Are Analog Chorus Pedals Better Than Digital? | Analog vs. Digital Ep.2
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- Опубликовано: 11 июл 2024
- A vintage CE-1, a Waza CE-2, modern boutiques, and multi-effects-what modulator wins out? Learn more about the pedals featured here: bit.ly/Analog-vs-Digital-Chorus
0:00 - Andy's intro song
1:10 - Andy's introduction to chorus pedals
3:02 - Comparing choruses with slow, classic settings
4:21 - Chorus pedals with multiple delay lines
6:30 - What's the difference between vibrato and chorus?
8:07 - Comparing choruses with longer delay times
10:12 - Are digital choruses better than analog?
11:31 - Andy's conclusion
All pedals used in this video:
Analog:
Boss CE-1
Boss CE-2W
DOD FX-65
ThorpyFX Deep Oggin
Boss Dimension C DC-2w
Digital:
Caroline Somersault
Walrus Mako M1
Wampler Terraform
Boss MD-200
*From time to time, brands and builders send Reverb free gear to test and review, some of which may have been included in this video
#reverb #analogvsdigital #analogchoruspedals #digitalchoruspedals #bosschoruspedals #choruspedaldemo #pedaldemo #andymartin #guitartone #guitarpedals #guitareffects #analogpedalsvsdigital 
Развлечения
I miss the old Pro Guitar Shop videos but Andy still going strong after all these years,still the best demos and playing in RUclips
Thanks Andy! I've had a 18 volt analog Ibanez CS-505 Chorus pedal since the 80's. I keep going back to it even though I have many other chorus options. Something about it sounds just right and it's still my favorite.
You know I'm not too into chorus but like the analog but like you say I keep going back to my older stomp after trying so much new stuff
This is way more than just a shoot-out video. I LOVE this series!
For Red Barchetta, the CE-1 blows away everything else.
It's what Alex used, and oh what a sound
Great video and nice playing
Ce-1 & Dimension C sound “correct” to me for utility chorus options. The Dr Scientist Cosmichorus is also an incredible piece of kit, with expression controls for both rate and depth of sweep
Xd
Analog really has my ears perked. It sounds and feels right.
At this point DSP technology has gotten so advanced the “analog vs digital” debate is almost moot, it’s really just a matter of personal taste and finding the right tool for the job. The only effect I’m 100% on Team Analog for is overdrive/distortion/fuzz, even the best modeling software can’t quite capture the organic interplay between a guitar and an analog dirt pedal. That’s not to say digital dirt doesn’t have its time and place, it’s just unlikely to show up on my pedalboard.
I agree completely, but i tried the newest Helix firmware for OD/Fuzz/distortionsa and it's incredible!
That being said, I've yet to hear a digital recreation of the EHX Small Clone.
@@funkyfurballs1078 There's one on the zoom multistomps and it's almost indistinguishable. I took my clone off my board because it did the exact same job.
for delay, digital can't emulate analog very well imo. They are simply different effects. Analog has the thump of a "real" instrument
The chorus and doubling options on my Kemper work just great.
I used to think I liked analog stuff more than digital, especially with delays. Then I found that the clarity of a digital is really useful in a band setting, and that I could retain the analog character of my vapor trail but make it cut through more if I ran a digital Ibanez after it but not super loud.
As far as chorus goes, I LOVE the sound of the Somersault, and the Mr Black Vintage Chorus Ensemble is absolutely beautiful. Color me digital!
Great video.
Didn’t know about the multiple delay line thing either. When I first started playing , I actually wrote off ALL modulation because I didn’t like the predictable cyclical nature of the effects (Hendrix and Mike Einziger brought me around :)
I’m going to try running the Ibanez pan delay before my idiotbox dark waves on one side and fake a chorus with the modulation on the SD Vapor Trail on the other. Thanks Andy - I’m excited! Hopefully digital delay before analog still gets the sound I like.
The DOD sounded fantastic! I can see why it's Andy's favourite. I don't use chorus that much in my playing but I absolutely love the Walrus Audio Julia - it's full, warm and that blend control is magic!
The Julia or Juliana are clearly superior chorus pedals. I'd love to get one but I don't use the effect that much and it's hard to justify spending $150-$250 on one of those.
Great video! I love the chorus in the Hologram Microcosm! It turns into a vibrato when the mix is all the way up. Not its main feature, but it has a really nice chorus setting in looper mode. I also really like the chorus/modulation feature in the Meris Enzo, especially combined with the filter knob to set the tonal character of the pedal. Used to have a EHX small clone which is nice too.
Microcosm never fails to surprise me
Beautiful playing.
“Red Barchetta” nice.
I have the EQD Sea Machine, I like how it sounds, but it’s got all the extra controls you’d expect from EQD.
"Red Barchetta" is a great pick for comparing! Awesome
I own a CE-2 from the 80s! Never found a better one!!!!!!
Great playing
Just got the IK Multimedia X-Vibe and totally love it. No 3 memory thing there, you can have up to 300! plus it's got 16 algoirthms from various choruses, flanger, phasing, to tremelo and rotary speaker functions. Many things beyond those too, plus it sounds great, 24 bit processing.
Glad to see a company from my state getting some love. Caroline makes some great pedals!
Finally got a hold of my fav chorus recently. The callisto from catalinbred. There's something magic about it, I swear!
That M1 sounds pretty darn good. Excellent video, Mr. Andy.
I use analog and digital :) I have a boss ce-2, ce-2w, Dc-2w, Dc-3! my favourite pedal for chorus/modulation is actually a flanger pedal :) Thorpyfx camoflange. Maybe I should just say for a digital chorus type effect, I will use a Boss DC-3 :) used that live for years, loved it
Great informative overview, really enjoyed this, thanks! I don't really have an opinion when it comes to the analog vs. digital thing _ I guess it comes down to what role you want chorus to play within the parameters of your playing and mixing. My chorus history since the late 70s is pretty simple: Roland Dimension D rack mount with the first Boss CE for live work. These days I really like the MXR Analog Chorus, very subtle without the glassy 80s sound that is a bit passé for me, and also the Strymon Deco . . . the 'Double Track' function sets out to recreate the original 2 tape machines approach and when you widen the gap it gives you a really natural 'tape' chorus.
I had a Wampler Terraform that I thought the tones were great. My issue was it’s hard to switch presets live without MIDI, and it’s a huge space hog using the effects loop to put effects before or after. I predominantly only used chorus and phaser so I sold it for a blue hippo and a phase 90. Done!
I am pretty happy with the Jacques Meistersinger chorus pedal. First heard it from LA Sound Design (Alex Lifeson Tone Demo - Digital Man). It is nice and warm. Enjoy using it for Rush as it gets me close enough, though I would love a CE-1. Thanks for the video, Andy!
I would love to see a comparison of distortion pedals in this analog v. digital format.
For a long time, my favorite was the EHX Stereo Electric Mistress. It did a great 80s sound. I replace it a couple of years ago with the Boss CE-2W. I can use it with a flanger or without for awesome 80s.
EHX is still better.
Fun topic and comparison. My favorite chorus effect is the Elastic Mattress flanger pedal by Past FX.
Love it. Got their CE-1 mn3002 and it's awesome, still getting to know it.
I had a look at the website last night and the Mattresses are all sold out :(
@@mattgilbert7347 Nice, I'd love to get the CE-1 clone too.
Boss dimensional processor chorus ensemble is the one on my board, so many features.
The DOD sounds great 👍🏻
Both. For different reasons, both. My Source Audio Gemini is capable of the warmest, most subtle chorus while my old Danelectro Cool Cat analog chorus is quite bright.
Love that DOD!
I love my FX65. But only before dirt...it completely overtakes the sound and boosts the volume and high end if it's placed in an effects loop or after a distortion pedal.
What kind of amp was used in this demo intro? Also, any other effects going on in the intro?
I used to think a perfect sine wave was the way to go with chorus modulation but I eventually realised that triangle sounds better for me. Even though the delay line has a sharp spike it just sounds more chorusy.
Yes, I think most pedals like the CE-1 are generally triangle anyway!
The line 6 M9 is my go to chorus sounds
I just got a TC Electronic 3rd Dimension which is supposedly based off of the Boss Dimension C. Sounds good but I wonder if the TC actually copies the delay line like the Boss?
I just use chorus that i have in my marshall Amps. I dont have any padel
Try the yellow MXR Chorus - best analog Chorus ever IMHO!
Esse vídeo vale ouro
Some of the best analog chorus pedals are also among the cheapest. My favorite is my EHX Neo Clone feeding almost any dirt pedal. Especially fuzz.
(:
Dimensión C and small clone still are my favorite chorus pedals
Take a Sea Sickness Tablet before watching this 🙏🙏 Another great review Andy
Was waiting for the DOD to be mentioned 😂 I defo bought an FX65 ‘cuz of Andy
A mix knob is so the key of a good chorus, I got an old Pearl ch02 that can be set to sound so dimensional (it's almost a reverb) that even the boss dimension chorus (I own a dc2w) can't beat (in mono setting).
Besides dirt pedals, I own more Chorus pedals than anything else, and they ALL sound different from each other. A few other very nice options for me to consider here. And I’m sure the price listed in the chiron for the DOD on reverb is no longer accurate after the Andy bump. Still gonna check it out, though!
For me the best choruses ever made are analog true stereo choruses with at least two BBD chips. Those being the Tri Stereo Chorus, the Roland SDD-320 and the TC 1210, as well as maybe the Rockman Stereo Chorus although I don't think that one is true stereo as it normally only used one MN3007 chip but had a 2nd one to switch to long chorus mode.
They all give that wide, warm and rich sound you want in a chorus and you will NEVER want to go back to mono or wet/dry type choruses.
Enjoyed hearing Red Barchetta. To each their own, but my board is currently all analog. The one digital chorus that has my eye is the Free The Tone Tri Avatar TA-1H.
Once upon a time, achieving a pleasing chorus sound in the analog domain was much easier than doing so in the digital domain. First, analog samples/snapshots of the signal are more faithful and accurate depictions than an 8, 10, 12, or maybe even 16-bit A->D conversion. But with so many contemporary digital devices using 24-bit encoding, that aspect is now moot. Second, it was difficult to move the digital sample through memory fast enough, compared to bucket-brigade chips, to achieve very short delays in the early days of chorus. Finally, the earliest uses of digital time-modulation and delay tended to focus a bit too much on keeping bandwidth as wide as possible. I guess this was because we had been frustrated with what tape *couldn't* achieve in the way of fidelity. But pleasing chorus relies on a warmer-sounding wet signal. Analog chorus was obliged to use extensive filtering to keep clock noise out, which coincidentally provides for the "warmer" wet signal. Once digital implementation provided that filtering, differences between analog and digital chorus pretty much vanished.
I never really found a lot to recommend the Boss CE-1 over other units, apart from its ability to provide vibrato, and Boss's wise use of a different LFO waveform for vibrato vs chorus. Smart, smart, smart.
For me, the king of commercial chorus pedals is still the Boss DC-2. It uses two counterswept delays, such that one is always a bit sharp when the other is a bit flat. (they are swept at *identical* rates, not different ones) The benefits are several. First, that provides *three* voices rather than just two (i.e., 2 delayed copies plus clean) for a thicker sound. Second, since the overall wet signal never goes *completely* sharp or flat, one doesn't perceive the annoying "pitch wobble" of many other chorus units. Many '80s synths used a similar approach for their onboard chorus/ensemble sound.
The old MXR blue rackmount digital delay could modulate delay time and achieve those delicious Pat Metheny chorus sounds when using a higher delay-time range than many dedicated chorus pedals use.
Many of the differences between commercially available analog chorus pedals often stem from the delay-time range selected by the manufacturer. One delay range is not "better" than any other, but may simply be closer to the user's tastes. Happily, the range of delay-times on analog pedals is easily modified by changing the value of one little capacitor; decreasing its value to move to shorter more Leslie-like delays, and increasing it to produce "thicker" chorus sounds. A digital chorus may be amenable to doing the same thing with a control, so long as the manufacturer included that capability. Altering the delay range on a digital chorus is next to impossible via a simple mod.
"Stereo" chorus demands very picky conditions to impress. I have a Fender Sidekick SK-20, which attempts to be a "baby JC-120", providing stereo chorus through two 8" speakers, each with their own power amp, and one of them wet, the other dry. Where the size of the cab on a JC-120 provides adequate spacing to make the stereo chorus feel spacious, the pair of speakers on the SK-20 are fairly cramped, such that if you stand more than 6ft away, the "stereo" quality all but disappears. Close up, though, it sounds great.
Favorite for bass is Iron Ether Polytope, Boss CE-2B MIJ or DOD Deep Freeze🥶.
Versatile analog- EQD Sea Machine.
I still think the Tricerachorus on the H9 is the best damn chorus I've ever used. As far as analog goes I love the SD Catalina and the Catalinbread Callisto but that H9 takes the cake.
I love my Callisto, but also like my 80s Ibanez rack digital delays with modulation!
I like the Tricerachorus and the Tri-Avatar from FreeTheTone.
The somersault is analog I think the only digital part is the delay time chip, according to their website, the LFO, initial gain stage, dry signal, all of the controls and output mixer are all analog.
Hey, what was that song he was playing at the beginning? I love it
Thanks, just made it up!
@@AndyDemos Nice! It's a really beautiful and cool improvisation
All in all, the analog sounded better in each comparison.
tri chorus!!! that is the reverb sound i have been looking for!
Really enjoyed this, from the digital camp the Mako M1 was Impressive. Really enjoyed the somersault too, that long delay time was Interesting to my ear.
Deep Oggin was the standout for me!
@@xdoctorblindx ah thanks very much indeed!!!
I think that analog chorus, just as any other modulation pedal sounds more integrated with the original signal, I do not know how else to describe it. It is less separated somehow. Having said that, I am not a heavy modulation user and I prefer having a all in one solution on my board,mostly for tremolo and phase which I think sound well in digital world, too.
Boss DC-2w and MD-200 sound great, probably my favorite of these chorus sounds with this setup, didn't expect that. But all these pedals sound nice.
Personally i never use chorus but i have loads of flanger pedals which can provide good chorus aswell.
Maybe I'm biased but the CE-1 still sounded the best to me. I love my Dimension C like crazy too
I much prefer the tambor of an analog chorus, & to my ear the distinction is blatant. I own 3 of the Boss 200 series pedals, but not the modulation pedal, for a few reasons; one of them being that I prefer the warmer/darker tones from an analog chorus, phaser, & tremolo, then double up on a digital & analog delay (although the DD-200 does a great job emulating an analog circuit) & save pitch-shifting & reverb for digital.
The blue boss one has always stood out to me. Personally my taste has shifted and I don’t care much for that effect much these days. Though I’ve learned to appreciate my eventide pitch factor chorus presets. Especially on bass. To me I’d rather have a Univibe or phaser, supro trem subtlety set for modulation. Chorus and flange are a bit too much though I do appreciate when I hear it on a song and try to convince myself to get one but hasn’t happened since my small clone Nirvana covering days of the 90’s
Yeah, but both Univibe & phaser generally manipulate the waveform more extremely than chorus? I understand what you mean though, I couldn't get into chorus for a while, but univibe had started growing on me. It's soupy-er, & definitely trippier. I'd love to get that Fulltone Deja Vibe mdv-3, I've been lusting over it for a while, but I don't really have room on my board for such a luxury haha.
I like the Walrus Audio Julia or the Juliana....just don't use chorus enough at this time to justify spending that much on a pedal ($150-$250). Other than those, a vintage Boss CE-2 sounds best to my ears.
The *vintage* analog chorus units sound the best … those old BBDs and the current ones they use in ‘analog’ units sound so different. I love the warm, thick, chewy, soupiness of those vintage choruses, phasers, etc. 🥰
The Waza Craft uses the exact same chips as the original.
@@JeighNeither
It still doesn't quite sound the same as a vintage CE-2. I don't know why exactly, but I've heard them side by side.
@@JeighNeither It absolutely does not. But if you have a source/‘proof’ to the contrary, I’d be fascinated to take a look … but I’ll be waiting a long time, because the vinatge units used Matsushita/Panasonic chips, and the Waza use the Cool Audio chips (which are the only current production BBD chips). The Cool Audio chips don't have the same frequency response, clean overhead or noise specs as the MN3005s that were in the original DM2s or even the MN3205s that were in the later versions.
Part of it might be the preamps that come with analog choruses. A lot of analog choruses sound pleasant when overdriven. The preamps and AD/DA converters on less expensive digital choruses can be hit or miss when you have a boost before them. No one in the audience can tell anyway.
They all sound good but that CE-2 is impossible to beat.
Awesome great music song great song. So sound great audio
Nothing really beats the lush sound of the CE-1
The M-1 has so many tonal possibilities.
Personally, I found peace with the Yamaha UD stomp
DOD fx65, zero point and all that. I should try some others.
Did not debunk my analog faves: DOD FX65, FX60, & 565 Stereo (pounce on one while you can still afford it)
Digital chorus are getting a lot better then they were in the 90's and are coming into their own.
the best chorus i have ever used is actually not a chorus pedal at all, its the EHX Pitchfork, on its 'detune' setting. its just so thick, and the rate is determined by the notes you play, not an LFO
ah, so it's basically just semi phase cancelling
@@NZsaltz it takes its input, pitch shifts it up and down 17 cents and combines the 3.
the beat frequency that comes to be with such a fixed interval is a constant subdivision of the input frequency
@@theolang3566 yes, I'm aware
Anyone have tried the TC corona chorus ?
I demoed it once a while ago and thought it sounded bad. I would definitely try to demo before you buy.
Digital... analog...
At the end of the day, Boss has all the best chorus pedals.
Analog always!
More artifacts in the digital ??
short answer, yes
all sound great but imo.... orig ce1 kills! but the price,hype, real estate? my fav compromise is the ibanez lavender 1 from the 80's
all sound the f same to me! and thats great!
👍👍👍
Digital has three effects really, *really* down in my opinion…reverb, delay and chorus. I still prefer an analog flanger and drive…for some reason, the electric mistress is a sound that is just completely magic and exceedingly difficult to replicate, apparently. Same thing with the king of tone, etc. Amp sims are getting better and better all the time…they’ve gotten so good that in a band context, you’re all set. I flip back and forth between a floor unit and my Bassman all the time (depending on how much the gig pays 🧐) and while I don’t find it as inspirational, my digital floor unit is just fine when I break it out.
The CE-1 just sits up there and can't be touched... the first and best Chorus ever made, it's never been improoved.
Episode #1?
ruclips.net/video/y2uxEoc7sSU/видео.html
Boss is best
All I know is it's call BOSS for a reason!
If I had three chorus pedals I would just switch between them allllll day long.. ALL of the digital pedals sounded terrible to my humble ear, just very artificial sounding. The DOD and the all the Boss options sounded the best to me. That Boss Dimension is awesome! And how about some DOD love!
The Digital Chorus Pedals tend to have an extended color palette.
In every way that counts.
best in the box was GarageBand sunshine pop
I didn't watch the vid, but let me guess. There's no real definitive answer as to which is "better". Both Analog & Digital sound good, its more personal preference as to what you are playing.
Neunaber Inspire ended my quest for the best chorus
Their Inspire is really something!
Analog all the way...
Digital all the way for me!
I hate fast vibrato by itself! 😅 I like it nice and slow, digestible.
I like everything about these demo's, except, Reverb's gratuitous starting prices.
I am now more confused than I was 12 minutes ago. 🤣😁😂
Cool, My uncle owns a country place...
On stage with a band you will not notice the difference.
Great video regardless.
Reminder. We’re listening to everything over the internet. It’s all digital to us.
The boss ce1 is best
It is just nostalgia. Even the Beatles were allready solid state at the end of the sixties.