Rackmount Gear Thread

[rfurtkamp]

kinda forgot the reason people get the qv is the verbs. the multitap delay on this slays

The multitap is why I kept it around for so damn long, the stereo spread and individual tap options still haev rarely been equalled and it does the most convincing RE-301 I've ever been able to do digitally.

[Dandolin]

yeah - love that multitap


what do people think about the Lexicon Reflex (if anything?)

I snagged one cheap because I liked the vortex so much - I'm def liking the verbs and the resonator - but how far down the food chain is it compared to the PCM stuff? Sonically, I mean - it's obviously not as programmable....

[dubkitty]

i have my sights set on a MPX-500 per Rob's recommendation.

my medium-term plan is to go to two racks, one for reverb/delays/multiprocessors and one for signal processing equipment (EQs, compression, and the like).

the reverb rack will (ideally) hold:

my current verb stuff:
--Yamaha GEP-50 "guitar procesor" with Yamaha SPX-90 in the effects loop. the guitar-centric patches on the GEP-50 are absolutely atrocious, but the reverbs/modulation are more or less the same as the SPX-90. i run them together with a reverb patch on one and an Early Reflections patch on the other which makes for some nice artificial room spaces. the Yamaha phaser patch is also highly underrated.
--Alesis MidiVerb II. what can you say about this delightful thing? people are still using it today in touring situations, most notably the outrageous acoustic guitarist Tommy Emmanuel. the best thing here is the modulation, though the verbs can be useful for a certain feel.
to this i plan to add:
--the Lexicon MPX-500 mentioned above
--Ibanez DE-1000 reverb/delay--8-bit 1980s digital delay
--Ibanez Harmonics Delay--1980s unit with some truly wack options for modulating and warping your repeats
--patch bay
--lighting/power conditioner

this will be in a transportable rack with locking panels (and casters if lower-case god is good) so i can take it out of the apartment for ambient and other weirdball shit, and is configured for live use. after reading about the Quadraverb it sounds like that might also be a thing.

the second rack will be for equipment to process signal for recording, whether when tracking instruments/vocals or re-amping from the computer. everything will run in stereo. it's planned to have:
--two 1-space mono 5-band Rane parametric EQs which will be run one to each side of the stereo signal; i have one already
--stereo compressor. at the moment i have a Rane MC 22 which is serviceable, but i don't love it--it's most useful as a relatively unsubtle brick-wall limiter--so i'm open to affordable suggestions
--2-space 1/3-octave stereo graphic EQ
--power conditioner
and other useful stuff TBD. again, suggestions for rackmount post-processing gear are most welcome.

this unit will stay in the recording area of the apartment and can live in an open-back carpeted case. if i don't add anything else--and it's hard to think of much else affordable that i want/need--it will fit the 6-space rack i already have, but i suspect things will expand. RMAS, here i come.

[dubkitty]

i also want one of those Yamaha table-top units with the Slowdive Soft Focus patch.

[Gone Fission]

FX-500 is the “Soft Focus” unit, and is actually a 1/2 rack unit.

Interested in the Ibanez HD stuff, but I’m at the edge of thinning the rack herd already and I have some mighty stuff in that category.

On the Reflex, definitely good. A fellow who has been modifying LXP-15s for decades has said he prefers the Reflex to the 15 and PCMs for general studio reverbs. I don’t agree on the PCM, and vs the 15, it’s down to which algorithms you prefer, but they definitely don’t suck.

[Dandolin]

interesting to know - helps put it in perspective. It's a nice companion to my Alesi....

[qersty]

kinda forgot the reason people get the qv is the verbs. the multitap delay on this slays

Yeah, the multi-tap delays were included later via the "plus" rom. Also introduced Ring mod, resonators, and sampling. It's really fun playing the resonators via midi.

I have to admit that I have a hard time breaking away from detuned/pitch shifted Plates though.

is that the setting all the warp guys used? i know it was one of the plates

Probably a little bit blown out of proportion, but it's been said that the "Taj Mahal" preset is the sound of early 90's Warp. I can attest that switching the reverb type to "Plate" on Taj Mahal does get pretty close to some characteristics of "Amber" era ae.

Maybe it is dumb for me to assume any warp guy used a preset

[dubkitty]

i'd expect that they tweaked any of the presets used. one of my die-hard rules in "never, ever use a factory patch unedited."

[Psyre]

kinda forgot the reason people get the qv is the verbs. the multitap delay on this slays

Yeah, the multi-tap delays were included later via the "plus" rom. Also introduced Ring mod, resonators, and sampling. It's really fun playing the resonators via midi.

I have to admit that I have a hard time breaking away from detuned/pitch shifted Plates though.

is that the setting all the warp guys used? i know it was one of the plates

Probably a little bit blown out of proportion, but it's been said that the "Taj Mahal" preset is the sound of early 90's Warp. I can attest that switching the reverb type to "Plate" on Taj Mahal does get pretty close to some characteristics of "Amber" era ae.

Maybe it is dumb for me to assume any warp guy used a preset

Well Quadraverb is sort of fixed and lends itself to tweaking a preset to fit it's role on a per track basis. Atleast for me, similar to my DEP-5 in that regard. Fixed algorithms for starting points with plenty if space to save the variants and exploratory findings.

Your quadraverb and jx-8p would be a combo I'd have a lot of fun with

[rfurtkamp]

Yea, the Quadraverb plate is a thing of strange beauty - not very plate-like but on extremes does amazing things (and you can kernel panic the unit if it starts oscillating)

[Dandolin]

oh, i would like to know more about this kernel panic please

[rfurtkamp]

It requires a hard power reset to fix.

Take the plate algo and jack up the settings until it starts to go batshit. Save before it crashes.

Make a second patch JUST short of that, it may take a few adjustments.

[Dandolin]

ah, i see

saving is fundamental

[Psyre]

My latest 19"

[qersty]

whats that :o

I still gotta get one of the voices fixed on the jx-8