Help me replace the L6 Particle Verb!

[EOengineer]

I've been migrating away from Helix effects recently and hit a snag. I have a pile of original material that was written with the L6 Particle Verb and I have struggled to replace it. Now I'm lost in the plethora of shimmer verbs out there. For those who aren't familiar, this video is a pretty good representation of the sound I use, which is the stable mode.



From looking around the closest I could find was the Meris Mercury 7, which makes sense as their head DSP engineer created all the special verbs in the M Series Line 6 products. I've also looked at the Catalinbread Soft Focus, which looks cool but I think doesn't offer enough control over the onset of the octaves.

I'm not particularly interested in the most pristine fidelity or the latest in greatest, as I don't use a ton of verb, and the verb I do use tends to be low fidelity stuff like the Particle Verb where I find it kind of gritty but highly musical.

 

[the swede]

I've been migrating away from Helix effects recently and hit a snag. I have a pile of original material that was written with the L6 Particle Verb and I have struggled to replace it. Now I'm lost in the plethora of shimmer verbs out there. For those who aren't familiar, this video is a pretty good representation of the sound I use, which is the stable mode.



From looking around the closest I could find was the Meris Mercury 7, which makes sense as their head DSP engineer created all the special verbs in the M Series Line 6 products. I've also looked at the Catalinbread Soft Focus, which looks cool but I think doesn't offer enough control over the onset of the octaves.

I'm not particularly interested in the most pristine fidelity or the latest in greatest, as I don't use a ton of verb, and the verb I do use tends to be low fidelity stuff like the Particle Verb where I find it kind of gritty but highly musical.

I think there is one comparable in the ZOOM MS units. Its actually called particle there to.

 

[dk_ace]

I have good news and I have bad news:

Good news: lots of good options out there in the shimmer space.

Bad news: particle verbs is kind of its own flavor and nothing else gets you exactly there IMO. The kind of gritty, awkward character it has is something I haven’t found in the other pedals.

Things you should check out: Fractal VP4, meris M7, and source audio Ventris. The meris is the most limited of those in what it can do, but I remember its shimmer sound being one of the good ones. Ventris is great and you have a fair amount of control over it. VP4 is god-tier shimmer and you could use other blocks and deep parameters to try to get closer to the particle vibe.

Also, you probably already know this but you could just get an HXone for your particle verb stuff and have the real thing.

D

 

[dk_ace]

I think there is one comparable in the ZOOM MS units. Its actually called particle there to.

I almost listed this, but from memory I didn’t think it lived up well to the real thing. Maybe I’m not giving it enough credit though. I gigged with it at one point.

D

 

[the swede]

is it avaliable in HX One?

 

[KingsXJJ]

is it avaliable in HX One?

Yep.

 

[spawnofthesith]

It won't sound like a particle verb (tbh I'm not aware of any that really will) but you might want to check out the EQD Afterneath, it certainly exists in the same kind of realm. Hook up an expression pedal and you might be able to aproximate some of the randomness/pitch swells of the particle

 

[JiveTurkey]

VP4. Roll your own particle.

 

[EOengineer]

I have good news and I have bad news:

Good news: lots of good options out there in the shimmer space.

Bad news: particle verbs is kind of its own flavor and nothing else gets you exactly there IMO. The kind of gritty, awkward character it has is something I haven’t found in the other pedals.

Things you should check out: Fractal VP4, meris M7, and source audio Ventris. The meris is the most limited of those in what it can do, but I remember its shimmer sound being one of the good ones. Ventris is great and you have a fair amount of control over it. VP4 is god-tier shimmer and you could use other blocks and deep parameters to try to get closer to the particle vibe.

Also, you probably already know this but you could just get an HXone for your particle verb stuff and have the real thing.

D

This is largely what I’ve found in my own searching as I’m trying to get caught up on what’s been happening in this space. Good to at least know I wasn’t way off the mark. Thanks for the input.

The VP-4 is out for me because I need it to be no larger than the Meris or your typical strymon pedal.

The HxOne was my original choice but the noise floor and misc noise issues with downstream dirt pedals makes it a deal breaker. On paper that was the perfect choice.

I’ll dig in on the Ventris and see if it beats the Meris for me.

 

[dk_ace]

This is largely what I’ve found in my own searching as I’m trying to get caught up on what’s been happening in this space. Good to at least know I wasn’t way off the mark. Thanks for the input.

The VP-4 is out for me because I need it to be no larger than the Meris or your typical strymon pedal.

The HxOne was my original choice but the noise floor and misc noise issues with downstream dirt pedals makes it a deal breaker. On paper that was the perfect choice.

I’ll dig in on the Ventris and see if it beats the Meris for me.

Have you tried the HX one and confirmed that it has issues in your rig? Noise issues are tricky, they may or may not be a thing in any given rig. What’s unusable in mine might be dead silent in yours. Anyway, might be worth a shot from a retailer with a good return policy.

In small pedal format, hard to beat a Ventris. That’s a brilliantly powerful pedal for its size. It doesn’t sound like particle verb though. It sounds like really well executed shimmer and holds its own with rack units while giving you a fair amount of control.

D

 

[EOengineer]

Have you tried the HX one and confirmed that it has issues in your rig? Noise issues are tricky, they may or may not be a thing in any given rig. What’s unusable in mine might be dead silent in yours. Anyway, might be worth a shot from a retailer with a good return policy.

In small pedal format, hard to beat a Ventris. That’s a brilliantly powerful pedal for its size. It doesn’t sound like particle verb though. It sounds like really well executed shimmer and holds its own with rack units while giving you a fair amount of control.

D

I’m making an educated assumption based on the experience I’ve had with my HXFX in the same setup. I may give it a shot as the Hx One solves other problems, like covering some random one-off effects and allowing me to punt my tuner pedal.

Tough decisions

 

[KingsXJJ]

I’m making an educated assumption based on the experience I’ve had with my HXFX in the same setup. I may give it a shot as the Hx One solves other problems, like covering some random one-off effects and allowing me to punt my tuner pedal.

Tough decisions

Best of luck!

 

[AlbertA]

What about the H90?

 

[Boudoir Guitar]

I've been migrating away from Helix effects recently and hit a snag. I have a pile of original material that was written with the L6 Particle Verb and I have struggled to replace it. Now I'm lost in the plethora of shimmer verbs out there. For those who aren't familiar, this video is a pretty good representation of the sound I use, which is the stable mode.



From looking around the closest I could find was the Meris Mercury 7, which makes sense as their head DSP engineer created all the special verbs in the M Series Line 6 products. I've also looked at the Catalinbread Soft Focus, which looks cool but I think doesn't offer enough control over the onset of the octaves.

I'm not particularly interested in the most pristine fidelity or the latest in greatest, as I don't use a ton of verb, and the verb I do use tends to be low fidelity stuff like the Particle Verb where I find it kind of gritty but highly musical.

Isn't particle verb a granular algorithm?

Walrus has some things (Fable and Yvette Young sig pedal?). Maybe Red Panda?

This thing: