Mid-Size Modulation Favourites

Controls - Gain (Makeup Gain > +6dB), Blend (Wet Mix - Full Dry > Full Wet), Active Bass ±15dB, Active Treble ±15dB. Manual Delay Time, Modulation Width, Regen / Feedback, Speed | Hi/Lo, Manual Offset Switch | ± knob, Wave Shape : Asymmetric / Sine / Triangle | Shape (Wave Symmetry).
 
Rear Controls & Ports - In (Stereo via TRS and internal dip-switch), Control EXP (Speeed), Phase : In / Out, Hold Remote (Max Regen / Feedback), Stereo Mode : Stereo | Wet/Dry, Right Out, Left Out, 9-24V DC [-] 350mA.
 
Internal Dip Switches - Default Power Up Mode : Off / On, Input Mode : Stereo / Mono, Bypass Mode : Buffer / True.
 
Ideal starting positions : Gain @ noon, Blend @ noon, Bass @ noon, Treble @ noon. Manual CCW for Flanger / CW for Chorus - start at hard CCW or CW and move on from there, Width @ min, Regen @ min, Speed to taste, Offsett Off, Shape Sine / Middle for knob.

So on balance it's pretty evident that the Hamstead Redwing is the most deserving choice for this category - both in terms of its audio fidelity and technical achievement - a really fantastic and versatile Stereo Modulator - which delivers excellent Chorus / Vibrato / Flanger / Rotary voicings and so much more. A really smartly conceived device - beautifully executed!

Where at one stage I was also considering making the Freqscene Koldwave the winner here - because of its immediacy and simply brilliance.  But I think overall that the Hamstead Redwing is the more worthy winner.

SELECTION

• Caroline Guitar Co. Somersault Lo-Fi Modulator
• Eventide Tricerachorus
• Freqscene Koldwave Warped Chorus
• Hamstead Soundworks x TPS Redwing Stereo Analog Modulator
• ThorpyFX The Deep Oggin Chorus/Vibrato

FURTHER TARGETS

• Asheville Music Tools ACV-NOS Chorus/Vibtaro Time Warping Device
• Ghost Note Audio Swirls Tri-Stereo Chorus
• Mr. Black Vintage Ensemble Stereo
• Strymon Ola Chorus

Controls - Mode / Mix [Mix Envelope] : Chorus > Vibrato > Chorale, Rate [Rate Envelope], Detune [Pitch], ▽[ALT], Preset : 1-5, Left Depth [Delay, up to 200ms], Centre Depth [Filter], Right Depth [Out Lvl], Active LED Push : Latching / Momentary, Swirl LED Push  : Presets (LED off) / Swirl Off (Red) / Swirl On (Green), Active Footswitch / Bypass / Load Preset, Swirl / Preset Footswitch (depending on mode set on above LED push-button).
 
Ports - TS / TRS (Stereo) In, TS 1 & 2 (Left & Right) Out, EXP / TRS MIDI, Mini USB, 9V DC [-] 200mA.

Boss DC-2 Settings - Mode / Mix = Chorale - Mix @ 2 o'c, Rate @ 9 o'c, Detune @ 8 o'c, Left, Centre & Right Depths @ 12 o'c, [Delay] @ <15ms (just under 8 o'c), [Filter] @ Flat / Middle, [Out Lvl] @ 1 o'c, Swirl is Off!

This was neck-and-neck between the Eventide Tricerachorus and Hamstead Redwing - both deliver excellent Boss / Roland Dimension Tones - one is obviously Digital and the Other Analog. The Tricerachorus takes it by a whisker! Not too big of a selection here, and since the Redwing had already been lauded as the Chorus - it made sense that the Tricerachorus should take this category - it does indeed deliver a really cool Dimension voicing - and you have that extra Phase function to really push that home!

SELECTION

• Eventide Tricerachorus
• Hamstead Soundworks x TPS Redwing Stereo Analog Modulator

FURTHER TARGETS

• Free The Tone Tri Avatar TA-1H Multi-Dimensional Chorus
• Ghost Note Audio Swirls Tri-Stereo Chorus

Controls - Shape / Preset : 0 - 10, Mode : Tremolo / User / Sequencer, Ratio : 0 - 10 / Tap Divisions, Volume, Shape / Warp : 0 - 10, Depth, Rate / Ratio / Beats : 0 - 10, Tap Tempo / Manual Footswitch, FX Engage / Save Preset Footswitch.

3 MODES

• Banks : 11 Banks of different Filter and Oscillator types
• Edit : Fine Parameter Editing and Reassignment
• User : 11 save-able User Presets (Select / Patches / Variation knob becomes inactive)

40 PARAMETERS - including :

• Auto Set, Clean, Depth, Envelope, Frequency, Gate, Gates, HP Limit, LED, Levels, LFO A, LFO B, LFO C, LP Limit, LPF, LPF LFO’s, Post, Pre, Resonance, Shape (Waveform), Slope, Speed, Tap Ratio, Tremolo, Warp.

Some real heavy hitters in the selection here - nearly all of these are full-range multi-function devices - with only the Ritual Devices Fay being somewhat simpler. These are surely most of the full-featured Filter Devices out there!

And the Prometheus 3 rightfully claims top spot for Subdecay!

SELECTION

• All-Pedal Macrodose Envelope Filter
• OBNE Float Dual Moving Parallel Stereo Filter
• Ritual Devices Fay Phase Filter Modulation
• Spaceman Effects Artemis Modulated Filter
• Subdecay Prometheus 3 Dual Super Filter
• Subdecay Prometheus Deluxe Resonant Filter

FURTHER TARGETS

• Drolo Kiwami Dual Resonant Filter+
• GFI System Rossie Filter
• Native Audio Niisoo Harmonic Equalizer / Filter
• Zorg Love Philter

Controls - Level, Oxidation (Stridency), Range, Feedback, + Positive / - Negative Feedback Type, Rate, Bypass Footswitch, Hold Footswitch - Speed Flutter, Internal Switch : Filter / Oscillator.

There are all kinds of different Flanger - some brighter, some fuller-flavoured, others with great range and full of quirky noises - and this selection has elements of all. The Krozz Devices Airborn has long been my favourite full-fat flavour flanger, the Asheville AFG-1 the most expansive in range, and the ThorpyFX Camoflange the closest to the original Electric Mistress. The Hamstead Redwing also delivers a superb Flanger voicing, as does the Spaceman Aurora. And for a digital device the Strymon Orbit is excellent too, while overall I was a little underwhelmed with the TC Electronic SCF.

In the end this was kind of a 3-way battle - and the Airborn still rules as far as I'm concerned, but not by too much - I do prefer the Asheville AFG-1 and ThorpyFX Camoflange for certain scenarios - all the Flangers in this Selection have their own unique abilities that distinguish them. But the one that produces the juiciest flanging sound is still the Airborn!

SELECTION

• Asheville Music Tools Analoger AFG-1 Dynamic Flanger
• Hamstead Soundworks x TPS Redwing Analog Stereo Modulator
• Krozz Devices Airborn Psychedelic Analog Flanger
• Spaceman Effects Aurora Analog Flanger
• Strymon Orbit dBucket Flanger
• TC Electronic Stereo Chorus+ Flanger
• ThorpyFX Camoflange Flanger

FURTHER TARGETS

• Death By Audio Disturbance Lockable LFO Modulator
• Earthquaker Devices Pyramids Stereo Flanger
• LongAmp Roxanne Flanger
• Mayfly Déesse Dual Flanger

Controls - Heel > Toe Treadle, Further 'Toe' Mode, Effect (Parameters), Memory (Presets / CTL and System Parameters), Rotary Selector : Presets and Parameters, click to Select, Effect Footswitch : Typically Pitch-Shifter, Tune Down Footswitch : Core Tuning / Register, Default : Press Both Footswitch to go up a Memory / Preset.
 
Ports - TS-Input, TS-Thru, TS-Output, CTL 1,2 / EXP 2 (EXP 1 is obviously the Treadle!), 1/8 MIDI Out, 1/8 MIDI In, USB-C (for updates), 9V DC [-] 160mA.

Tiny selection here, but fierce competition - and at one stage the Keeley Octa-Psi was the winner, but I decided that overall I prefer the XS-100 - it's simpler to deploy, and while it's menu system is a little odd - you kind of get used to it quicker than all the different secondary features of the Octa-Psi. The Octa-Psi is very capable - but not fully contained like the XS-100 which has the treadle onboard. If this was strictly and rigidly 'Mid-Size' proposition then the Octa-Psi would win, the Boss XS-100 is really in the Large / Over-size category. But for my preferences - my weapon of choice here.

Obviously the Octa-Psi has the extra Fuzz voicing, while the XS-100 can sort of do 4 functions at the same time - which makes it incredibly potent and versatile!

SELECTION

• Boss XS-100 Polyphonic Pitch-Shifter
• Keeley Octa-Psi Transfigurating Fuzz + Polyphonic Pitch-Shifter

FURTHER TARGETS

• Hotone Freqlux Triple-Voice Pitch Shifter & Harmonizer

Controls - EXP Selector : Sweep / Resonance / Rate / Amount, Sweep (All-Pass Filter / Manual), Resonance / Regen, Rate - Modulation Speed, Amount - Modulation Depth / Width, Mix : Subtle / Balanced / 100% Wet (Vibrato), Drive (JFET Preamp), Stages : 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 9 | 12, MOD : Slow / Fast / Funky.
 
Ports - 1/4" TS In, EXP, 1/4" TS Out, 9V DC [-] 200mA.

The Asheville APH-12 is the most expansive from a very sizeable selection of heavyweight Phasers - the Seymour Duncan Polaron goes up to 16 Stages, while the APH-12 Ranges from 1-12 with an overall more expansive control topology. There are so many great Phasers here - both Analog and Digital - and surely my bases are pretty well covered here. Some very expansive phasers here - all of these sound great, and in some ways my Caroline Arigato is the favourite - that one is so instantly satisfying and easy to dial in - and delivers a superb Vibrato and Uni-Vibe voicings also!

Overall a fantastic selection!

SELECTION

• All-Pedal Microdose Phaser
• Asheville Music Tools Analoger APH-12 Variable Stage Phase-Shifter
• Caroline Guitar Co/ Arigato Analog Phaser + Vibrato + Vibe
• Drunk Beaver Tornado 2-4-6 Stage Dual Range OTA Phaser
• Fuzzrocious Electric Oceans OTA Fuzz-Phaser
• Ritual Devices Fay Phase Filter Modulation
• Seymour Duncan Polaron Analog Phase Shifter
• Sitek Guitar Electronics Phasia Analog Multi-Stage OTA Phase-Shifter
• Strymon Zelzah Multidimensional Phaser
• ThorpyFX Pulse Doppler 4-Stage Phase-Shifter / Vibrato / Pulsating Tremolo

FURTHER TARGETS

• SuperCool Triniphase Multi-Stage Multi-Mode Phaser

Controls - Speed, Mic : Front / Rear, Ramp : Slow / Med / Fast, Volume, Mic Distance. Horn Level, Preamp Drive, Dry, Slow/Fast Footswitch, On/Bypass Footswitch.

For me a proper Rotary Effects has to be fully immersive stereo or else it's just variant of mono tremolo really. Stereo is what creates that circular doppler effect which makes this spatial effect work - without the stereo it's just not the same effect. Several from the selection have Rotary as a secondary effect, where 3 of these are dedicated.

Of those the strongest overall in this format is the Strymon V2 Lex, while my favourite sounding Rotary in this format is still likely the RotoChoir - while that one doesn't deliver the full feature set like the Lex - it sounds really gloriously hammond-like though. We could really do with an improved and updated variant of the RotoChoir - that one would really challenge the Lex. Note that I somehow don't really get along with the 'I Get Around' - that suffers some serious volume drop in my rig - which makes it semi impractical / unusable. I challenged my friend Joe to 'fix it' for me but that didn't really quite go according to plan! Many of the secondary Rotary effects here sound really decent too!

SELECTION

• Colortone VibroVerb Stereo LFO Multi-Modulator - Tremolo / Rotary
• Eventide Tricerachorus
• Hamstead Soundworks x TPS Redwing Analog Stereo Modulator
• Keeley I Get Around Rotary Simulator
• Strymon Lex V2 Rotary Modulation
• Strymon Zelzah Multidimensional Phaser
• Tech 21 NYC RotoChoir Rotary Emulator

FURTHER TARGETS

• Dawner Prince Eclipsa Triple Rotary Speaker Emulator
• DLS Effects RotoSpin Rotary Speaker
• Neo Instruments Mini Vent II Rotary Speaker Simulator
• NUX Roctary Rotary and ±Poly-Octave Pedal

Controls - Volume, Tone, Depth, Speed, Sub-divisions : 1/2 | 1/4 | 1/8 | 1/16, Waveforms : Sawtooth / Reverse Sawtooth / Square / Triangle / Sine / Hypertriangle / Reverse Hypertriangle / Random Levels, Mode : Amplitude / Harmonic / Bass Freq Focus / Treble Freq Focus, Tap Tempo Left Footswitch, Bypass Right Footswitch.

Even though the Moth Electric M.Stellatarum is largely based on the Drolo Twin Peaks Tremolo - it somewhat simplifies the format, and puts it in a more attractive enclosure. There are some subtle differences - while much of the credit has to go to the original Twin Peaks - which remains on my Target list. There are some excellent alternative tremolos here - but the M. Stellatarum really delivers the goods for my preferences - and sounds superb with it!

SELECTION

• Caroline Guitar Co. Parabola Pawnshop Tremolo
• Colortone Roundhouse Multi Mode Tremolo / Vibe
• Colortone VibroVerb Stereo LFO Multi-Modulator - Tremolo / Rotary
• Crazy Tube Circuits White Whale Junior All-Analog Tremo-Verb
• Moth Electric M.Stellatarum Multi-Mode Optical Analog Tremolo
• Rainger FX Binary Pulsar Stereo Sidechainer / Panner / Tremolo
• Ritual Devices Rainmaker Analog Vibrato / Tremolo
• Rounder Sounds Zebra-Trem Rhythmic Wave Generator Tremolo
• Stone Deaf FX Tremotron Analog Dual Mode Amplitude Tremolo
• Subdecay Tremocoder MKII Deluxe (Pattern) Tremolo Sequencer
• ThorpyFX x Andertons SixZero Anniversary Trem-Fuzz

FURTHER TARGETS

• Custom Tones Ethos 60's Harmonic Bias Trem
• Drolo Twin Peaks Tremolo
• Empty Head Effects Big Talker Double Tremolo
• Thorn Soundlabs Tremonator Flex Tremolo

Controls - Shape / Preset : 0 - 10, Mode : Tremolo / User / Sequencer, Ratio : 0 - 10 / Tap Divisions, Volume, Shape / Warp : 0 - 10, Depth, Rate / Ratio / Beats : 0 - 10, Tap Tempo / Manual Footswitch, FX Engage / Save Preset Footswitch.

Only 2 pedals in contention - but a tough battle never the less - the Tremcoder is a more traditional Pattern Tremolo, while with the Zebra-Trem you can make your own very unique patterns. The Zebra-Trem is more open-ended but can be a little trickier to deploy - in terms of building those waves. The Tremcoder MKII Deluxe wins by a whisker!

SELECTION

• Rounder Sounds Zebra-Trem Rhythmic Wave Generator Tremolo
• Subdecay Tremocoder MKII Deluxe (Pattern) Tremolo Sequencer 

FURTHER TARGETS

• Empress Tremolo 2

Controls - Volume, Intensity, Speed 1, Speed 2, Mode : Chorus / Vibrato, Engage Vibe Footswitch, Speed 1/2 Footswitch.

There are some truly amazing Uni-Vibes in this selection, while the Formula B Vintage Vibe wins by being consistently fantastic - regardless of what you throw at it - works brilliantly and without adjustment across clean, overdrive, fuzz and heavy distortion. It's the most consistently full fat great sounding Uni-Vibe out there. It's so good that I have two of them! I think they're both MK2 Editions - but one has side-mounted jacks and the other's are top-mounted.

SELECTION

• Caroline Guitar Co/ Arigato Analog Phaser + Vibrato + Vibe
• Colortone RoundHouse Triple Modulator Tremolo & Uni-Vibe
• Fjord Fuzz Midnattssol Fuzz-Vibe
• Formula B Vintage-Vibe Uni-Vibe 
• Horrothia Berkeley Late 60’s Liquid Leslie Vibe
• Krozz Devices Krakenheart Abyssal Uni-Vibe
• Ritual Devices Fay Phase Filter Saturator
• ThorpyFX ER-2 Uni-Vibe

FURTHER TARGETS

• Eventide Riptide Dual Voiced Drive + Dual Voiced Uni-Vibe

Controls - Wet Mix, Intensity, Phase Mode / Vibe Mod switch, Triangle / Square Waveform switch, Feedback, Speed, Bypass Footswitch (Momentary & Latching), Havoc / Max Speed Footswitch.

There are several great Vibratos here - but the Arigato is a special pedal for me - each of its 3 voicings are excellent - and I feel it deserves a place in this listing - it delivers superb Vibrato, Phaser, and Uni-Vibe tones - my favourite of the Caroline Guitar Co. modulations - which are all excellent!

SELECTION

• Caroline Guitar Co/ Arigato Analog Phaser + Vibrato + Vibe
• Caroline Guitar Co. Somersault Lo-Fi Modulator
• Eventide Tricerachorus
• Freqscene Koldwave Warped Chorus
• Hamstead Soundworks x TPS Redwing Analog Stereo Modulator

FURTHER TARGETS

• JHS Artificial Blonde Vibrato

Controls - Mode : Wacked / Jimi / Shaft, Pickup Compensator, Volume, Frequency.

Only one Mid-Size Auto-Wah in the reference collection - so that one's a shoe-in. It's still a great Auto-Wah even though it has not active competition here!

SELECTION

• Fulltone WahFul

TARGETS

• Emma Electronic DiscumBOBulator V3