For anyone who wants the 8 voice chorus settings, they are: The depth is set to 30 on all 8 voices The first 4 voices are panned hard left, the other 4 hard right. Delay times and rates are below V1 Delay = 2 Rate = 10 V2 Delay = 6 Rate = 15 V3 Delay = 10 Rate = 20 V4 Delay = 14 Rate = 25 V5 Delay = 4 Rate = 12 V6 Delay = 8 Rate = 18 V7 Delay = 12 Rate = 22 V8 Delay = 16 Rate = 30
Leon, I want to start from scratch with a detune preset. I turned everything to 0 but instead of a completely dry signal there is still some kind of short delay. Any idea what I’m doing wrong? Any help is highly appreciated, thx!
Nope ... try 1991 instead ;) You'd need a full rack of TC, Lexicon, Yamaha, KORG, Ibanez and Roland processors + line mixer and switch patchbay to get those sounds in 1987
Great demo! One thing about the Intellifex (and Replifex): They actually have a parallel analog dry path that preserves the core tone really well, but you have to give up Hush and EQ for it and bypass them. But it lets you mix the effects in parallel then without an external mixer.
I had the Xpression (basically a Replifex), and there was a nice side effect of keeping the EQ out of the mixer path: you could now use it for "coloring" the FX ;) (worked particularly well with crafting an "analog delay" sound, or getting a warmer, lo-fi chorus sound). You could also do this in the Intellifex XL (as far as I know, the only Intellifex model that could have this "EQ for FX" going on).
Great video Leon! I've had an Intelliverb for years (inspired by its inclusion in Dean Deleo's rig), and use it all the time. There's something in the character of those effects that I've never been able to replicate with modern units like a fractal. They're definitely under-appreciated.
The industry makes too much money with pedals that adds noise, hum, buzzes, that sell around 500$ that sound like shit compare to what a multi effect was giving you in the days. Kids and even ""pros'' don't even know that that their 500$ reverb pedal don't come close to a 150$ stereo Lexicon unit or a BOSS SE-70(used). And I think the only company that would make rack mount accessible for a reasonable price would be Behringer. Look at their FX2000 it is surprising how good it sound and it is rackmounted: www.behringer.com/product.html?modelCode=P0A3P
If you're doing level-load with some fridge sized unit, then racks are great, but they can get big and heavy quite fast. We could do with a module system, probably something similar to the modular synth chassis standard, but with a 200V power supply suitable for tube electronics. I'm adding a chunk of modular synth panelling to the rack system I use, and it's much more compact than the guitar equipment, and a unit can be basically similar in size and weight to a guitar pedal.
I honestly think that they went out of fashion because - A) People didn't know how to edit and be patient learning how to tweak them B) The whole "80s Hair Metal backlash" thing in the 90s and C) People didn't set the dry/wet level correctly either within the effect itself and/or the effects loop on the amp and just gave up. But this and the Alesis Quadraverb STILL wipe the floor on all the so-called Boutique pedals out there today. The Quadraverb sells on Reverb for about $250 which is about what a single pedal would cost from Wampler, Walrus or Keeley.
Got inspired by these videos and inserted some AK85 presets in my Intellifex-XL. I came to notice some interesting development over these different releases. In XL your 8V delay chorus can go up to whopping 1025 ms! With one caveat that might be a huge turn off for some people - it can only set delay times in 5 ms steps. No effects like 416 + 418 ms delayed chorus in Van Halen style. Usually such limitation wouldn't be that huge of a thing in delays, but with the chorusy delay effect the phasing probably changes in sound, and perhaps it doesn't quite sound like the 2 ms differing ambient design delays. Caveat emptor! Oh and if you're thinking about getting one, make sure the knobs are still good. Almost all of the wheels of mine sans preset selector have a bad step where it just skips a turn without changing, and on the second turn it jumps two parameters (you can get around it by quickly turning the wheel a long turn, so when you turn back, the bad step is in another spot). Other than that, the new features like the huge delay time increase and a dedicated 4-band parametric eq opened a lot of doors. What's also interesting is the preset development. XL has a bunch of factory presets named like "Hangar 18", "Angus Room", "Halen 1 Verb", "Blizzard-Oz" among your generic "Slap back" "350 Delay" etc. I never owned the original so I can't say if that was a thing (LTD was the only one that had factory presets listed in the manual, at least of the ones on Rocktron's site), but coming to LTD, they had removed all references and replaced them with more imaginary pitch shift experiments like "Harpsichord", "18 String" and harmonized chords, 8V chorus presets like "Octopus", "Scatterbrain" and big reverbs and ambient presets. Perhaps they were trying to hit the Lexicon and Eventide dominated areas as well. Whatever the reason be, these units evolved quite a bit and sometimes took steps back, while being extremely affordable. Even today regularly going in between 100-250€. Definitely worth the "pennies" if you want a MIDI controllable single unit that can fulfill most of your effects needs and a bit more. At least in the case of you being an "entry level" guy or just wanting to replace a bunch of pedals and you're not very picky about every effect's nuances, as long as it delivers a decent reverb, delay and sometimes chorus etc when you have that one song with one part that requires it on a gig. Heck, like you've said, it's a good baseline to grow your rack on top of it, eventually you can run it for individual effects or in parallel for deeper effects. It's no surprise this unit found its way to racks of such professionals as Alexi Laiho, Brian May, Allan Holdsworth, Vivian Campbell, Glenn Tipton and so on. Let this be a marketing speech for someone who's weighing their options watching this video, or something! And a small heads up on the differences in the different releases of the unit as well, if you find it important. It's also the smallest rack unit in depth I've seen (if not counting tuners), so you could just as well hide something like a power strip on the backside of its slot. Perfect company for MPX1 too, since that unit has more mellow and juicy effects, while this one has that brighter, more shimmery tonality like Eventide. The combination is like running Eclipse + PCM side by side, except for maybe 1500 coins cheaper (given that you also sacrifice some depth and days of parameter tweaking, since it's pretty quick to edit Intellifex, and not that hard for MPX either after you know what's going on).
Glad you were able to adapt some of my presets for the XL! I've never played one of those, but I hope to at some point. As far as the lack of 416/418ms offsets and all--this isn't really such a big deal, because if you set both voices to 420ms, add some modulation on those voices (same Depth on each one, mild settings, w/offset Rates), they can naturally cover that "distance" as they move back and forth. Not the same as doing a totally static offset, but I usually prefer this anyway, it's just more interesting, and if you hit some "sweet spot" settings you can get a nice panning feel ;)
I love my intellifex and my Intellipitch 😍 It was my go to FX with my ADA MP 1 and Triaxis. I have to break out my rack gear man. Thank you for inspiring me to play my rack gear that some of my friend do not understand why I kept all my old rack jems. I show them your channel and I tell them "see! I am not alone!"
I still love that you still love this old rack effect, because it sounds awesome. It may not have the processing power of modern day, but it just has that right sound.
This is my favourite FX rack unit ever. Period! Bar none! I have one for almost 20 years and it is the ONLY unit that has not came of my signal chain even for a minute!
Great overview and playing Leon...thanks..love the intellifex..bought one off eBay 5 years ago for £70 including manual..once you put the time in its amazing..quality sounds...and those patches from Ryan are incredible..wish he would do more...its a keeper alright!...cheers.
You are so right! The Intellifex still has it's place although it is more than 30 years old. I used it with my Line6 HX Stomp as replacement for the effects I didn't like in there. And now with a Axe-FX III I still loop it into the signal chain and use it with a few presets from time to time. It is so easy to get phenomenal sounds out of it. Will never get rid of this unit.
the Intellifex is a GREAT multi fx unit - i have had many units over the years and nothing comes close to the pitch shift in the Intellifex! the problem is finding one that works properly UGH! right now i'm using the TC G Force and it's become my new favorite multi fx unit
Hi Leon....congrats on the 100k subscribers. My question is about TC Electronic G Major. I just don't have the love for the unit anymore. I am considering the Intellifex as my new box for effects. The prices on the used market just seem to have sky rocketed and just don't know what a fair current price really is and also which version would be the best. Can you help me decide? Thanks..Rich Watkins
i love my intellifex 2.0. a monster rack piece from the 80s. all the effects are great except the flanger. The delays, chrous, phaser, verbs and harmonizer make up for it though.
These were great units! I have 2 in my rack. I also have the Power Station so I don't need the wall warts. The original USA Rocktron stuff was super solid.
Ciao Leon, please, what Intellifex model are you using? Because I have heard the LTD model, but it has not those distorsions, chorus and delay modeller. Can you tell me if a LTD version has the same preset than yours? Because I have found a both, here in italy, very cheap price and I love this device from long long long time. But I was and I am still poor and I had not chances to purchase just exit on the market. I love the Rocktrock Voodu Valve, above all, but I have not found it to a cheap price. Please let me know something about the Intellifex models and if they can give a bit of satisfaction as the Vooduvalve, I love me too the clean preset and I love to create ambient sounds, but need to know what to do because (I repeat) not chances to buy any device that I see on sell. I love that chours your showed and that distorsion with chorus for a riff. I love the delay and Reverb ambient with Chorus or Flanger, but at the right moment, I would wish to put also an Overdrive inside :) Honestly, I have to watch your video whole, but I wrote during the watching to make you questions, trained by the entusiasm. Please forgive me for my autodidact english langauage. 🙏
Oh man, a DigiTech GSP Pro 21 and the Rocktron Intellifex were my first dive into serious rack gear back in the early 90s, I think I even had an old Arion Hot Watt back then. I just loved all the options you had to play around with and not having to litter your signal chain with a bunch of pedals to get so much flexability. Do you have the Rocktron Intellipitch also??? I used to like those old cheap ART rack units too. You could get some interesting sounds from them if you were creative.
Yeah i'm on the hunt for an old ART SGX and an Intelliverb. I have the Replifex, that one sounds great. been on a huge rack binge recently so if you want to hear some old stuff like this just search through my vids from the last few months :D
I got 2. Fantastic machine! Payed 100€ each... the same of a mid price pedal! Incredible how this engines are so depreciated... Very nice video as usual Todd, I also loved the other one you made on Intellifex, precious infos.
My main workhorse these days is the TC Electronic G Major, but man, the Intellifex just has some kind of special voodoo that I have always loved. So glad to have one again! PS - I never got to hear your bypassed tone or what you were running through. Also, were you going through 1 amp or 2 in stereo??
First the Laney VC50, now this... Just admit you are trying to make me rebuild the rig from 20 years ago 🤣 Jokes aside, awesome units! I remember moving to the Intellipitch, (for the "harmonizer") and Replifex (targeted at guitarists, with mido amp channel switching). All solid units, a breeze to tweak, with great algotithms, and good converters, compared to other racks that were trendy at the time, like midiverbs and quadraverbs. Thanks for the clip and for showing some interesting presets! You are feeding some dangerous nostalgia here XD
Same here. My Intellifex was my secondary unit. I even owned many of the higher end TC and Lexicon stuff and always came back to these two units. They just worked for me.
I've used it a long time, later bought the Replifex (for more fx, tap-function and channel switch) and tried to copy the fx i used as good as possible (managed pretty good but the 8-voice chorus is irreplaceable!) , still have the Replifex!
Still have an A R T delay unit Racks have sometimes unique sounds not readily available elsewhere I think Brian May used a couple of these Rocktrons for awhile Your demo here was really informative and fun Thanks
Very cool. I love bow you explain stuff. Man, you'd be a great math teacher too I bet sir. I'd buy one just for a couple delays and the pitch shifting. Leon, do you have a legal you'd recommend to get the eventide pitch sound on the cheap? Just shifted ever so slightly out of tune, but no modulation? In pedal format may I ask kind sir?
Well done LT! Yay! Rocktron! Originally from Michigan, sold later to Guild I think! Still have a few of their boutique pedals! Thanks for sharing and Be Well All!
They're still in Battle Creek, MI actually as a subsidiary of GHS Strings! (Rochester near Detroit originally) I still have an Intellifex LTD as the original owner!
@@LeonTodd The intelliverb is a expanded intellifex, the delays that were maxed at 418ms are now 740ms. The delays maxed at 750ms are now 1250ms, looks like double the ram. You get a new algorithm called Virtual room, you control the room size in 3D, you will love this reverb it's insane. The intellipitch was a poor mans eventide H3000, it did the diatonic shifting at a lower price.
Just bought an Intellifex thanks to your video here - that 8v Chorus just sounds so LUSH! I assumed the above-mentioned patch was a factory preset, but it's not on my (Online) model and the sysex files on the internet don't feature it either. Do you mind telling me if the 8v Chorus is a blackface factory preset or if you made it yourself? If it's a custom preset it's all good, I can tweak something similar -- I assume you keep all the delays very short? (Only a few ms) and depth like 20-30 and rate 2-4? Thanks!!
Used a Rocktron rig for years. Had 2 different Chameon versions running all the time through 2 completely different kinds of 4x10 cabs. I just got tired of hauling big shit around:)
Hi Leon! Thanks for the walk down memory lane ! The Intellifex was one of the first rack units I got back in the days ! It was very transparent and affordable at this time. Not the most ergonomic user interface but it sounds good. Later I had the Intellipitch which was the same unit but with an harmonizer. Not the level of an Eventide of course but at this time it was doing a decent job ! I also had a Voodu Valve that I got in a trade. Nice preamp but quite hard to set up. When you think nowadays, the prices completely dropped. If I were to build a vintage rack, I'd definitely go for some Rocktron stuff in it ! (among many other things of course xD)
Yeah there's stuff that's easier to use, but the sounds are worth perservering with IMO. I just got one of the Klark Teknik Dimension D clones so I'm going to build a "budget rack" with that for chorus, this for detune and something like an MPX-1 for delay/verb.
@@LeonTodd Agreed ! I didn't know about the Klark Dimension clone ! I love budget racks ! Finally it's not a bad thing that rack gear went out of fashion ! The used market is a gold mine ! Of course, you can do almost everything these units do with an Axe Fx, but I miss having several units... (for some reasons, my back doesn't miss this era though!)
Hi Leon! I've been following you for a few days and all your videos are really interesting, always great sound. I want to experiment with a 90's rack multi-effects, you can find a bit of everything used but I wanted to ask you if you can make a comparison between the Tc electronic g major "1" and Intellifex online? Thank you!
hi leon can you do a vid on the midimate with the rocktron intellifex ive forgotten how to program midi using my intellifex , senior moments (racks are back)
There is no spillover effect between patch changes--when things change, audio cuts completely off in the old one, and (crucially) starts RIGHT away in the new one! So while there is no spillover, you do get instantaneous patch changes. The Ping-Pong, Dual delay, & 2-Tap delay algorithms also have an Input Mute control, so if you leave it on that patch, you can at least get delay trails out of it--perfect if you have two Intellifexes in a larger setup (especially w/a mixer--that really is the indispensable device that unlocks all kinds of spillover doors), or Intellifex + some other delay units with the same functionality. Exceedingly few rack units actually do good spillover! It's mostly found in modern multi-FX boxes with "too much" DSP power onboard ("too much" as in, there's enough to completely double-up on what is needed for the effects themselves--kind of like what Digitech did with the GSP1101, which literally has two chips vs. the RP1000's one, so it always has the second one "ready to go"). With older boxes like this, I think the best thing to do is to just get a mixer and 2-3 FX units, maybe a Rocktron Patchmate / GCX to go with it--you can make all the spillover you want, with no compromises!
Leon...still loving the videos, you're pretty much the only guy that can make this stuff make sense for a user, so nice one! Anyway, quick question. I'm using an FM3, along with a whole bunch of other stuff, and I'm trying to figure a way of using my H9. Right now I have my H9 going into a BOSS ES8, but I see there is another set of ins and outs on the H9, and I'm wondering if this means I could also go into the FM3. Is this correct, and if so could you run me by how to do it so I don't wind up going through the ceiling. Thanks, Leon.
@@LeonTodd oh very cool...I shall go through your vids to find it. Thanks, buddy. Seriously I have found that thanks to your videos I have not only been able to really use my FM3 but I haven’t been put off to really have a crack at some deep stuff. Thanks so much🎶🎸
Coworker/friend and I would leave work early ( ca 1991-ish) and go to Seattle Guitar to demo the ART SGX 2000 w/ Ultrafoot controller and the Intellifex. He was hard over for the Rocktron unit but I was pushing th SGX because "Tubes baby!!!". We both ended up with the SGX but I sorely missed the hush circuit because the SGX was very noisy...and I mean stoopid noisy.. Seeing it in that condition when I played them new.....I guess I look a bit beat up like that unit :) Best Regards.
@@LeonTodd I"m sure somebody had fun. We all worked and we were doing 1-3 gigs a week just for recognition. You know the drill. We were a cross between Cowboy Junkies and Gin Blossoms so nobody of any size wanted to book us. But we were playing original tunes and having a blast :) But we never saw a name show. We lasted three years. All just family guys enjoying playing out :)
*My man i have been meaning to ask you, as far as effects go for a live application, are the plugins like VALHALLA, EVENTIDE ANTOLOGY, PSP AUDIOWARE better than using the rack gear? Like do the plugins really stackup in comparison?*
Another one I really liked was the DeltaLabs Effectron Thinking about Rocktron reminded me of Bob Bradshaw CAE was originally with Rocktron left Rocktron way back to startup Custom Audio Thanks for sharing
I loved this 1 sound on this unit but I could never use it properly - too complicated (but I hated reading manualsin those days) - sold it eventually - probably a bad decision. I think that chrous was it! It was mental
I did clinics from Rocktron in the mid 90s- I'm glad I have one back again. It was light years beyond anything non Lexicon/ Eventide. ( I'm also acquired a Replifex again, after your video)
Originally an ADA MP-1… then in early 94 the TriAxis when the Recto board came out, Boss CE-5 in the loop. - a PV Classic 50/50 power amp (I still own one - the best compact power amp at the time IMHO) I’d love to have that rev 2 Mesa back 🥲 You’ve taken me back to a few away place -hahah. How old were you at the time? 2?
@@LeonTodd you missed a great time … excuse me while I cry a little at our age difference. I’m sure your dad told you all kinds of things about ‘back in day’. Hahah
Hi Leon. Love your channel and playing. got my second intellifex because of your video. Forgot how great this unit sounds. Thanks for making me remember. That swell preset you have, do you mind telling me how it's måde? Cheers
Pretty sure that was one of the AnalogKid85 presets they posted here - www.thegearpage.net/board/index.php?threads/rocktron-intellifex-39-new-presets-for-2018.1984703/
hey Marcel, I'm AnalogKid85 from the video who made that preset....the Axe-FX III has TONS of presets that sound similar to that, but they can get *much* more "lush" and complex. Most of the ones I've hard like that from the Axe-FX are copying the Eventide "Plex" delays, which uses a dense network of 4, 6, 8, 16, (etc.) modulated delays that all feed back into themselves AND each other at the same time, the audio equivalent of a "combinatorial explosion" 😆 The Intellifex, on the other hand, uses a much simpler formula: 4-tap modulated delays into a basic reverb algorithm (and I do mean basic: decay, high frequency damp filter, levels, and not much more). No plex, no diffused delays, no all-pass filters in the delay feedback loops, and only one common feedback path for those delays (not a "multiplicity" like in a plex). This "basic" reverb is a bit rough--especially on the longer-decay settings needed for sustained volume swells--but I found that if you ran the 4 modulated delay taps before the reverb in series AND killed the "dry feed" going into the reverb, you'd get a much smoother sound (modulation can really work wonders for "rough" reverb algorithms in other boxes too, I've found out--great trick on the Boss VF-1 as well). I made a few variations of these, and I think the formula I used the most involved: - two "0 ms" mod delay lines (set up like a "chorus," but since there was no dry signal reaching all the way to the reverb, it was more like stereo vibrato feeding the verb instead); and - two longer modulated echo delay lines (w/feedback--and delay times varied here, I tried lots of different offsets over the years, and many different patterns worked well; just tried to stay away from even multiples like 200/400, 150/300, etc.) I also made sure to have different rates/depths going on on each of the four delay lines. What ends up happening is, those two short "vibrato" delays become the new "pre-delay" for the reverb, and the two echo delay lines sum together upon feedback, creating a new signal that feeds into all 4 lines again, then the two long ones repeat the process over and over again; and then all this is fed into the reverb (important to note: a summed-to-mono version of this is used to feed the reverb, which might be responsible for some of the nice textures that pop out of these swells). The delay lines inside the reverb itself are not modulated, but the verb still has a "floating" quality to it, since no regular dry signal reaches it--just the "ripple effects" of 4 different waves crashing into each other! The Intellifex algorithms have lots of little "quirks" that have to be worked around here, but the Axe-FX has no such limitations. You can apply these same techniques and get much better and "wider" results there in stereo (especially since you don't have to use any sum-to-mono points if you don't want to, and the Axe has many stereo imaging tools the Intellifex can't touch); however, if you haven't already, I'd make it a point to go through all of the plex-based patches on there, as I've already heard tons of demos that reminded me of that sound (and for all I know, I may have been trying to copy that sound in the first place, as I was listening to a lot of ambient guitar music back then, some of which used Eventide plex delays!). If that still isn't in the ballpark, you can certainly set up two blocks in series--maybe a 4 or 8-voice modulated delay block into a modulated reverb--set the first up for 100% wet (with a "split point" before that, so the dry signal can still have a path to the output), the mod reverb at ~50% wet, and try a similar setup. If you don't have an Intellifex, you could look at the preset parameters too, at this link (Sysex & PNG image files included for each preset): www.reddit.com/r/ak85presets/comments/9ny86y/rocktron_intellifex_39_new_presets_for_2018/ With the Intellifex manual for algorithm reference (necessary, for how quirky the multitaps are!), it should be possible to "clone" that pretty well on the Axe-FX, with lots of enhancements on the way :)
Still use the intellifx with the JMP1 on the Marshall 50/50, brought these in the mid 2009 when everyone was basically throwing them out for next to nothing. How about reviewing the Digitech GSP2101, only a couple hundred bucks these days
I'm bumming... my original blackface Intellifex stopped working. Won't turn on at all. Tried new power supply... nothing. Does Rocktron even service these anymore?
I just sold my Intellifex last year having bought it in 92 or 93. I set the chorus with two voices. One at 2 ms and the other at 0. The delay times never sounded right to me when you turned them down under 50 ms. Could never get a flanger effect.
You're right, it's basically impossible unless you totally kill the dry signal, and have the "flanging" happening between the wet voices only. I found this out the hard way, years ago, when I was trying to get "Rush" tones out of the Intellifex, and it was just *not* doing it....it turns out that the delay times for the chorus_delays are *really* long in this unit, much longer than they appear to be in the display, and this means that whatever chorus you dial in, you will never get the same comb-filtered texture (interacting w/the dry signal) as pedals can do. The "classic" analog chorus pedals have a base delay time somewhere between 3/4ms and 10ms (CE-1, CE-2, DC-2, SCF, MXR Stereo Chorus, Maxon, etc., all fall within this range); the Intellifex, at "0 ms," actually starts at ~29ms and sweeps backward, but I found it was hard to get usable chorus tones with Depths that push it beyond 15ms....so you're always going to have this "cleaner," less "syrupy" chorus going on, that always passes through 29ms....great for if you want to get chorus/doubling for high gain, or "Holdsworthy" chorus/swells, but not so great for doing analog chorus pedal emulation, or flangers. Now, you *can* get more comb filtering going on by using more voices, close together in time--but this is a slightly different sound, as the combs are not interacting with the dry signal, but in this new "comb zone" that's farther away. You can hear a bit of that in the part of the video where Leon demo'd the "8v Chorus" preset, but it's still a different sound. One thing I never really explored on the Intellifex was killing the dry signal, settting up two new "dry voices" (both "0ms," with no modulation), and then setting up two more mod delays (2ms) with offsets, for flanging sounds. Back when I had it, I guess I didn't want to do it because I knew it wouldn't "feel" right when I played it (with 20-29ms of latency happening at ALL times, w/no dry signal present), and I had other units that did flanging pretty well. If I get another one, this will be the first thing I try though!
@@LeonTodd yes they will. They didn't change anything, really, until the Intelliverb, Intellifex XL, & Intellipitch came around. The blackface, On-Line, and LTD versions all have the same delay time capability, algorithms, etc. and can run any preset that was included with the others. Thank you for showing off those AH presets, those were some of my favorites!
So is #4 preset always 8Voice Chorus? My #4 says 0 AND A. I went thru all 200 presents and none were 8Voice Chorus. Also my number 1 says Welcome, not Pan Delay. Strange
I used a Boss Fc50 . It worked great with the Intellifex and the Marshall MR6101, which had MIDI. The Intellifex replaced my Quadraverb/Hush combination.
I loved mine but had to sell it as I couldn't understand ducking and regen amongst other things and the instruction manual didn't clear things up. I was like "I just want to increase/decrease my delay and chorus, I don't want all this extra nonsense".
I still have an Intellifex LTD bought in the 90s. I am just getting my fender AMPs back online as they sat there for about 20 years being not used and I want to have some fun with them again. I played the Intellifex with 2x Fender Ultra Chorus used in Stereo mode. Then the Intellifex really shines. I remember when we were playing 20 years ago I was putting one AMP left and one AMP right to the stage and the sound of ping pong delay and 8 voice chorus was so cool. Besides the power of 2x Ultra Chorus is brutal.
PS: The quality and clarity of the Inetellifex using the 24 bit DSPs was my buying decision, when i bought it in the 90s. It had no noise at all and dynamic of the amps was not compressed by it.
I have Used the Rocktron Replifex and Intellifex units together for a long time. The Replifex would handle all the virtual pedal board sounds, the Intellifex would expand my delays and reverbs.
I used a Rocktron Midimate to assign cc# to buttons 5-9. Sometimes I had just changes to mix like a scene sometimes. But, usually laid out: 9 phaser, 8 modulation, 7 panner, 6 Delay, and 5 Rev. I had a song that needed longer than 1,000ms. So, I used the Intellifex for the other delay. I loved. The ducker delay and reverb on the Intellifex. I used a 2nd MIDI controller for the ADA Mp-1.
The most you can really have at a time is 3 effects, with the 4-Voice Chorus/Delay+Reverb algorithm. I made many presets where there were 2 voices of chorus, 2 voices of delay (stereo, but not fully independent lines, it's a multitap structure), and Reverb. I also did some with 3 voices of chorus (L-C-R) and 1 center-panned echo (it didn't really matter that that 1 delay voice was mono, because it would be "stereo-fied" immediately as it fed back into the 3 chorus voices). You could also choose to have the chorus/delay FX feed the reverb, the dry signal, or any blend of both (so series, parallel, or both is possible). The only "bad" thing about this arrangement is that, in this algorithm-as in the 8-voice chorus-delay times are limited to 418ms; however, if you can get your hands on the Intelliverb, you get bumped up to (I think) 740ms, so it turns into a much more "full-featured" algorithm at that point that can handle all those crucial 400-650ms range delays that pop up so much (not to mention, more room to do ping-pongs, since you can easily do a 300/600 bounce, or 350/700, etc.). Intellifex XL bumps it up even more, but those are rare (over 1,000ms of delay time for each mod delay voice). You can also do multi-voice chorus + longer delays inside the 8-voice chorus algorithm, of course ;) 6-voice chorus + stereo 2-tap delay is no problem (and here again, the delays feed back into the chorus voices, which sounds super-lush, especially if you have modulation on the echoes too). It's also possible to do multi-FX inside the pitch+reverb algorithm, but I've had pretty mixed results with it (I'm not totally sure, but I think they used a simpler reverb algorithm inside it, to give more processing power to the pitch shifters).
@@rblossey Wow, thanks for the detailed reply! That was a common limitation of the multi effects of the era, when more effects combined the less delay the processor could manage. Low processing power of the early days, that's why the "big guys" had a refrigerator-sized rack, each unit could do a single effect or two well so you needed more units. Today's equivalent are pedal-sized digital effects and the rack ones, like the Axe FX or the Helix, are out of this world with power and possibilities of combinations.
This is a cool module but damn these things are $450 on eBay and that's insane when you can get an MPX1 for under $300 or an SPX90 / SE-70 / SDE-330 for under $200. But I like that '80s calculator display like an Oberheim Xpander 😂
I've never understood how people peace with the two opposing views on delay where one view is to set a millisecond delay and the other is to base it on the tempo of the song and has to be exact otherwise your delayed notes aren't in time.
For anyone who wants the 8 voice chorus settings, they are:
The depth is set to 30 on all 8 voices
The first 4 voices are panned hard left, the other 4 hard right.
Delay times and rates are below
V1 Delay = 2 Rate = 10
V2 Delay = 6 Rate = 15
V3 Delay = 10 Rate = 20
V4 Delay = 14 Rate = 25
V5 Delay = 4 Rate = 12
V6 Delay = 8 Rate = 18
V7 Delay = 12 Rate = 22
V8 Delay = 16 Rate = 30
Leon, I want to start from scratch with a detune preset. I turned everything to 0 but instead of a completely dry signal there is still some kind of short delay. Any idea what I’m doing wrong? Any help is highly appreciated, thx!
Lord have mercy! That ain’t no effects processor. It’s a time machine that’s set to 1987!
Nope ... try 1991 instead ;) You'd need a full rack of TC, Lexicon, Yamaha, KORG, Ibanez and Roland processors + line mixer and switch patchbay to get those sounds in 1987
Great demo! One thing about the Intellifex (and Replifex): They actually have a parallel analog dry path that preserves the core tone really well, but you have to give up Hush and EQ for it and bypass them. But it lets you mix the effects in parallel then without an external mixer.
I had the Xpression (basically a Replifex), and there was a nice side effect of keeping the EQ out of the mixer path: you could now use it for "coloring" the FX ;) (worked particularly well with crafting an "analog delay" sound, or getting a warmer, lo-fi chorus sound). You could also do this in the Intellifex XL (as far as I know, the only Intellifex model that could have this "EQ for FX" going on).
Leon, thank you for your deep dive into the Intellifex. I have owned them for 30 years... but I have learned so much from your vids. Thank you.
It's a classic! Glad you enjoyed it.
Great video Leon! I've had an Intelliverb for years (inspired by its inclusion in Dean Deleo's rig), and use it all the time. There's something in the character of those effects that I've never been able to replicate with modern units like a fractal. They're definitely under-appreciated.
I think it's a great idea to have a Fractal for all the core stuff and then something like this or an SPX90 for fun 80's/90's character.
yes, this unit cannot leave my rack and it works tonaly perfect with the piranha pre.
Rack effects really need to make a come back
The industry makes too much money with pedals that adds noise, hum, buzzes, that sell around 500$ that sound like shit compare to what a multi effect was giving you in the days. Kids and even ""pros'' don't even know that that their 500$ reverb pedal don't come close to a 150$ stereo Lexicon unit or a BOSS SE-70(used). And I think the only company that would make rack mount accessible for a reasonable price would be Behringer. Look at their FX2000 it is surprising how good it sound and it is rackmounted:
www.behringer.com/product.html?modelCode=P0A3P
If you're doing level-load with some fridge sized unit, then racks are great, but they can get big and heavy quite fast. We could do with a module system, probably something similar to the modular synth chassis standard, but with a 200V power supply suitable for tube electronics. I'm adding a chunk of modular synth panelling to the rack system I use, and it's much more compact than the guitar equipment, and a unit can be basically similar in size and weight to a guitar pedal.
Rock needs to make a comeback first.
I honestly think that they went out of fashion because - A) People didn't know how to edit and be patient learning how to tweak them B) The whole "80s Hair Metal backlash" thing in the 90s and C) People didn't set the dry/wet level correctly either within the effect itself and/or the effects loop on the amp and just gave up. But this and the Alesis Quadraverb STILL wipe the floor on all the so-called Boutique pedals out there today. The Quadraverb sells on Reverb for about $250 which is about what a single pedal would cost from Wampler, Walrus or Keeley.
My rig has gone full on rack.
Can’t have a detune sample without busting out the Zakk riffs. Love it!
You can't go wrong with the intellifex, especially for the price, cheaper than a lot of pedals thant cannot do half this good
Got inspired by these videos and inserted some AK85 presets in my Intellifex-XL. I came to notice some interesting development over these different releases. In XL your 8V delay chorus can go up to whopping 1025 ms! With one caveat that might be a huge turn off for some people - it can only set delay times in 5 ms steps. No effects like 416 + 418 ms delayed chorus in Van Halen style. Usually such limitation wouldn't be that huge of a thing in delays, but with the chorusy delay effect the phasing probably changes in sound, and perhaps it doesn't quite sound like the 2 ms differing ambient design delays. Caveat emptor! Oh and if you're thinking about getting one, make sure the knobs are still good. Almost all of the wheels of mine sans preset selector have a bad step where it just skips a turn without changing, and on the second turn it jumps two parameters (you can get around it by quickly turning the wheel a long turn, so when you turn back, the bad step is in another spot).
Other than that, the new features like the huge delay time increase and a dedicated 4-band parametric eq opened a lot of doors. What's also interesting is the preset development. XL has a bunch of factory presets named like "Hangar 18", "Angus Room", "Halen 1 Verb", "Blizzard-Oz" among your generic "Slap back" "350 Delay" etc. I never owned the original so I can't say if that was a thing (LTD was the only one that had factory presets listed in the manual, at least of the ones on Rocktron's site), but coming to LTD, they had removed all references and replaced them with more imaginary pitch shift experiments like "Harpsichord", "18 String" and harmonized chords, 8V chorus presets like "Octopus", "Scatterbrain" and big reverbs and ambient presets. Perhaps they were trying to hit the Lexicon and Eventide dominated areas as well. Whatever the reason be, these units evolved quite a bit and sometimes took steps back, while being extremely affordable. Even today regularly going in between 100-250€.
Definitely worth the "pennies" if you want a MIDI controllable single unit that can fulfill most of your effects needs and a bit more. At least in the case of you being an "entry level" guy or just wanting to replace a bunch of pedals and you're not very picky about every effect's nuances, as long as it delivers a decent reverb, delay and sometimes chorus etc when you have that one song with one part that requires it on a gig. Heck, like you've said, it's a good baseline to grow your rack on top of it, eventually you can run it for individual effects or in parallel for deeper effects. It's no surprise this unit found its way to racks of such professionals as Alexi Laiho, Brian May, Allan Holdsworth, Vivian Campbell, Glenn Tipton and so on.
Let this be a marketing speech for someone who's weighing their options watching this video, or something! And a small heads up on the differences in the different releases of the unit as well, if you find it important. It's also the smallest rack unit in depth I've seen (if not counting tuners), so you could just as well hide something like a power strip on the backside of its slot. Perfect company for MPX1 too, since that unit has more mellow and juicy effects, while this one has that brighter, more shimmery tonality like Eventide. The combination is like running Eclipse + PCM side by side, except for maybe 1500 coins cheaper (given that you also sacrifice some depth and days of parameter tweaking, since it's pretty quick to edit Intellifex, and not that hard for MPX either after you know what's going on).
Glad you were able to adapt some of my presets for the XL! I've never played one of those, but I hope to at some point.
As far as the lack of 416/418ms offsets and all--this isn't really such a big deal, because if you set both voices to 420ms, add some modulation on those voices (same Depth on each one, mild settings, w/offset Rates), they can naturally cover that "distance" as they move back and forth. Not the same as doing a totally static offset, but I usually prefer this anyway, it's just more interesting, and if you hit some "sweet spot" settings you can get a nice panning feel ;)
Hello, Leon.
I love the sound of Intellifex.
I have it, too.
Thank you for telling me how to set it up.
Have a nice day.
I love my intellifex and my Intellipitch 😍 It was my go to FX with my ADA MP 1 and Triaxis. I have to break out my rack gear man. Thank you for inspiring me to play my rack gear that some of my friend do not understand why I kept all my old rack jems. I show them your channel and I tell them "see! I am not alone!"
You're smart not to have sold all that stuff!
I still love that you still love this old rack effect, because it sounds awesome. It may not have the processing power of modern day, but it just has that right sound.
This is my favourite FX rack unit ever. Period! Bar none!
I have one for almost 20 years and it is the ONLY unit that has not came of my signal chain even for a minute!
Omg I want one that chorus and delay it’s so 80s studio ,Graydon/Landau / lukather
Great job LT!
Really loved the chorus and ducking delays and yes Ryan is the i-fex master.
Great overview and playing Leon...thanks..love the intellifex..bought one off eBay 5 years ago for £70 including manual..once you put the time in its amazing..quality sounds...and those patches from Ryan are incredible..wish he would do more...its a keeper alright!...cheers.
I might get the chance soon, I'm talking to somebody about borrowing one so I can make some more presets ;)
@@rblossey I would love that...please do.
8 voice chorus. 'Nuff said!
Leon, goddamnit that swells at the End are killing me.
Thankyou!
Wasn't expecting some Zakk Wylde ripping on this video, but boy am I glad it was here
Can't resist! No More Tears is such a great album.
Cool video! I have one of these in my storage room, used it a lot during the 90s rack days, been considering dusting it off and using it again! Thanks
Another great vid, Leon! Always loved Rocktron gear. Could you do a piece on the illusive Rocktron Prophesy at some point?
really want to track one down!
THING is YES alot of NEW stuff will DO more but it does NOT EVER sound LIKE THIS UNIT!
You are so right! The Intellifex still has it's place although it is more than 30 years old. I used it with my Line6 HX Stomp as replacement for the effects I didn't like in there. And now with a Axe-FX III I still loop it into the signal chain and use it with a few presets from time to time. It is so easy to get phenomenal sounds out of it. Will never get rid of this unit.
the Intellifex is a GREAT multi fx unit - i have had many units over the years and nothing comes close to the pitch shift in the Intellifex! the problem is finding one that works properly UGH! right now i'm using the TC G Force and it's become my new favorite multi fx unit
Yep, still in my rack as well. Thanks for reminding me about how great it is. :-)
Hi Leon....congrats on the 100k subscribers. My question is about TC Electronic G Major. I just don't have the love for the unit anymore. I am considering the Intellifex as my new box for effects. The prices on the used market just seem to have sky rocketed and just don't know what a fair current price really is and also which version would be the best. Can you help me decide? Thanks..Rich Watkins
i love my intellifex 2.0. a monster rack piece from the 80s. all the effects are great except the flanger. The delays, chrous, phaser, verbs and harmonizer make up for it though.
Ever try the Replifex? That has an awesome flanger
These were great units! I have 2 in my rack. I also have the Power Station so I don't need the wall warts. The original USA Rocktron stuff was super solid.
After seeing this I’ve bought one , had it shipped from the US . Unbelievable sound on the 8 voice chorus , rich and full .
great value hey
@@LeonTodd I think I paid too much but I love the sound of it . It was the only one I could see on Reverb from the US .
Ciao Leon, please, what Intellifex model are you using? Because I have heard the LTD model, but it has not those distorsions, chorus and delay modeller. Can you tell me if a LTD version has the same preset than yours? Because I have found a both, here in italy, very cheap price and I love this device from long long long time. But I was and I am still poor and I had not chances to purchase just exit on the market. I love the Rocktrock Voodu Valve, above all, but I have not found it to a cheap price. Please let me know something about the Intellifex models and if they can give a bit of satisfaction as the Vooduvalve, I love me too the clean preset and I love to create ambient sounds, but need to know what to do because (I repeat) not chances to buy any device that I see on sell.
I love that chours your showed and that distorsion with chorus for a riff. I love the delay and Reverb ambient with Chorus or Flanger, but at the right moment, I would wish to put also an Overdrive inside :)
Honestly, I have to watch your video whole, but I wrote during the watching to make you questions, trained by the entusiasm. Please forgive me for my autodidact english langauage. 🙏
I'm using the Axe-Fx for the distortion.This is an original "blackface" intellifex
Oh man, a DigiTech GSP Pro 21 and the Rocktron Intellifex were my first dive into serious rack gear back in the early 90s, I think I even had an old Arion Hot Watt back then. I just loved all the options you had to play around with and not having to litter your signal chain with a bunch of pedals to get so much flexability. Do you have the Rocktron Intellipitch also???
I used to like those old cheap ART rack units too. You could get some interesting sounds from them if you were creative.
Yeah i'm on the hunt for an old ART SGX and an Intelliverb. I have the Replifex, that one sounds great. been on a huge rack binge recently so if you want to hear some old stuff like this just search through my vids from the last few months :D
I got stupid with my mp1 on the left and my gsp 21 on the right with the intellifex and intellipitch that I patch in and out. Endless sounds!
Who agrees the intellifex LTD and on-line sound just as amazing as this og 'blackface'? I seriously need that chorus in my rackkk!
Apparently they're essentially the same thing inside with one version running at 20 instead of 16bit
Still love mine!!
Record and tour with them
Leon - this model Intellifex also can be dialed in to work with my 1995 Soldano SLO'S original loop with no issues whatsoever.
I got 2. Fantastic machine! Payed 100€ each... the same of a mid price pedal! Incredible how this engines are so depreciated... Very nice video as usual Todd, I also loved the other one you made on Intellifex, precious infos.
*Just takes me back!*
Time machine!
My main workhorse these days is the TC Electronic G Major, but man, the Intellifex just has some kind of special voodoo that I have always loved. So glad to have one again!
PS - I never got to hear your bypassed tone or what you were running through. Also, were you going through 1 amp or 2 in stereo??
16:00 IN. so what would that REGEN equate to on a modern day HELIX ???
Feedback
First the Laney VC50, now this... Just admit you are trying to make me rebuild the rig from 20 years ago 🤣
Jokes aside, awesome units! I remember moving to the Intellipitch, (for the "harmonizer") and Replifex (targeted at guitarists, with mido amp channel switching). All solid units, a breeze to tweak, with great algotithms, and good converters, compared to other racks that were trendy at the time, like midiverbs and quadraverbs.
Thanks for the clip and for showing some interesting presets! You are feeding some dangerous nostalgia here XD
Is the Marshall JFX-1 based heavily (or completely) on this unit ?
I love this unit, but my go to was always the Quadaverb. Killer playing as always
Same here. My Intellifex was my secondary unit. I even owned many of the higher end TC and Lexicon stuff and always came back to these two units. They just worked for me.
I have the LTD version. Was told that they are pretty much the same, the LTD, Black and Online. Love it
I've used it a long time, later bought the Replifex (for more fx, tap-function and channel switch) and tried to copy the fx i used as good as possible (managed pretty good but the 8-voice chorus is irreplaceable!) , still have the Replifex!
Still have an A R T delay unit Racks have sometimes unique sounds not readily available elsewhere I think Brian May used a couple of these Rocktrons for awhile Your demo here was really informative and fun Thanks
Thanks for sharing!
Very cool. I love bow you explain stuff. Man, you'd be a great math teacher too I bet sir.
I'd buy one just for a couple delays and the pitch shifting.
Leon, do you have a legal you'd recommend to get the eventide pitch sound on the cheap? Just shifted ever so slightly out of tune, but no modulation? In pedal format may I ask kind sir?
Well done LT! Yay! Rocktron!
Originally from Michigan, sold later to Guild I think! Still have a few of their boutique pedals! Thanks for sharing and Be Well All!
Musical tools for the working man! great units
They're still in Battle Creek, MI actually as a subsidiary of GHS Strings! (Rochester near Detroit originally) I still have an Intellifex LTD as the original owner!
@@RyanMaziarz "Cool!" Thanks for sharing brother, Be Well!
Great video, Leon. Can I please just ask what distortion/amp you were using? Many thanks.
Using my Axe-Fx for the dirt
I have 2 of these and 2 Intelliverbs. You can assign 8 parameters to cc's per preset for even more fun. Great video, still like these racks!!!
That's epic! need to have a go with those.
@@LeonTodd I think you will like this, lots of unlooked features in these units. Thanks for your AFX3 videos, they're great!!!
@@garybeaudette4208 been on the hunt for an intelliverb/intellipitch for a while. What's the main difference you notice?
@@LeonTodd The intelliverb is a expanded intellifex, the delays that were maxed at 418ms are now 740ms. The delays maxed at 750ms are now 1250ms, looks like double the ram. You get a new algorithm called Virtual room, you control the room size in 3D, you will love this reverb it's insane. The intellipitch was a poor mans eventide H3000, it did the diatonic shifting at a lower price.
Just bought an Intellifex thanks to your video here - that 8v Chorus just sounds so LUSH! I assumed the above-mentioned patch was a factory preset, but it's not on my (Online) model and the sysex files on the internet don't feature it either. Do you mind telling me if the 8v Chorus is a blackface factory preset or if you made it yourself? If it's a custom preset it's all good, I can tweak something similar -- I assume you keep all the delays very short? (Only a few ms) and depth like 20-30 and rate 2-4? Thanks!!
IIRC 4 of the voices are depth 20 rate 30, vice versa for the other 4. Delay times go 2,3,5,7,9,11,13,15
@@LeonTodd thanks so much for the reply!
Used a Rocktron rig for years. Had 2 different Chameon versions running all the time through 2 completely different kinds of 4x10 cabs. I just got tired of hauling big shit around:)
Instant 80s and 90s. Cannot really recreate with todays stuff!
Hi Leon!
Thanks for the walk down memory lane ! The Intellifex was one of the first rack units I got back in the days ! It was very transparent and affordable at this time. Not the most ergonomic user interface but it sounds good. Later I had the Intellipitch which was the same unit but with an harmonizer. Not the level of an Eventide of course but at this time it was doing a decent job ! I also had a Voodu Valve that I got in a trade. Nice preamp but quite hard to set up.
When you think nowadays, the prices completely dropped. If I were to build a vintage rack, I'd definitely go for some Rocktron stuff in it ! (among many other things of course xD)
Yeah there's stuff that's easier to use, but the sounds are worth perservering with IMO. I just got one of the Klark Teknik Dimension D clones so I'm going to build a "budget rack" with that for chorus, this for detune and something like an MPX-1 for delay/verb.
@@LeonTodd Agreed ! I didn't know about the Klark Dimension clone ! I love budget racks ! Finally it's not a bad thing that rack gear went out of fashion ! The used market is a gold mine ! Of course, you can do almost everything these units do with an Axe Fx, but I miss having several units... (for some reasons, my back doesn't miss this era though!)
Hi Leon! I've been following you for a few days and all your videos are really interesting, always great sound. I want to experiment with a 90's rack multi-effects, you can find a bit of everything used but I wanted to ask you if you can make a comparison between the Tc electronic g major "1" and Intellifex online?
Thank you!
hi leon can you do a vid on the midimate with the rocktron intellifex ive forgotten how to program midi using my intellifex , senior moments (racks are back)
sweetest chorus I've ever heard 07:01
Does this unit have the spillover effect? That’s what I’m really looking for- chime in!
There is no spillover effect between patch changes--when things change, audio cuts completely off in the old one, and (crucially) starts RIGHT away in the new one! So while there is no spillover, you do get instantaneous patch changes. The Ping-Pong, Dual delay, & 2-Tap delay algorithms also have an Input Mute control, so if you leave it on that patch, you can at least get delay trails out of it--perfect if you have two Intellifexes in a larger setup (especially w/a mixer--that really is the indispensable device that unlocks all kinds of spillover doors), or Intellifex + some other delay units with the same functionality.
Exceedingly few rack units actually do good spillover! It's mostly found in modern multi-FX boxes with "too much" DSP power onboard ("too much" as in, there's enough to completely double-up on what is needed for the effects themselves--kind of like what Digitech did with the GSP1101, which literally has two chips vs. the RP1000's one, so it always has the second one "ready to go"). With older boxes like this, I think the best thing to do is to just get a mixer and 2-3 FX units, maybe a Rocktron Patchmate / GCX to go with it--you can make all the spillover you want, with no compromises!
Leon...still loving the videos, you're pretty much the only guy that can make this stuff make sense for a user, so nice one! Anyway, quick question. I'm using an FM3, along with a whole bunch of other stuff, and I'm trying to figure a way of using my H9. Right now I have my H9 going into a BOSS ES8, but I see there is another set of ins and outs on the H9, and I'm wondering if this means I could also go into the FM3. Is this correct, and if so could you run me by how to do it so I don't wind up going through the ceiling. Thanks, Leon.
Yeah use on/out 2 to create an fx loop! I've got a video called "FM3 with pedals" which goes over the setup
@@LeonTodd oh very cool...I shall go through your vids to find it. Thanks, buddy. Seriously I have found that thanks to your videos I have not only been able to really use my FM3 but I haven’t been put off to really have a crack at some deep stuff. Thanks so much🎶🎸
A killer look into a still killer box. Nicely done!!
Coworker/friend and I would leave work early ( ca 1991-ish) and go to Seattle Guitar to demo the ART SGX 2000 w/ Ultrafoot controller and the Intellifex. He was hard over for the Rocktron unit but I was pushing th SGX because "Tubes baby!!!". We both ended up with the SGX but I sorely missed the hush circuit because the SGX was very noisy...and I mean stoopid noisy.. Seeing it in that condition when I played them new.....I guess I look a bit beat up like that unit :) Best Regards.
That must have been a wild time to be playing guitar!
@@LeonTodd I"m sure somebody had fun. We all worked and we were doing 1-3 gigs a week just for recognition. You know the drill. We were a cross between Cowboy Junkies and Gin Blossoms so nobody of any size wanted to book us. But we were playing original tunes and having a blast :) But we never saw a name show. We lasted three years. All just family guys enjoying playing out :)
*My man i have been meaning to ask you, as far as effects go for a live application, are the plugins like VALHALLA, EVENTIDE ANTOLOGY, PSP AUDIOWARE better than using the rack gear? Like do the plugins really stackup in comparison?*
What's the song at 15:40 ish, please? Love these sounds, totally killer!
Ragdoll - "Heaven Above"
any diference with LTD version?
What is the 8 voice chorus patch number you’re using around the 6 min mark?
Thanks for the video! Great unit
Another one I really liked was the DeltaLabs Effectron Thinking about Rocktron reminded me of Bob Bradshaw CAE was originally with Rocktron left Rocktron way back to startup Custom Audio Thanks for sharing
Yeah great unit. I did a video with one last year
I loved this 1 sound on this unit but I could never use it properly - too complicated (but I hated reading manualsin those days) - sold it eventually - probably a bad decision. I think that chrous was it! It was mental
I did clinics from Rocktron in the mid 90s- I'm glad I have one back again. It was light years beyond anything non Lexicon/ Eventide. ( I'm also acquired a Replifex again, after your video)
Replu/intelli is a killer combo!
That must have been a wild time to be doing clinics. What other gear was in your rig?
Originally an ADA MP-1… then in early 94 the TriAxis when the Recto board came out, Boss CE-5 in the loop. - a PV Classic 50/50 power amp (I still own one - the best compact power amp at the time IMHO)
I’d love to have that rev 2 Mesa back 🥲
You’ve taken me back to a few away place -hahah. How old were you at the time? 2?
@@JustinBryantdotcom 94 I was the ripe old age of 6 :D
@@LeonTodd you missed a great time … excuse me while I cry a little at our age difference.
I’m sure your dad told you all kinds of things about ‘back in day’. Hahah
@@JustinBryantdotcom oh yeah! I've still got his old mp1 and this intellifex is actually his old one!
I have a chance to get a replifex. Anyone know what they go for.? Euro . Thanks
That's what I love about getting old, having sth top remember that was that great 😎.
Hi Leon. Love your channel and playing. got my second intellifex because of your video. Forgot how great this unit sounds. Thanks for making me remember. That swell preset you have, do you mind telling me how it's måde? Cheers
Pretty sure that was one of the AnalogKid85 presets they posted here - www.thegearpage.net/board/index.php?threads/rocktron-intellifex-39-new-presets-for-2018.1984703/
@@LeonTodd wow. Did not expect a reply that fast 😊 Thanks a lot Leon. Keep rocking 🤟
That last chord voicings reverb, is that also somewhere in the axe fx III ?
hey Marcel, I'm AnalogKid85 from the video who made that preset....the Axe-FX III has TONS of presets that sound similar to that, but they can get *much* more "lush" and complex. Most of the ones I've hard like that from the Axe-FX are copying the Eventide "Plex" delays, which uses a dense network of 4, 6, 8, 16, (etc.) modulated delays that all feed back into themselves AND each other at the same time, the audio equivalent of a "combinatorial explosion" 😆 The Intellifex, on the other hand, uses a much simpler formula: 4-tap modulated delays into a basic reverb algorithm (and I do mean basic: decay, high frequency damp filter, levels, and not much more). No plex, no diffused delays, no all-pass filters in the delay feedback loops, and only one common feedback path for those delays (not a "multiplicity" like in a plex). This "basic" reverb is a bit rough--especially on the longer-decay settings needed for sustained volume swells--but I found that if you ran the 4 modulated delay taps before the reverb in series AND killed the "dry feed" going into the reverb, you'd get a much smoother sound (modulation can really work wonders for "rough" reverb algorithms in other boxes too, I've found out--great trick on the Boss VF-1 as well). I made a few variations of these, and I think the formula I used the most involved:
- two "0 ms" mod delay lines (set up like a "chorus," but since there was no dry signal reaching all the way to the reverb, it was more like stereo vibrato feeding the verb instead); and
- two longer modulated echo delay lines (w/feedback--and delay times varied here, I tried lots of different offsets over the years, and many different patterns worked well; just tried to stay away from even multiples like 200/400, 150/300, etc.)
I also made sure to have different rates/depths going on on each of the four delay lines. What ends up happening is, those two short "vibrato" delays become the new "pre-delay" for the reverb, and the two echo delay lines sum together upon feedback, creating a new signal that feeds into all 4 lines again, then the two long ones repeat the process over and over again; and then all this is fed into the reverb (important to note: a summed-to-mono version of this is used to feed the reverb, which might be responsible for some of the nice textures that pop out of these swells). The delay lines inside the reverb itself are not modulated, but the verb still has a "floating" quality to it, since no regular dry signal reaches it--just the "ripple effects" of 4 different waves crashing into each other!
The Intellifex algorithms have lots of little "quirks" that have to be worked around here, but the Axe-FX has no such limitations. You can apply these same techniques and get much better and "wider" results there in stereo (especially since you don't have to use any sum-to-mono points if you don't want to, and the Axe has many stereo imaging tools the Intellifex can't touch); however, if you haven't already, I'd make it a point to go through all of the plex-based patches on there, as I've already heard tons of demos that reminded me of that sound (and for all I know, I may have been trying to copy that sound in the first place, as I was listening to a lot of ambient guitar music back then, some of which used Eventide plex delays!). If that still isn't in the ballpark, you can certainly set up two blocks in series--maybe a 4 or 8-voice modulated delay block into a modulated reverb--set the first up for 100% wet (with a "split point" before that, so the dry signal can still have a path to the output), the mod reverb at ~50% wet, and try a similar setup.
If you don't have an Intellifex, you could look at the preset parameters too, at this link (Sysex & PNG image files included for each preset):
www.reddit.com/r/ak85presets/comments/9ny86y/rocktron_intellifex_39_new_presets_for_2018/
With the Intellifex manual for algorithm reference (necessary, for how quirky the multitaps are!), it should be possible to "clone" that pretty well on the Axe-FX, with lots of enhancements on the way :)
@@rblossey Thank you for this big answer :)
Still use the intellifx with the JMP1 on the Marshall 50/50, brought these in the mid 2009 when everyone was basically throwing them out for next to nothing.
How about reviewing the Digitech GSP2101, only a couple hundred bucks these days
I'm bumming... my original blackface Intellifex stopped working. Won't turn on at all. Tried new power supply... nothing. Does Rocktron even service these anymore?
I just sold my Intellifex last year having bought it in 92 or 93. I set the chorus with two voices. One at 2 ms and the other at 0. The delay times never sounded right to me when you turned them down under 50 ms. Could never get a flanger effect.
You're right, it's basically impossible unless you totally kill the dry signal, and have the "flanging" happening between the wet voices only. I found this out the hard way, years ago, when I was trying to get "Rush" tones out of the Intellifex, and it was just *not* doing it....it turns out that the delay times for the chorus_delays are *really* long in this unit, much longer than they appear to be in the display, and this means that whatever chorus you dial in, you will never get the same comb-filtered texture (interacting w/the dry signal) as pedals can do. The "classic" analog chorus pedals have a base delay time somewhere between 3/4ms and 10ms (CE-1, CE-2, DC-2, SCF, MXR Stereo Chorus, Maxon, etc., all fall within this range); the Intellifex, at "0 ms," actually starts at ~29ms and sweeps backward, but I found it was hard to get usable chorus tones with Depths that push it beyond 15ms....so you're always going to have this "cleaner," less "syrupy" chorus going on, that always passes through 29ms....great for if you want to get chorus/doubling for high gain, or "Holdsworthy" chorus/swells, but not so great for doing analog chorus pedal emulation, or flangers.
Now, you *can* get more comb filtering going on by using more voices, close together in time--but this is a slightly different sound, as the combs are not interacting with the dry signal, but in this new "comb zone" that's farther away. You can hear a bit of that in the part of the video where Leon demo'd the "8v Chorus" preset, but it's still a different sound.
One thing I never really explored on the Intellifex was killing the dry signal, settting up two new "dry voices" (both "0ms," with no modulation), and then setting up two more mod delays (2ms) with offsets, for flanging sounds. Back when I had it, I guess I didn't want to do it because I knew it wouldn't "feel" right when I played it (with 20-29ms of latency happening at ALL times, w/no dry signal present), and I had other units that did flanging pretty well. If I get another one, this will be the first thing I try though!
Great demo Leon! I have this version (with Holdsworth presets) and the LTD version. Both great units.
Do the Holdsworth presets work in the old one?
@@LeonTodd yes they will. They didn't change anything, really, until the Intelliverb, Intellifex XL, & Intellipitch came around. The blackface, On-Line, and LTD versions all have the same delay time capability, algorithms, etc. and can run any preset that was included with the others.
Thank you for showing off those AH presets, those were some of my favorites!
@@LeonTodd definitely!
anyone got a good VH1 setting for the intellifex with gobs of verb and the delay? Running w/d/w
So is #4 preset always 8Voice Chorus? My #4 says 0 AND A. I went thru all 200 presents and none were 8Voice Chorus.
Also my number 1 says Welcome, not Pan Delay. Strange
these aren't the factory presets.
8 voice chorus settings are:
The depth is set to 30 on all 8 voices
The first 4 voices are panned hard left, the other 4 hard right.
Delay times and rates are below
V1 Delay = 2 Rate = 10
V2 Delay = 6 Rate = 15
V3 Delay = 10 Rate = 20
V4 Delay = 14 Rate = 25
V5 Delay = 4 Rate = 12
V6 Delay = 8 Rate = 18
V7 Delay = 12 Rate = 22
V8 Delay = 16 Rate = 30
@@LeonTodd I see Leon! Right on! Much appreciated!
I cant get enough your Intellifex videos, I love mine!! Maybe try nailing the tone from Iron Maiden´s Somewhere In Time album?
I had it and I sold it, poor me!!! These racks make me feel younger!!!!
Hey Leon! I bought the Intellifex thanks to you!! What kind of midi footswitch do you use for it, or recommend one? Thanks man
My main MIDI footswitch is a little Airstep controller!
@@LeonTodd Thanks man!! I am expecting the second part of the Airstep review!! I'd suggest you show it with the intellifex also!!
I used a Boss Fc50 . It worked great with the Intellifex and the Marshall MR6101, which had MIDI. The Intellifex replaced my Quadraverb/Hush combination.
This is how you should use time machine 💖 Thanks for this one way ticket to 80's Leon!
What's the signal chain here if you don't mind? It sounds fantastic
Rocktron is in a loop of my Axe-Fx, recorded DI to pro tools
I loved mine but had to sell it as I couldn't understand ducking and regen amongst other things and the instruction manual didn't clear things up. I was like "I just want to increase/decrease my delay and chorus, I don't want all this extra nonsense".
What was that song around 4.17?
7:00 that clean......
LEON!!!! Been missing LSF!!
Thanks for the PSA Leon but it's too late for me I have 2 of these (even I don't know why I have 2).
16 VOICE CHORUS, DO IIIIT!
I still have an Intellifex LTD bought in the 90s. I am just getting my fender AMPs back online as they sat there for about 20 years being not used and I want to have some fun with them again. I played the Intellifex with 2x Fender Ultra Chorus used in Stereo mode. Then the Intellifex really shines. I remember when we were playing 20 years ago I was putting one AMP left and one AMP right to the stage and the sound of ping pong delay and 8 voice chorus was so cool. Besides the power of 2x Ultra Chorus is brutal.
PS: The quality and clarity of the Inetellifex using the 24 bit DSPs was my buying decision, when i bought it in the 90s. It had no noise at all and dynamic of the amps was not compressed by it.
That must have been LUSH!!
I have Used the Rocktron Replifex and Intellifex units together for a long time. The Replifex would handle all the virtual pedal board sounds, the Intellifex would expand my delays and reverbs.
I need to try that setup with my Replifex. Love the flanger on it
I used a Rocktron Midimate to assign cc# to buttons 5-9. Sometimes I had just changes to mix like a scene sometimes. But, usually laid out: 9 phaser, 8 modulation, 7 panner, 6 Delay, and 5 Rev. I had a song that needed longer than 1,000ms. So, I used the Intellifex for the other delay. I loved. The ducker delay and reverb on the Intellifex. I used a 2nd MIDI controller for the ADA Mp-1.
Better sounding that SPX-90, I think, and you can have more than one effect at a time. How many, two, three?
The most you can really have at a time is 3 effects, with the 4-Voice Chorus/Delay+Reverb algorithm. I made many presets where there were 2 voices of chorus, 2 voices of delay (stereo, but not fully independent lines, it's a multitap structure), and Reverb. I also did some with 3 voices of chorus (L-C-R) and 1 center-panned echo (it didn't really matter that that 1 delay voice was mono, because it would be "stereo-fied" immediately as it fed back into the 3 chorus voices). You could also choose to have the chorus/delay FX feed the reverb, the dry signal, or any blend of both (so series, parallel, or both is possible).
The only "bad" thing about this arrangement is that, in this algorithm-as in the 8-voice chorus-delay times are limited to 418ms; however, if you can get your hands on the Intelliverb, you get bumped up to (I think) 740ms, so it turns into a much more "full-featured" algorithm at that point that can handle all those crucial 400-650ms range delays that pop up so much (not to mention, more room to do ping-pongs, since you can easily do a 300/600 bounce, or 350/700, etc.). Intellifex XL bumps it up even more, but those are rare (over 1,000ms of delay time for each mod delay voice).
You can also do multi-voice chorus + longer delays inside the 8-voice chorus algorithm, of course ;) 6-voice chorus + stereo 2-tap delay is no problem (and here again, the delays feed back into the chorus voices, which sounds super-lush, especially if you have modulation on the echoes too).
It's also possible to do multi-FX inside the pitch+reverb algorithm, but I've had pretty mixed results with it (I'm not totally sure, but I think they used a simpler reverb algorithm inside it, to give more processing power to the pitch shifters).
@@rblossey Wow, thanks for the detailed reply! That was a common limitation of the multi effects of the era, when more effects combined the less delay the processor could manage. Low processing power of the early days, that's why the "big guys" had a refrigerator-sized rack, each unit could do a single effect or two well so you needed more units. Today's equivalent are pedal-sized digital effects and the rack ones, like the Axe FX or the Helix, are out of this world with power and possibilities of combinations.
This is a cool module but damn these things are $450 on eBay and that's insane when you can get an MPX1 for under $300 or an SPX90 / SE-70 / SDE-330 for under $200. But I like that '80s calculator display like an Oberheim Xpander 😂
So I just received one today from Reverb. $589 was the price. And because of your vid, and the 8 Voiced Chorus I had to have one. Lol
Lol.. this reminds me how good this unit was. Should bring it out of retirement 😂 Thanks Leon!
Do iiiit!
Fine! Share Intelifex editor
And now I have to break mine out and try it with my electric violin. :D
YES!
Dig out the Keytar too!!! :D Best Regards!
I've never understood how people peace with the two opposing views on delay where one view is to set a millisecond delay and the other is to base it on the tempo of the song and has to be exact otherwise your delayed notes aren't in time.
I really wish you’d stop making these videos until I buy one 😄
Jesus, Leon, you play like a devil and an angel!!!!!!
question your intellifex work at 220v or 110v
It runs off an external PSU
very much thank you for info super@@LeonTodd