Strymon BigSky MX is out now

damm73

I recently sold a CXM and was going to get a Mercury X, but I thought I'd wait for all the usual YouTube demo hoors to do Mercury X vs Bigsky MX comparisons. 

I find it very odd that there are none. Makes me wonder if Strymon are saying to Youtubers, here's your free Bigsky MX, we just don't wanna see any comparisons with the Meris...capiche?!

Any new Bigsky MX owners have any experience with both pedals?  Which one should I get? 

I'm kinda leaning towards the Meris right now. It has algorithms from the CXM and Mercury 7, both of which I've had previously and loved the sound of. 

The new Bigsky has two reverbs at once - do I even need or want that? Not sure...didn't really bother with it when I had a Ventris.  Also trying to get off the merrygoround of buying the latest Strymon just for the sake of it when they bring out a new version every eleven years. 

BintyTwanger77

damm73 said:

I recently sold a CXM and was going to get a Mercury X, but I thought I'd wait for all the usual YouTube demo hoors to do Mercury X vs Bigsky MX comparisons. 

I find it very odd that there are none. Makes me wonder if Strymon are saying to Youtubers, here's your free Bigsky MX, we just don't wanna see any comparisons with the Meris...capiche?!

Any new Bigsky MX owners have any experience with both pedals?  Which one should I get? 

I'm kinda leaning towards the Meris right now. It has algorithms from the CXM and Mercury 7, both of which I've had previously and loved the sound of. 

The new Bigsky has two reverbs at once - do I even need or want that? Not sure...didn't really bother with it when I had a Ventris.  Also trying to get off the merrygoround of buying the latest Strymon just for the sake of it when they bring out a new version every eleven years. 

I have a Mercury X for sale in the classifieds. I now have the Big Sky MX, but the change for me wasn’t down to a difference in quality, each of them do what they do astonishingly well. It’s just, having owned the V1 Big Sky for so long before the Meris, I was just very used to the Strymon UI and how to find sounds I liked.

I’d say that if you love the sounds of the CXM and Mercury 7 and don’t feel like you need to run dual reverbs, then the Mercury X is worth a go.

CarbonCopy

handsomerik said:

That does seem to be a great upgrade on the big sky. I tend to find that playing live, a lot of the nuances of reverb are lost in a full band mix. I love my big sky and will probably just stick with that for now. Can’t wait for the Timeline MX though. 

I feel the same about playing live with reverb. I'm by no means a reverb connoisseur, but an HX Stomp is plenty for my reverb and delay needs.

This brings me on to my next question... who are these pedals aimed at? My music tastes are reasonably eclectic but I can't really think of much that has lots of different ultra high quality reverb on guitar. 

There's obviously a market for these pedals, so if someone could enlighten me on some bands to listen to, I'd be grateful and very interested to hear it!

BintyTwanger77

@damm73 Here’s a link to the sales thread: https://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/263637/fs-zvex-sho-meris-mercury-x-with-price-drop

WTB22

CarbonCopy said:

handsomerik said:

That does seem to be a great upgrade on the big sky. I tend to find that playing live, a lot of the nuances of reverb are lost in a full band mix. I love my big sky and will probably just stick with that for now. Can’t wait for the Timeline MX though. 

I feel the same about playing live with reverb. I'm by no means a reverb connoisseur, but an HX Stomp is plenty for my reverb and delay needs.

This brings me on to my next question... who are these pedals aimed at? My music tastes are reasonably eclectic but I can't really think of much that has lots of different ultra high quality reverb on guitar. 

There's obviously a market for these pedals, so if someone could enlighten me on some bands to listen to, I'd be grateful and very interested to hear it! 

Guitar wise, take a listen to any of the last 3 or 4 Kings Of Leon albums, Matt Followill’s lead work will be drenched in big reverbs. Bands like The War On Drugs use it for massive textures and pads. Radiohead… Plenty of great examples. A product like the Big Sky MX, CXM 1978 and Mercury X will also be aimed at more than just guitar. It’s become the norm to see these units in recording studios and synth setups. Even if you use them in the simplest way possible, we’re spoiled to have production quality reverbs for our rigs, in compact boxes. We may still wince at the price tag on this stuff but you only have to look at the current price on something like a new Bricasti M7. Wasn’t the Lexicon 224 like $10K back in the day? 

BintyTwanger77

Decided that I’m going to give the Mercury X one more chance tonight.

Anyone who’s found success with the CXM algorithms (either on the 1978 or the Mercury X) got any tips? 

BintyTwanger77

As the market for selling pedals right now is very difficult, I decided to send back the Big Sky MX for a refund and persist with the Mercury X for now. Both pedals sound absolutely fantastic. They each occupy their own spaces in the market (although do also cover some common ground), and I would happily recommend either of them. However, without being able to sell the Meris first, the Strymon is big investment to have 2 multi-reverbs lying around. Also, I think with my amp set-up right now (UAFX Dream 65 into THR10ii set to 'flat'), a lot of the nuance and richness of the reverb sounds is lost compared to playing through bigger FRFR speakers or a 12" valve amp. Through the AC10C1 I had before moving from London to Stirling, the Meris sounded magnificent.

damm73

Well I finally got what I wanted, i.e. a comparison of the MercuryX and BigskyMX, albeit a reeeealllly boring one. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G5OQzOXlr5Y

However, I've already decided to go back to using an H90, which just seems like much better vfm now compared to the Strymon especially. I think I would still like to try the Meris at some point so will keep an eye out for a good deal on a used one.