Boss RV-6 - anyone got one yet?

Dopesick

monquixote said:

Dopesick said:

If the spring and the shimmer sound shit then that's turned me right off. I'll give it a go down the road at Coda but these aren't actually giving me hope.

Shame really.

I've honestly never heard a digital spring that wasn't shit.

The Subdecay Super Spring Theory sounds amazing and is my current 'want' pedal at the moment.

Of course it'll never be as good as the real thing but it does sound pretty damn schweet.

leerocker

J rockett boing is the best spring reverb going

JDE

I have done a truly woeful 20 second iPhone clip of the Shimmer setting, but I have no hosting facilities so I stuck it on my Twitter https://mobile.twitter.com/jimdanielevans

Sorry it's not great quality. All controls on the pedal were at noon. Playing my Eastman 371 through a Mambo amp.

topomorto

I like the way you pointed your camera at the ceiling to show off the 'heavenly' aspect.

Listening on my craptop it sounded like a carribean steel drum! (EDIT : I only just noticed you said that in your initial impressions. It really does!)

JDE

I did it ambient, like. Basically, my wife didn't want to point the phone at my amp. It is super steel drum like. It actually sounds better on the clip, oddly. Bearing in mind I'm using a set pickup archtop through a Polytone voiced amp and it still sounds trebly... I'd shit myself if I had a tele and deluxe reverb or something

alalalkasar

The octave up kind of sounds like a polished polyphonic version of the old boss ps2. At the moment quite a lot of new pedals remind me of the ps2.

topomorto

I loved the PS2! had a great vibe to it...

Loobs

Doesn't sound too bad to me. Gonna go to my local store and see if they have these in stock.

Can it get very long almost infinite echoes?

topomorto

Here are some first impressions from going through the RV6's modes. Next to it I happen to have a Dr Scientist Reverberator...

One overall impression is that it's quite bright-sounding, compared to the Dr S, with the tone control up (though the tone control isn't actually a hard-wired tone control - in the delay mode it controls the repeats, for example)

Another is that the expression pedal in most modes controls the send - not mix - level, which is nice as you can play with a normal level of reverb and then put a couple of notes really out in space.

One negative impression is that the time control doesn't have a very useful range for some of the algs.

Modulate
I've never owned an RV5 so I can't compare that to the RV6. My impression is that the RV6 mode might be a bit lower-fat than the RV5 - maybe not quite so much modulation? It's still a nice ambient reverb, capable of really long decays - actually it sounds a bit weird and gated if the time control is wound back too short.

Spring
I'm not sure this sounds like a spring reverb. Has a very ringy, watery quality to it - almost with a touch of envelope filter! Possibly still musically useful.

Plate
This one only seems to work when the decay time is set to 1-2 o' clock - longer and shorter decays aren't so natural. Set at the sweet spot it has a nice studio-like quality with perhaps a slight edge on the Dr S Reverberator if you prefer your plates bright and airy - the stereo helps of course too.

Hall
Again, a nice airy studio sound. Similar observations to plate when it comes to delay times. Doesn't respond to playing dynamics as well as the plate, or the Dr S's hall for that matter - can get a bit over-excited with loud sudden inputs. Seems to rely quite a bit on predelay to achieve its sense of space.

Room
Works well at lower mix levels and decay times - quite realistic. A bit ringy at longer times. I think if I had to choose I would go for the Dr S on room reverb - a bit more charisma. They are both good though.

Dynamic
You have to tailor your playing to the effect here to get this to work well. Single notes seem to work as well as anything, dry initial transients expanding into atmospheric note decays. Not as flexible as it might have been though.

Shimmer
The same weird gatedness at short times, but set it as long as you like.
With the tone up it sounds like someone is playing an organ behind you. With lower tone, a much more subtle (but still interesting) ambience is possible. Playing with the expression pedal here can make the effect breathe in a very organic way. This is nice and I wonder if it might make up for the modulate mode not being quite the same as the RV5's (if that is the case!)

Delay
Hmm. tone control controls feedback, time controls delay time. No control over how much reverb you get. Disappointingly, in this mode the expression pedal seems to control the delay mix, not the send.
useful enough I guess but not particularly inspiring.

Here are some first impressions from going through the RV6's modes. Next to it I happen to have a Dr Scientist Reverberator...

One overall impression is that it's quite bright-sounding, compared to the Dr S, with the tone control up (though the tone control isn't actually a hard-wired tone control - in the delay mode it controls the repeats, for example)

Another is that the expression pedal in most modes controls the send - not mix - level, which is nice as you can play with a normal level of reverb and then put a couple of notes really out in space.

One negative impression is that the time control doesn't have a very useful range for some of the algs.

Modulate

I've never owned an RV5 so I can't compare that to the RV6. My impression is that the RV6 mode might be a bit lower-fat than the RV5 - maybe not quite so much modulation? It's still a nice ambient reverb, capable of really long decays - actually it sounds a bit weird and gated if the time control is wound back too short.

Spring

I'm not sure this sounds like a spring reverb. Has a very ringy, watery quality to it - almost with a touch of envelope filter! Possibly still musically useful.

Plate

This one only seems to work when the decay time is set to 1-2 o' clock - longer and shorter decays aren't so natural. Set at the sweet spot it has a nice studio-like quality with perhaps a slight edge on the Dr S Reverberator if you prefer your plates bright and airy - the stereo helps of course too.

Hall

Again, a nice airy studio sound. Similar observations to plate when it comes to delay times. Doesn't respond to playing dynamics as well as the plate, or the Dr S's hall for that matter - can get a bit over-excited with loud sudden inputs. Seems to rely quite a bit on predelay to achieve its sense of space.

Room

Works well at lower mix levels and decay times - quite realistic. A bit ringy at longer times. I think if I had to choose I would go for the Dr S on room reverb - a bit more charisma. They are both good though.

Dynamic

You have to tailor your playing to the effect here to get this to work well. Single notes seem to work as well as anything, dry initial transients expanding into atmospheric note decays. Not as flexible as it might have been though.

Shimmer

The same weird gatedness at short times, but set it as long as you like.

With the tone up it sounds like someone is playing an organ behind you. With lower tone, a much more subtle (but still interesting) ambience is possible. Playing with the expression pedal here can make the effect breathe in a very organic way. This is nice and I wonder if it might make up for the modulate mode not being quite the same as the RV5's (if that is the case!)

Delay

Hmm. tone control controls feedback, time controls delay time. No control over how much reverb you get. Disappointingly, in this mode the expression pedal seems to control the delay mix, not the send.

useful enough I guess but not particularly inspiring.

So, there you go. A few nice realistic modes, a couple of nice ambient effects, and a few bonuses. Just one tired chap's thoughts at the end of  a long day.

Teetonetal

monquixote;714830" said:

Dopesick said:

If the spring and the shimmer sound shit then that's turned me right off. I'll give it a go down the road at Coda but these aren't actually giving me hope.



Shame really.










I've honestly never heard a digital spring that wasn't shit.

The new neunaber one sounds really nice, just nothing like a spring! Have to agree yet to find a good one that actually sounds springy...

topomorto

I've been A/Bing the RV6 heavily with the stereo WET v2 and I can't decide which is better soundwise.

The Boss can certainly be coaxed into some cheezy sounds but in its sweet spots it's a match for the Wet - a tiny bit ringier, but also has a warm Enoesque quality, whereas most of the Wet algs are a bit colder and spacier.

Shimmer on the RV-6 with the tone turned down is a lovely sound.