TC Flashback v.1 vs. EXH Canyon compared/contrasted

[dubkitty]

i've been using the early TC Flashback off and on for years, and was recently recommended to check out the EHX Canyon after griping that the TC was a bit bland. since they're similar in some ways yet very different in others, i thought it would be useful to compare and contrast their features and uses since they're probably the two most popular inexpensive multi-mode digital delays. adapted from a post in the Gasaholics thread; i thought it would be useful for this to have its own home.
_________

Flashback good points: overall "prettier" sounds, infinite feedback on all settings, longer delay time, easy subdivision switch
Flashback bad points: no parameter adjustments (i.e. no fine tuning), sounds are more conventional

Canyon good points: tweakable, self-oscillates in some modes, soft switch.
Canyon bad points: no infinite feedback for pseudo-loops in Tape/DMM modes without self-oscillating, 3-second maximum delay time vs. 7 seconds for Flashback, sounds are overall more lo-fi than Flashback, harder to select subdivisions with single pushbutton.

specific comparisons--note that i tweaked the Canyon settings when possible in order to fine-tune them to my preferences, while all the Flashback sounds are stock:

digital delay: the Flashback 2290 setting kills the Canyon's standard Echo setting, which is OK but is sonically flat in comparison. there's some kind of subtle harmonic processing happening in the 2290 setting, while the Canyon Echo is totally flat. no adjustments possible to Canyon Echo, which does not self-oscillate.

analog delays: the Canyon's Deluxe Memory Man emulation (hereafter, "DMM" as labeled on the case) is very colored and lops off increasing amounts of high end with each repeat until it decays to irregular blips; after about 8 repeats it's all low-end signal. the TC analog delay modes are both less extreme; the Analog setting loses less highs per repeat and never decays to unintelligibility, while the Lo-Fi mode is closer to the DMM mode but retains note shape/length at extreme levels of decay. DMM mode self-oscillates past 3 o'clock on Feedback knob.

tape delay: the TC Tape mode is cleaner and more wobbly (i.e. more pitch variation) than the Canyon Tape setting, which starts out more distorted but has less pitch modulation. the least distorted setting available via the Canyon's secondary knob function is dirtier than the Flashback's sound. the TC also quits deteriorating after a certain point and just repeats, while the EHX breaks all the way down into barely intelligible bloops and sheets of noise not unlike the Snazzy FX Wow and Flutter. Canyon self-oscillates past 3 o'clock on Feedback knob.

modulated delay: the two settings are similar, but the Canyon Mod mode is warmer and the modulation somehow more apparent. Canyon Mod mode does not self-oscillate.

other settings:

• the reverse on the Canyon is nominally better, but you still end up with a mess when the reversed part gets repeated. reverse delay does not work for me; give me an Attack Delay or something a bit more tweakable that does A/D without repeats instead.
  
  the stunt delay modes on the Canyon (echo w/added reverb on repeats only, stepped octave extensions, shimmer) are fairly useless though the shimmer surprisingly isn't horrible because it doesn't do the stepped Rainbow Machine shit, but just makes clouds.
  
  the Canyon Sample/Hold feature works but i don't see much use for it other than setting it so the sample ramps up from quiet to unity gain because that's an unusual thing; secondary knob function allows you to vary from ramping up from silence through consistent repeats at 12 o'clock on the Delay knob to fading out. limit of 12 steps at maximum Delay setting.
  
  i have never used the TC Slapback or Ping Pong modes--i don't do rockabilly or run a stereo rig--and the Dynamic setting is useless.
  
  loopers not tested. it's too hard to access the switches when they're on the middle/top tiers of a board. i wish that instead of redundant no-features loopers both companies would have included another useful delay sound instead; i'd particularly like an Echorec or Space Echo option.

physical features:

• the TC is much easier to set subdivisions via a 3-way toggle switch; the Canyon requires activating tap tempo and then repeatedly pressing a single button to cycle between the 3 options.
  
  the Canyon has a soft switch, while the Flashback has a click switch albeit one that's easier to operate than a typical switch requiring less force and shorter travel.
  
  the Flashback's knobs and labeling are much easier to read...the mode knob labels on the Canyon are almost impossible to read from more than 2 feet away, and you'll have to memorize them if it's on your board. i also prefer the more subdued design scheme of the Flashback.

summary:

so really there are only four useful types of delay on both units, which they share: digital delay, analog delay (Flashback has 2 modes), modulated delay, and tape echo.

standard digital delay: Flashback
modulated delay: Canyon
tape echo: either is useful
analog delays: all useful, Canyon most limited
stunt modes: generally all useless other than Canyon shimmer
fake loops w/max feedback settings: Flashback works in all settings, Canyon only in Echo and Mod modes
oscillating delay: Canyon DMM and Tape modes only
aesthetics and legibility: Flashback
switch: Canyon
loopers: not tested

i guess i'll have to run both. i suppose it would be more sensible to get a Eventide or Strymon uber-delay, but i refuse to menu-dive on stuff that sits on the floor or try to fit those fucking shoeboxes on my board. same deal with reverb...assuming the Soft Focus fits the bill, i'll run it into the Ghost Echo which is my artificial space rather than programming complicated shit to try and sound like stuff i can already do with dedicated boxes that do one thing well. i'd say that if you want to do more standard stuff the TC is better because its normie modes are prettier, but if you're going more for weird noise then the Canyon might be for you.

[Tall Walls]

I have both the Canyon and the Grand Canyon (the Grand Canyon does have an Echorec mode, by the way). You'd think this means I really like these pedals, but it's more that they do a few specific things I like, and none of them are actually delay-related. In particular, the sound of Tape mode with the saturation cranked is a really useful "distortion" sound for me. A lot of the sounds I make verge on plain sine waves, and regular distortion pedals don't do much to them, whereas the Tape mode saturation gives me a good mild crunch. In general, I tend to use the Canyon as a multi-effect--the modes with modulation can create various flavors of chorus/vibrato, the Reverb mode can be used as...reverb, the Octave setting works like a POG, Reverse mode can work like a ring mod, Tape mode for distortion.

I got the Grand Canyon thinking it would replace the Canyon, and that the Drum mode with its "drum age" parameter might be another useful "distortion" sound for me. But no, the "drum age" is too subtle. And the Canyon's Octave mode has been replaced with a Pitch mode, which has more intervals than just octaves, but there's no way to adjust the relative volumes of the shifted pitches, and to my ears the upper octaves are way too loud and shrill. You can do whammyish things with an expression pedal, though. It's nice to have the secondary controls out in the open, but the labels are somehow even smaller than the ones on the Canyon, so you still have to memorize what they are. The looper is more functional--just having two switches helps a lot, plus you can use the delays and the looper at the same time, and there are reverse and pitch controls for the loop. But still, I pretty much never use the looper.

So anyway, I have these two delay pedals because I like the way one mode sounds when not used as a delay.

[dubkitty]

that's some fine lateral thinking there. did you go in intending to use the Canyon like that, or was it something you discovered? literally none of that would ever have occurred to me.

[Tall Walls]

I think I was already aware of the idea of getting a chorus effect from a modulated delay with the delay time at zero, and everything else just went from there. I remember running out to buy the Canyon as soon as it came out, but I don't remember what got me so interested--I think it might have been the tape saturation...? This sort of trickery doesn't work with every delay pedal, because not every delay pedal goes down to zero delay time (the Digitech Obscura, for example, doesn't go to zero), and not every delay pedal can go 100% wet.

[coupleonapkins]

I think I was already aware of the idea of getting a chorus effect from a modulated delay with the delay time at zero, and everything else just went from there. I remember running out to buy the Canyon as soon as it came out, but I don't remember what got me so interested--I think it might have been the tape saturation...? This sort of trickery doesn't work with every delay pedal, because not every delay pedal goes down to zero delay time (the Digitech Obscura, for example, doesn't go to zero), and not every delay pedal can go 100% wet.

Very cool! The EHX Pico Rerun looks like it can do just that - just turn down the delay at 98% & use all the other parameters & you're set! I mean, it still needs the proprietary PSU, but at least for us non-Canyoners, it's a good alternative! Right?

I always wanted an Echoplex for the tape saturation/distortion, and have a handful of other Pre-type pedals (which border on more trouble than they're worth), so maybe this might work later on when I can find a pre-owned model. Thank you, EHX oversight department for your digital delay bonus features!

However, all the other tricks you use the Grand Canyon for are intriguing, so maybe that's a better choice.....