Strymon Timeline VS Empress VMSD?

[ramjet2007]

Hey guys,

Has anyone A/B'ed these against each other? I have the Empress, and LOVE it, but really like the extra options the Timeline has, as well as the more intuitive operation (IMO) and the -9VDC power.

All comments welcome!

[ramjet2007]

Come on guys! No one?!

[JeffOlson]

I have both and love both. The TimeLine sounds great and has more options than I will ever use. The VMSD has far fewer options, but it also sounds great and is much simpler to use.

In case you are wondering, the VMSD holds its own in terms of sound quality. The TL does NOT slay it.

[robjrussell]

Come on now.. The tape mode on the timeline OBVIOUSLY slays the vmsd. The control of the timeline will give you the EXACT sound you want.. not just 1 of 3 settings..

[JeffOlson]

I'm not talking about options or effects that can be applied to the sound. I'm talking about the basic sound quality. Dial in the TL to sound like the VMSD and listen: they both sound great. Neither one sounds digital, or thin, etc. Yes, the TL slays the VMSD in terms of options and the ways you can modify the sound to your heart's content, but not in terms of the basic sound quality.

[ramjet2007]

Originally Posted by JeffOlson

I'm not talking about options or effects that can be applied to the sound. I'm talking about the basic sound quality. Dial in the TL to sound like the VMSD and listen: they both sound great. Neither one sounds digital, or thin, etc. Yes, the TL slays the VMSD in terms of options and the ways you can modify the sound to your heart's content, but not in terms of the basic sound quality.

Awesome - thanks Jeff!

I'm more of a "tweak at home" and then simply stomp live and not a big shoegazer/real-time-knob-twiddler when performing/playing, so presets of the TL are another bonus for me over the VMSD. I do love the tone of the VMSD, so if the TL is as good, or a touch better, combined with all the other features I think it's a clean sweep for me and will need to nab a TL rather soon...!

[ramjet2007]

Plus it would seem that the Timeline even does great straight up modulation sounds I'm told... wow!

[Twangasaurus]

If the empress had stereo in/out and proper modulation controls I would definitely go for it. For a straight up digital delay sound the super delay is my all time favorite.

[DraggAmps]

Obviously there's a lot more you can do with the Timeline and it has a lot more effects and delay types that can't even be compared to the Empress and it also just has a lot more features and ways to manipulate the sound (and all of those things are very musical and usable and are reasons that, to me, the Timeline is just a much better, more fun, and more musical pedal, but still you can't compare those aspects). Even though setting them to sound the same, the TL doesn't necessarily sound that much better (although I think the analog dry path makes a difference and it makes it sound much better with dirt pedals), the Timeline isn't limited to those sounds and the features it has allows it to sound much better within the delay types that it has that are comparable to the VMSD. It can take the tape delay much further and to me, it sounds better and much more realistic. The modulation, in any comparable setting, is much more versatile and tweakable and I think the mod itself is sweeter sounding. The reverse is more musical and predictable, IMHO. Setting the two to sound the same and then using the smear, for instance, can be the extra thing the give the TL the edge and make it sound better to me. Still not going into the delay types the TL has that the VMSD doesn't have, the TL is easier to replicate certain other awesome delays, such as the DMM. And so on.

Obviously it will be very easy to put up a good argument against my logic but I just think that all features aside, the overall sounds that you can get with the TL, the end result (which is ultimately what's important), sound better to me, and it can basically equal everything the SD can do, plus a ton of other extremely useful and great sounding other things. If you compare features, obviously the TL is much "better". But there are plenty of lesser featured delays that sound much better than other delays with many more features, which is why I think it's still fair to compare the actual sounds that ultimately come out of the two pedals. However, I completely get what JeffOlson is saying and that if you only focus on what the VMSD can do, it's not like the TL makes it sound like a toy. You can go back and forth and they will sound different (unless you set the TL to sound the same), but both will sound good. Although, if you dial in the best tape sounds you can with the two, I think the TL's tape sound will be "better", or at least better at emulating a tape delay.

It's kind of hard to explain and hard to compare the two. But the Empress is among the very best digital delays and still sounds great. I think Empress and Strymon have both reached a level of digital delay sound quality that just sounds extremely "organic" and musical, so it just comes down to preference and what features you want or need. For me, what makes the TL much better is all of the sounds that it can get and how amazing they all are and how far you can go with them and tweak them. You can get very musical tremolo delay, and pattern delays, and octave delays (Ice), and dual delays in parallel OR series, and very accurate analog and tape emulation, and features such as Smear that allow you to get very good actual reverb and other effects like a really nice actual chorus and actual vibe (when I say "actual", I mean they are actually those effects, no delay that sounds very reverby behind the repeats. It's actually turned into reverb.). It's just the best delay, to me, for all of the sounds that it gets. But it's hard to compare because there's no other delay that has all of the same sounds. Still, with the delay types in the VMSD that you can compare to the Timeline, such as tape and reverse, I like the sounds that the TL gets better.

[lux_interior]

http://www.thegearpage.net/board/sho...d.php?t=930077

[Zeon45]

The digital delay/echo pedals are getting better but they still pale in comparison to the Fulltone TTE.