Your favorite analog effects?

Hi,

I am slowly moving away from digital effects with the look to replace them with analog ones.

I was wondering, what are your favorite eurorack analog effects?

I am particularly interested in:
1. Delay
2. Reverb
3. Flanger / Phaser

Thanks,
Regards,
Matteo

I am particularly interested in:
1. Delay

in eurorack my favourite delay is the Strymon Magneto, for analog it's not eurorack, it's an effect pedal - moogerfooger mf104z

2. Reverb

only really use digital reverb (Strymon Magneto or FX Aid XL) - other than the ones in my guitar amps, which are springs (Fender Blues Jr, Vox AC15)

3. Flanger / Phaser

again not eurorack, effects pedals - lovetone flanger with no name and doppleganger

I'm with Jim on this topic, effects pedals may be the best way to incorporate a broader range of effects. This may or may not save you money depending on the pedals you prefer, also the CV control options for pedals aren't ideal, so it's not a perfect solution. I would recommend picking up something like the Strymon AA.1 to convert euro signals to pedal and back. It's a good inexpensive utility.
I also don't necessarily think the analog vs digital debate applies much to effects, as I have a mixture of both types of effects, though I prefer analog for some other things. I recently picked up a Strymon Deco which is digital, and it has become my favorite overall effect for just about everything. It's a magic pixie dust pedal that makes everything sound better than it should. I have also enjoyed the results I've gotten from the simple and inexpensive Doepfer spring reverb (though I have to leave a 1hp blank space to run the reverb tank cable outside of my rack). I've gotten mixed results with the Erica BBD delay/flanger. Sometimes it's awesome, and other times I struggle to achieve what I'm hearing in my head.
Let us know what you choose. Have fun!

EDITED Apr 7th 2022, 14:52

EDITED Feb 27th 2023, 07:05

I really like time based effects like delay and flanger. Mimeophon and Erica Synths Black Hole DSP are great.

I've gone nuts over the cheap Chinese pedals in recent years. Yes, it's true that they don't always sound "right" (although many DO), but the "not-rightness" can actually be an asset in a purely electronic setting. Plus, I can jack 'em in via the studio's patchbays.

Ones that really ring my bell:

Aural Dream - Breath Delay. Analog delay, up to about 600 ms...but it has this little switch labelled "NO/GH". NO is "normal operation", where this behaves like any basic analog delay. But GH brings in the "ghost trails", where the delay returns tend to not decay, so you can build up masses of delayed sounds' echo trails. VERY useful.

Joyo - Classic Flanger (the white one with the jump jet). To my ears, this hits the spot on the OLD MXR flanger...the one with the AC cord from the late 1970s. It can go from normal to rubberband-twang sweeps with one or two tweaks. VERY easy to get excellent results here.

Nux - Tape Core. Nux's take on the Boss RE-2. I actually think the Tape Core is easier to use than the RE-2, while still delivering that old-skool Space Echo sound and feel.

Mosky - Spring Reverb. On first glance, it looks like just some knockoff of Malekko's pedal of the same name. But looks deceive, as this thing hides a secret under the "Dwell" control. Turn this up "too far", and the reverb starts behaving like FEEDBACK, ringing on the main harmonic inputted. Since you can't exactly do this with synthesizers, these cheapo things are a godsend if you want to do keyboards with rock...why let the guitarists have all the fun, right?

Biyang - Ripple Space. Really good reverb coupled with their also-excellent Time Machine delay. The Time Machine gives you either 600 or 1100 ms of delay, and coupling this with their reverb in the same box: brilliance.

But those are just the high points. Fact is, there's a LOT of pedals coming out of China that are either utterly excellent (Mooer's "Liquid Phase", f'rinstance) or downright strange. That last bit might bug guitarists...but around here, we eat "downright strange" as a main course!

And two Electro-Harmonix pedals...the first being the Flanger Hoax, which is actually a redux of the incredible Mu-Tron Biphase, and that pedal's creator collaborated with E-H to whip this out some years back.

But the other is fairly new...and totally KILLER: the TriParallel Mixer. Makes NO sound...but instead, provides a set of three FX loops that, instead of normal pedalboard routers, work in parallel against the dry signal, and you have a broad array of controls per "loop" to affect levels and phasing. THIS PEDAL IS A REVELATION...I kid you not!!! ANYONE who works with stompboxes should own one...the versatility is off the scale!!!

hi Matteo, here are my favorites in analog domain:

1. BBD i.e. analog delay:

   EHX DMM - vintage, warm repeats, classic
   Boss DM-300 - same as above - probably my all time favorite
   Dynacord SRS-56 - dual mono bbd, dark but thick

2. Reverb: Music Thing Spring Reverb - i use medium Accutronic, and large old Hammond tank

3. Flanger: MXR126 Flanger/Doubler - Reticon chip. wide bandwidth, feedback polarity, cv

4. Phase Shifter:

   Small Stone - vintage rev2 & 3 - classic sound for deep cosmic levitations
   Phase 100 script logo - classic opto phaser, think gary numan cars, genesis etc

5. Chorus/Ensemble/wow+flutter:

   Synthoma Elkorus - original bbds from eminent stringers, triple bbd, two lfo, stereo
   Ibanez BC-9 - double bbd with indiv rate/depth
   Shallow Water - tried one, its on my shopping list

EDITED Jul 4th 2023, 10:17