Strymon Deco

menamestom

stickyfiddle said:

menamestom said:

dangriffiths said:

menamestom said:

So if I get the V2, would I be able to use my HX Stomp XL to control it and recall presets?

Not sure on the practical example of Midi but I feel if I got the V2 I should try to experiment.

You would need a Midi box or similar in order to get the din midi on stomp to talk to the trs midi of the deco but yes you could.

Thanks, could be an option further down the line then.

Does anybody have a Deco and Helix?

I blow hot and cold with the Helix Stomp I have, but trying the ADT it sounds pretty good and probably in approximate Deco territory.

Just wondering how they compare.

I haven't AB-ed them but the ADT is pretty good to my ears. I still prefer the Deco, partly as I like to be able to change the saturation with my foot occasionally, but it's not a bad place to start if you already have an HX and don't have a Deco already

Yes really enjoying the ADT now.  First thought is why would I need a Deco, but 2nd though it, the hands on control is much preferable.  The HX Stompo XL is really easy to change single parameters on the fly with the expression pedal in edit mode, but the ADT is quite complicated and I do prefer knobs.  So might not be my next pedal but the Deco is inevitable at some stage.  Or should I say sum stage 

joeW

Have a V2 on the way - should be here Friday.   Any preferred setting I should try out ?

Jonathanthomas83

Enjoy the purchase and let us know how you get on! 

joeW

Had a quick play thro it but not really got into too deep into the available tones.  Initial thoughts are very good indeed, it's full of interesting and subtle enhancements and the saturation (left side of the pedal) has potential for always on use.  I use an MC8, so the presets will definitely come in handy and it definitely a pedal I feel compelled to spend time getting to know and dial in some tones for my (mostly jazzy) stuff.  As an aside, the tone knob makes sense from a midi POV but otherwise I can see why the V1 is still such a great option.  

UnclePsychosis

Hey guys

Picked one of these up today, any tips? 

The "auto flange" setting seems a lot more subtle than I expected, am I missing something? Do I need to run it in stereo for the flange magic? 

digitalkettle

This thread was one of the straw's that broke the camel's back...damn you all

Prompted a gig-board revamp:

Bottom three pedals usually run in an fx loop but, thanks to the Bright Onion gadget (top right), here they're all running straight into the front of a tweed amp for testing...sounds awesome!

I was running a Secret Preamp for loop boost...it was actually very effective but a bit coarse.
I was using the Keeley '30ms' for a slapback effect...that's now employed for reverb

What does the Deco give me?

• Superior slapback and all the other good stuff from the doubletracking side
• Boost...plenty of volume, tone shaping, and some crunchy saturation/comp
• Buffered for the run back to the amp

stickyfiddle

UnclePsychosis said:

Hey guys

Picked one of these up today, any tips? 

The "auto flange" setting seems a lot more subtle than I expected, am I missing something? Do I need to run it in stereo for the flange magic? 

It is fairly subtle - remember it's (pretend) tape flange, not BBD late-70s madness. And don't forget you can use the secondary functions (hold both switches and adjust Lag Time knob) to tweak the auto flange time as well

digitalkettle

stickyfiddle said:

UnclePsychosis said:

Hey guys

Picked one of these up today, any tips? 

The "auto flange" setting seems a lot more subtle than I expected, am I missing something? Do I need to run it in stereo for the flange magic? 

It is fairly subtle - remember it's (pretend) tape flange, not BBD late-70s madness. And don't forget you can use the secondary functions (hold both switches and adjust Lag Time knob) to tweak the auto flange time as well

In case anyone is reading from a v2 perspective, 'Live Edit' controls are accessed by pressing and holding the 'Tape Saturation' footswitch until both LEDs blink...blah, blah...p45 of the manual.

UnclePsychosis

@digitalkettle I've seen a lot of people compare the greer lightspeed to the left side of the deco.

What do you reckon? 

digitalkettle

UnclePsychosis said:

@digitalkettle I've seen a lot of people compare the greer lightspeed to the left side of the deco.

What do you reckon? 

I'm not a good tone comparer

There are similarities: both are fairly gentle, not dark, and tend to make whatever you put into them sound better.

Deco will start to limit more if you wind up the Saturation.

stickyfiddle

I don’t think the Deco sounds much like the Lightspeed other than being a fairly neutral sounding thing. 

The Deco is more of a rich compressy saturation like an old mixing desk than a trad OD pedal

thecolourbox

All this talk of the lovely Deco is testing my no-GAS resolve I do have an HXFX and Helix Native though so I need to have a good play with the ADT - I must admit i didn't know that model was there, i'd assumed the doubling model was meant to be the Deco-esque thing and i don't really like that at all, but obviously that was just me being stupid and grabbing the wrong end of the stick

I occasionally mention it from time to time (lol) but I'm a big White Stripes fan, I feel like putting the Saturation side of the Deco/ADT at the end of my guitar signal path should be good at simulating the kind of saturated recorded sound of say the Elephant and White Blood Cells albums type tones where they were recorded pretty hot directly to actual reel to reel tape, so the actual gain of the amp itself isn't that high but there's that crunch and compression to the overall sound. Am I barking up the right tree?

stickyfiddle

@thecolourbox yeah that pretty much the vibe. The ADT model does have saturation iirc so it should be a good place to start. 

shuikit

stickyfiddle said:

@thecolourbox yeah that pretty much the vibe. The ADT model does have saturation iirc so it should be a good place to start. 

There's also Retro Reel (in the modulation section) that is the saturation without the delay

chrisj1602

shuikit said:

stickyfiddle said:

@thecolourbox yeah that pretty much the vibe. The ADT model does have saturation iirc so it should be a good place to start. 

There's also Retro Reel (in the modulation section) that is the saturation without the delay

Yes, the Retro Reel is great for some Deco-esque sounds.

UnclePsychosis

I think I'm coming to the conclusion that i love the left hand side but could do without the right. Those sounds are awesome but not really my bag. 

stylesforfree

Is there a massive difference between V1 and V2?

Also does the deco do flanging? And overdrive?

What is the deco exactly?

 Danny mentioned a secondary filtering function?

Is the saturation thing using diodes or transistors?

Should I just buy one?

UnclePsychosis

Its basically two pedals in one box.

The left hand side does tape saturation - it's somewhere between a preamp, a compressor, and if you turn the saturation up, it does a lovely overdrive. If I could, I'd have the left hand side in a box on its own. 

The right hand side is another tape emulator, but this time it does tape chorus / tape flange / slapback / tape echo, and some sounds in between those like double tracking and vibrato. 

You can run the two sides into a single amp in mono or into separate amps in stereo. 

menamestom

stylesforfree said:

Is the saturation thing using diodes or transistors?

Should I just buy one?

DSP I would imagine.  It’s a tape saturation algorithm I believe, not an overdrive pedal.

stickyfiddle

Yeah, it’s not a traditional OD that gets its drive from transistors and diodes but you can think of the left side as one if you want to. 

I assume it’s DSP just the same as Strymon’s other delays. It’s modelling an old reel to reel tape deck