Golden

[david57strat]

Well.. I tell you what, I shot out:

Golden... Walrus Audio Lore, Fable, Sloer, and Mako R1 MKII.... and every single time I went back to the Golden, it was the clear winner.

The Walrus stuff.... very very tempted to say that while they sound good in Youtube ambient demos with a handful of chords, they don't really do it for me in the context of my type of music. I could be wrong, but I wasn't really enjoying them.

The Golden.... it has the same kind of aggro sound that the RV-5 can do, but is a bit more detailed and fuller. I don't even think the Axe reverbs are as good right now yknow...... <I know! I know! Controversial!>

I own the Sloer and the R1 (original version, without the cool display).

The Sloer is absolutely magnificent - but I tend to play a lot of ambient, spacious stuff (with huge volume swells, etc), when I use it. Meris Mercury 7 is similarly voiced (ginormous sound stage. Very sweet reverb - even on an acoustic guitar, with a lot of fingerstyle work. It just breathes).

I read somewhere that when they were desiging the Mercury 7, they kind of modeled it after some of the work Vangelis did on the original Bladerunner soundtrack. I think that's an apt description. By the way, the original Bladerunner remains my all-time favorite pre-CGI science fiction movie of all time, and I think the soundtrack was half of the movie. It really drew me in.

If MIDI isn't a huge need (for the Sloer), it's one worth considering for it's bigger-than-life, glorious algorithms - and it really shines in stereo.

It just sings. Sounds incredible on keyboards too.

Did you previously have the original R1. If so, did you notice any marked improvements on the pedal, aside from the nifty display?

I don't think I'm very likely to get an R1 Mk II, but am extremely tempted to pick up an ACS1 Mk II (have the Mk 1 and love it).

 

[paisleywookiee]

The Blue Sky v.2 is a stunner. I sold the GR to get that, and didn’t ragret it.

 

[James Freeman]

@Orvillain Does your golden also takes a good 20 seconds to boot while flashing the red leds up and down?

 

[Orvillain]

@Orvillain Does your golden also takes a good 20 seconds to boot while flashing the red leds up and down?

Yes

The only thing I hate about it tbh.

 

[Orvillain]

I own the Sloer and the R1 (original version, without the cool display).

The Sloer is absolutely magnificent - but I tend to play a lot of ambient, spacious stuff (with huge volume swells, etc), when I use it. Meris Mercury 7 is similarly voiced (ginormous sound stage. Very sweet reverb - even on an acoustic guitar, with a lot of fingerstyle work. It just breathes).

I read somewhere that when they were desiging the Mercury 7, they kind of modeled it after some of the work Vangelis did on the original Bladerunner soundtrack. I think that's an apt description. By the way, the original Bladerunner remains my all-time favorite pre-CGI science fiction movie of all time, and I think the soundtrack was half of the movie. It really drew me in.

If MIDI isn't a huge need (for the Sloer), it's one worth considering for it's bigger-than-life, glorious algorithms - and it really shines in stereo.

It just sings. Sound incredible on keyboards too.

Did you previously have the original R1. If so, did you notice any marked improvements on the pedal, aside from the nifty display?

I don't think I'm very likely to get an R1 Mk II, but am extremely tempted to pick up an ACS1 Mk II (have the Mk 1 and love it).

No I never owned any Walrus stuff before to be honest. I have the Meris MercuryX, which is stunning for the abstract reverbs. I don't think it is c'est une amazing for the more natural stuff though. Vangelis vibes does ring true for me.

I'd like to give the Walrus pedals another go, through my own setup, not just an hour or so in Andertons during a sweaty afternoon.

 

[James Freeman]

I like what I'm hearing very much.

I don't like the mandatory registration to update firmware and get the bonus reverb or the mandatory phone app to control the bypass mode.

UA Connect installs a lot of spyware shit so I installed it just to update the firmware and get the bonus reverb, then uninstalled it.

 

[Aleksi]

I like what I'm hearing very much.

I don't like the mandatory registration to update firmware and get the bonus reverb or the mandatory phone app to control the bypass mode.

UA Connect installs a lot of spyware shit so I installed it just to update the firmware and get the bonus reverb, then uninstalled it.

Yeah registering and updating is not a pleasant experience. But its the best sounding reverb pedal I've tried. Makes me want to try the starlight, but I hear it's shit for some reason

 

[the swede]

By the way, the original Bladerunner remains my all-time favorite pre-CGI science fiction movie of all time, and I think the soundtrack was half of the movie. It really drew me in.

Same here, i was introduced to it very young and it spawned my interest for sci-fi (along with other sci-fi of that era) gosh there were so many. Blade Runner set the bar. Soundtrack is legendary epic greatness. And Rutger… the speech… everything… how i yearn for a modern movie with that mood and setting…
I do appreciate the follow up, Ryan and Jared Letho did good. And it captures the mood quite good.

I don't think I'm very likely to get an R1 Mk II, but am extremely tempted to pick up an ACS1 Mk II (have the Mk 1 and love it).

Same here, love the ACS1 mk1. Don’t really feel the need for more amp models or a display. Simplicity is better for me. I have the M1 mk1 on the way.. I have high hopes and believe it’s a very good pedal.

 

[James Freeman]

@Orvillain In Plate mode do you hear a momentary silence of reverb when moving the Bass control past center point in any direction?

 

[Aleksi]

@Orvillain In Plate mode do you hear a momentary silence of reverb when moving the Bass control past center point in any direction?

I'm not orvillain, but yes. It's like it's switching the algorithm?

 

[James Freeman]

I'm not orvillain, but yes. It's like it's switching the algorithm?

Oh you got one too, thanks.

Maybe it's switching an algorithm when going past center or maybe a bug?
Posted about it here: https://uadforum.com/community/index.php?threads/golden-reverberator-questions.78210/

I have compared both the Plate and Hall modes in stereo to their equivalent Arturia plugins and they are on par, very high quality reverbs in the Golden.

 

[Aleksi]

Oh you got one too, thanks.

Maybe it's switching an algorithm when going past center or maybe a bug?
Posted about it here: https://uadforum.com/community/index.php?threads/golden-reverberator-questions.78210/

I have compared both the Plate and Hall modes in stereo to their equivalent Arturia plugins and they are on par, very high quality reverbs in the Golden.

I would hope they would've caught that if it was a bug maybe intentional for some reason and since it's not really a pedal you would tweak much while actually playing, it's not a big deal IMO

Agreed on the reverb quality! Compared to similar algos on the Mercury X for example, I think the Golden is a bit better even. Of course it's not nearly as versatile

 

[Orvillain]

@Orvillain In Plate mode do you hear a momentary silence of reverb when moving the Bass control past center point in any direction?

Yeah. Is just what the pedal does. Intentional I believe.

 

[Ed DeGenaro]

I would hope they would've caught that if it was a bug maybe intentional for some reason and since it's not really a pedal you would tweak much while actually playing, it's not a big deal IMO

Agreed on the reverb quality! Compared to similar algos on the Mercury X for example, I think the Golden is a bit better even. Of course it's not nearly as versatile

I think because iirc in Plate 140 the bottom end and in hall and plate 224 it controls the low end decay.

 

[Aleksi]

I think because iirc in Plate 140 the bottom end and in hall and plate 224 it controls the low end decay.

Yeah, it's a low shelf filter on the spring 65 and plate 140, which is why it's a bit weird to have a drop out only on the plate 140 modes It must be doing something else as well.

 

[Orvillain]

The app really is kinda shit isn't it .... 10minutes I've been trying to fucking connect to it now.

 

[James Freeman]

The app really is kinda shit isn't it .... 10minutes I've been trying to fucking connect to it now.

Makes sure Location (gps) is turned on and allow permissions for the app.
That's a big plus for Strymon, no app needed to change deep parameters, they got Live (secondary) and Power modes for that.

 

[JiveTurkey]

Makes sure Location (gps) is turned on and allow permissions for the app.
That's a big plus for Strymon, no app needed to change deep parameters, they got Live (secondary) and Power modes for that.

"I am NOT coming out of this faraday cage to adjust the GD reverb pedal!"

 

[James Freeman]

"I am NOT coming out of this faraday cage to adjust the GD reverb pedal!"

In case anyone wonders, the mandatory GPS is about tracking and collecting user data, has nothing to do with being able to connect to your pedal via bluetooth.
Makes me want to replace the Golden with a BlueSky.

 

[the swede]

All that shit is far from “Golden”…. Yuck… sounds good doesn’t make up for any of that idiotic nonsense.

Edit: I’m sorry… sound good is good… forgive UA if you like the sound. Submit and bite your tounge… or somthn