adoxographer it is an honourable mention! Fantastic vibe reverb, I still have and use it :)
I agree.
@@BigHairyCrank thanks man!
@@MilesAwayOfficial Since you're a fan of Zoia (me too, love it), give the MOD Devices platform a try. I own a MOD X...it's like a Zoia with a GUI.
Thanks for the Rec's Miles!
@@yourcitysleeps my pleasure!
Microcosm sounds really cool
The Meraki is actually the same price as the Suhr Discovery, and the Suhr is soooo much more legit. And are we still talking about granular in 2024? The Microcosm is like a Red Panda pedal. It's a box of faux creativity and listening to it makes me hate ambient. It's like if you asked bad AI to make Tycho sounds. I'd rather hear somebody noodling around with the Scatter knob on 2010s Roland stuff. At least I could enjoy that ironically.
I respect almost anything Strymon/Empress makes even if I'm not exactly sold on the Zoia. They make functional stuff. But the interface on most pedals is so bad that it's worse than using a '90s rack module. Everybody should have an SPX90 just as a frame of reference before they dump $600 on some multi-FX pedal. You could have TWO Lexicon MPX1s for the price of a Meraki or LVX or Microcosm. I don't even know how I feel about Meris. I love the Polymoon but I also hate it because Meris is the actual worst ever at interfaces. They're so bad they finally gave up and put a huge screen on the LVX. I guess that's good LOL.
@@RaquelFoster I don’t know the Suhr! Gotta check it. Is that stereo? And I respectfully disagree, granular delay is a big part of how I make the atmospheres behind all my songs. Check out anything off my 2023 record, Space Between Two Halves.
Basically, all your favorite pedals are the most expensive ones you can put your hands on
well he did say *Top 10 Best Pedals* so where he spends his money is his concern.
It's like your friend Uncle Jerry who spends his money on the most expensive way to make out like his channel is popular, ie he buys subs views and likes.
Hey it's his money right?
@@jumpingman8160 I might make a top 10 budget pedals list !
@@dankeplace aren't you just sad and tired of being a granny's basement troll? Which other groups have you been kicked out of lately? 🤣🤣
@@MilesAwayOfficial they don't need to be budget nor expensive to be good, my guy. They need to be the right ones.
Some of them are multi effects so in the end it’s often cheaper to buy a multi fx pedal rather than buying 5 different single/dual/triple effects pedals IF you intend using the whole setup. You need to consider also the cables aspect as well, its not free and do you have the mixing capabilities.
I wanted to love the Mercury X but the way some of their algorithms lean to one side when at higher mix % was too distracting. Can't fault the quality at all though, the OTO BAM is where I ended up.
@@markini6 bam is on my list, looks insane
@@MilesAwayOfficial In truth I think you'd find it to be a step down from the X, but on its own merits it's a wonderful turn-on-and--just-go thing
Eventide h90? Anybody know if it’s good/worth it?
@@x.fm_live looks great sound quality wise, workflow feels a bit too much like a laptop to me. In those cases, I use my laptop
H90 is a godsend, it betters the H9 by having 2 FXs. I have 2 H9s but will get a H90 later down the track.
I love coloring my sounds with Meet Maudes delay set to minimum, at maximum wetness.
@@hartspunken4830 great way to use it!