Meris needs to make a modulation pedal.

[fuyume]

I think Meris has some really compelling products, but I find myself scratching my head that they don't make a modulation pedal. After watching last week's episode of TPS, I started looking at Meris more seriously, and I was surprised to find they have no modulation pedal. Yes, you can use the Hedra to make detune chorus (which I love), but they don't really have any dedicated modulation pedals.

I would seriously consider replacing my Boss GT-1000Core with a Meris unit the size of the MercuryX that gave me most of the features of the MercuryX, the LVX, and modulation effects, the way the GT-1000Core gives me access to most of the features of the RV-500, DD-500, and MD-500 in a single box the same size as one of the 500 series pedals.

I'm just not really interested in have three 7.25" pedals on my pedal board, especially because I'm committed to never using a pedalboard larger than about 390 mm x 290 mm, to be able to fit it in a flight tote that fits under an airline seat.

I need programmable reverb, delay, and chorus on my board, at a bare minimum, for my time-based effects, and I'd like to have access to vibrato and tremolo, occasionally, as well. The GT-1000Core of course does a lot more than that, too, and I do use some of the other features, but reverb/delay/chorus/mod are the most important ones.

 

[laxu]

The multi-modulation pedals with preset functionality out there are surprisingly few. The 10 years old Mobius is still one of the strongest contenders along with the GFI Synesthesia and Boss MD-series.

Then there's the kinda-sorta pedals. Source Audio has the Gemini/Lunar/Mercury which can swap algorithms but aren't really multimod from the front panel. Strymon Deco does flanger/chorus, Zelzah is phaser/chorus/flanger/vibrato/autowah.

Maybe these sort of things don't sell that well?

 

[Orvillain]

I think multi-mod pedals don't sell as well as multi-delay and multi-reverb pedals.

I could be talking shite, but guitarists seem to opt for one or two mod options, and ignore the rest. So you're either a flanger and tremolo guy, or a phaser and ring mod guy.. yknow... that sort of deal.

I've used phaser a lot in my music. Very rarely have I used flanger - which is surprising since I love Tool so much - and I've only used tremolo sparingly; usually some sort of weird pattern tremolo more than anything.

I've owned the Mobius a couple of times, but I ended up using so little of it, that it never really stuck.

 

[laxu]

I think multi-mod pedals don't sell as well as multi-delay and multi-reverb pedals.

I could be talking shite, but guitarists seem to opt for one or two mod options, and ignore the rest. So you're either a flanger and tremolo guy, or a phaser and ring mod guy.. yknow... that sort of deal.

I've used phaser a lot in my music. Very rarely have I used flanger - which is surprising since I love Tool so much - and I've only used tremolo sparingly; usually some sort of weird pattern tremolo more than anything.

I've owned the Mobius a couple of times, but I ended up using so little of it, that it never really stuck.

I agree with that. I like the Zelzah because it's a bit more vague about it. The voice knob on it goes from phaser to flanger to chorus and everything in between so it doesn't feel like I'm using a specific effect so much.

I'm honestly not big on modulation either. I use the tremolo on the Flint occasionally for some subtle movement, I use the Deco or Zelzah for phaser, flanger or chorus but I'm not into this at a level where I'd care about the difference between flanger or choruses.

I've sometimes considered picking up a Boss Dimension-C because that's the kind of dead simple stuff you want out of a modulation pedal.

 

[fuyume]

I think the thing that confuses me about Meris is that Meris was started by people from Strymon, so presumably they think it was worth it to make the Mobius, so why haven't they done something like that at Meris, yet?

 

[laxu]

I think the thing that confuses me about Meris is that Meris was started by people from Strymon, so presumably they think it was worth it to make the Mobius, so why haven't they done something like that at Meris, yet?

To me it seems Meris was started by people who wanted to do things that Strymon perhaps didn't let them. Most Meris pedals are a bit more "out there" than Strymon.

There might also be some mutual respect where they don't want to try to make the same things Strymon already does.

The designs of the pedals are surprisingly similar between the two brands - including all the bad stuff like annoying secondary parameters and no preset management without extra gear.

 

[ragingplatypi]

As a former modulation junkie, I found the problem to be that a lot of the more interesting sounds get lost in the mix or fight too much with other instruments. Delay and reverb don’t seem to have this problem as much. I’ve been approaching delays and reverbs overtly as alternatives to modulation. For example I switched out my phaser with the Line 6 sweep echo

 

[V|J]

In an interview, someone from Wampler pedals commented on how much work went into the Terraform (their Mobius like offering). Close to 2 years.
And it didn’t do that well as opposed to another iteration of the Tumnus with germanium diodes.

The Terraform is probably their best, modern looking pedals too, imo.

 

[gearJunkie]

It could be that digital modulation usually isn’t as good as the analog alternative. TPS did a comparison between a Mobius and the comparable analog alternatives (Phase 90, Electric Mistress, CE-) and the analog stuff just sounded better.

Yes, on TPS they consistently advocate for a "superior transient response" when comparing analog to digital modulation effects. They also express the opinion that although digital modulation usually generates less noise, it is overshadowed by analog transients.

 

[gearJunkie]

I definitely agree with them, having owned those analog pedals, and tried the Terraform, Mobius, H9, and BOSS MD series.

I have tons of experience with digital modulation algorithms, but apart from the vibrato in the Magma 57 and an noisy Electric Mistress AC powered flanger (I sold 30 years ago) , analog options have eluded me. Maybe that's why I don't use much modulation in my signal chain.

 

[gearJunkie]

The closest it’s gotten for me was the H9 and Fractal’s modulations.

I have quite a bit of modulation effects in most of my Fractal patches, and I do have an H9 on both of my boards.

I have recently been experimenting with the Chroma Console. It does offer some interesting possibilities, but there is little nuance or subtlety about it.

 

[Whizzinby]

I have quite a bit of modulation effects in most of my Fractal patches, and I do have an H9 on both of my boards.

I have recently been experimenting with the Chroma Console. It does offer some interesting possibilities, but there is little nuance or subtlety about it.

How is the Chroma Console? I was kinda interested in that for a minute and then, SQUIRREL, some other piece of gear came out. That moved in and out of consciousness quick, but looked kind of cool at the time.

 

[gearJunkie]

How is the Chroma Console? I was kinda interested in that for a minute and then, SQUIRREL, some other piece of gear came out. That moved in and out of consciousness quick, but looked kind of cool at the time.

it's fun to experiment with it, but everything sounds way too processed. I've been running it in the effects loop section of my board, but I think it's best used in front of the anp, which limits the quality of the delay and reverb oriented modules with heavier tones.

It would be much more useful if it supported mono pre/post routing.

 

[Aelred]

Well, all this means that there is a definite opening for Meris to produce a really good digital modulation pedal!

My digital Strymon Deco does Flanger well enough for my purposes, at least so far. And I’m keen on post-punk stuff like McGeoch and early Cure/Smith (So I guess I should try analog, maybe MXR).

Are the Strymon Orbit, Ola and/or Zelzah not up to snuff? Off my shopping list with them! I don’t see much love for the Orbit or Ola online, but I do like my new Ultraviolet as a Vibe (but I don’t know Vibe very well).

I need to try an MXR Phase 9x sometime. I like my Spaceman Explorer and EQD Grand Orbiter pedals.

I seem to prefer the “small box” Strymon gear as they are just easier to use, even the Volante over the Timeline (although I have tried exactly 2 presets on the Timeline).

I haven’t figured out my Meris Hedra, Polymoon or Mercury 7 after a couple of years of intending to learn their functions and tones one day. That day is yet to arrive, and the Timeline may soon join them.

Maybe I’m not the market for new Meris gear after all…

 

[laxu]

In an interview, someone from Wampler pedals commented on how much work went into the Terraform (their Mobius like offering). Close to 2 years.
And it didn’t do that well as opposed to another iteration of the Tumnus with germanium diodes.

The Terraform is probably their best, modern looking pedals too, imo.

I looked into that one when I was considering a multi-modulation pedal and it always got ranked out by not quite liking the sounds vs the competition. Its preset capabilities (8 presets only) and MIDI functionality (program changes + tap tempo only) is also extremely limited compared to the competition.

Wampler missed the mark. It would have needed to sound as good or better than the competition for the weaker preset/MIDI capability to not be a big minus.

But there's a good reason why all the big digital pedal makers make platforms. The only difference in e.g any small Strymon pedal is the control board, pedal chassis and firmware installed. Then to make a new pedal they can focus on sound design rather than building all the control functionality. Strymon still says it can take up to a year to design one of their pedals.

 

[V|J]

I looked into that one when I was considering a multi-modulation pedal and it always got ranked out by not quite liking the sounds vs the competition. Its preset capabilities (8 presets only) and MIDI functionality (program changes + tap tempo only) is also extremely limited compared to the competition.

Wampler missed the mark. It would have needed to sound as good or better than the competition for the weaker preset/MIDI capability to not be a big minus.

But there's a good reason why all the big digital pedal makers make platforms. The only difference in e.g any small Strymon pedal is the control board, pedal chassis and firmware installed. Then to make a new pedal they can focus on sound design rather than building all the control functionality. Strymon still says it can take up to a year to design one of their pedals.

Ah ok, I never read any reviews on it’s functionality and sounds as I’m not the target customer and it’s hard to compete with the Strymon stuff, which is so well dialed in.

It makes sense now that Wampler & co had to spend so much time developing it since it’s a little outside their usual offerings and had no in house platform to start with.

 

[V|J]

YMMV, but I like thought the Terraform was awful all around.

For sure.
I never even checked the sounds in it as I don’t use much fx but remember being surprised by the aesthetics of the Terraform, being very unlike typical Wampler pedals.

Revisiting it, the purple band at the top is not very pleasing.

 

[fuyume]

Digital modulation is one area where I definitely disagree with TPS. Analogue isn't inherently better at modulation effects, though some analogue units may be better than some digital units.

 

[fuyume]

guitarists seem to opt for one or two mod options, and ignore the rest. So you're either a flanger and tremolo guy, or a phaser and ring mod guy.. yknow... that sort of deal.

I can see this. I personally really don't use phaser and flanger, at all. I do, however, use chorus, vibrato, and tremolo, often simultaneously. Since even the big digital units usually don't do three at once, I end up having to use at least two units in my signal chain.

Since chorus is my most-used modulation effect, it makes sense for me to have a dedicated unit for this, but the fact is that I switched to a Boss GT-1000Core, and that actually will allow me to do chorus, vibrato, and tremolo all al the same time. I could even add in ring mod, if I wanted, but because of the way the Core works, I'd have to give up something to get it. That being said, as of this past week, I've decided to build the next version of my main guitar board around two GT-1000Cores, so I would be able to also use a ring modulator, if I wanted.

The only trouble with ring mod is that it's so distinctive, that it ends up really sort of being a "one song in your entire setlist, or even your career" kind of effect.

I'm just sort of surprised that Meris doesn't make a modulation pedal, at all.

 

[fuyume]

It could be that digital modulation usually isn’t as good as the analog alternative. TPS did a comparison between a Mobius and the comparable analog alternatives (Phase 90, Electric Mistress, CE-) and the analog stuff just sounded better.

It should be recognized at this point that the Strymon pedals are well out of date technologically (hence why they have recently engaged in producing updated versions), and other comparable units on the market offer better audio quality.