Strymon- it's on!

[Non-rabbit]

I have the Zelzah which seems to have many (if not all) of the same features internally and externally as these “V2” pedals.

One great thing about the Zelzah compared to for example my DIG v1 is that I can daisy chain the Zelzah from my power supply (Cioks DC7). If I daisy chain the DIG I get this very annoying high pitched hiss. However there’s no problem with the Zelzah.

I know it’s not advised to daisy chain digital and/or time-based pedals. Just wanted to mention this one benefit people may find appealing with these new ”V2” pedals.

To my ears the Zelzah sounds great. I got it when it first arrived and I’m still using it. (I’m not a phaser expert and have not used many other phaser pedals.)

The similarities with the ”V2” pedals and the Zelzah I was referring to include:
- stereo input switch on the back,
- MIDI,
- “premium JFET analog front end”,
- 480MHz* ARM Superscalar processo (*”V2” pedals have 520Hz),
- “ultra low noise, high performance 24-bit 96kHz A/D and D/Aconverters”,
- 32-bit floating point processing,
- 20Hz to 20kHz frequency response,
- exact same size and power requirements.

Yea. This update was more or less to bring the old guard up to parity with the new stuff like Zelzah.

Zelzah though has one thing I cannot abide, and that's a signal interruption when engaging the effect. It also engages on releasing the switch rather than pressing, which I dislike quite a bit as well. I sincerely hope nothing like that has been introduced to these V2's.

 

[thiscalltoarms]

Agreed. I still have both and while the Volante is a great pedal, the El Cap will go down as one of the all-time classics. This is not to say that the v2* is worse than the v1 but I ain’t selling the v1 before getting a chance to try it against the v2 side-by-side.

*Technically, the El Cap is already v3, right peeps? v1 was the one with the hard switch, v2 is the one with the soft switch and these new ones are v3.

I’ve been calling it the gen2 for this reason

 

[hafizimran]

I’ve been calling it the gen2 for this reason

Ah, that’s a more eloquent solution. I will adopt.

 

[vmann]

Amazing, all the nitpicking naysayers on this thread. It’s like no one on this board has paid $400 US (($475 CAD lol) for a modern, currently manufactured pedal. It’s like some of you believe Strymon is scheming and trying to rip you off because other pedal manufacturers are offering the same thing for less. It’s like some of you can’t come to grips with the fact Strymon has been one of the leaders, if not the leader, of boutique pedals, and all that term implies, for well over a decade. It’s like some can’t come to grips with the fact that the v1 series were long overdue for an update and when they come out with v2 you bitch about pricing, features, functionality etc.

I, for one, welcome my pedal Overlord Strymon and will happily get the second version of one of the greatest pedals they’ve created: the DECO!!

 

[Pedro58]

So, maybe I can finally grab a quality delay for a reasonable price. Like a use Dig or El Cap. All I need is a slapback and a 375ms delay. I don't care how clean the repeats are on the slap, but the longer one needs to be pretty clean. And I want a switch that will toggle between the two and a display that will let me know where I am on a dark stage. For years, I used a Dan-echo for this, but the bypass on it stinks. So, these days I use a simple digital delay and twiddle knobs on the fly. Oh, and I don't want the pedal to be the size of a Mack truck.

 

[hafizimran]

Amazing, all the nitpicking naysayers on this thread. It’s like no one on this board has paid $400 US (($475 CAD lol) for a modern, currently manufactured pedal. It’s like some of you believe Strymon is scheming and trying to rip you off because other pedal manufacturers are offering the same thing for less. It’s like some of you can’t come to grips with the fact Strymon has been one of the leaders, if not the leader, of boutique pedals, and all that term implies, for well over a decade. It’s like some can’t come to grips with the fact that the v1 series were long overdue for an update and when they come out with v2 you bitch about pricing, features, functionality etc.

I, for one, welcome my pedal Overlord Strymon and will happily get the second version of one of the greatest pedals they’ve created: the DECO!!

All great points but when Strymon came out, there was arguably no one else who did digital modelling as well as they did. I mean, they were WAAAAYYY ahead of the competition so much so that if you put the BigSky/Timeline next to a competing pedal even TODAY, it still holds up. That’s like at least a 5 to 7-year headstart.

But that landscape has changed a lot since those days. Which is a good thing. At least there are great options for all people at various price points.

 

[pup tentacle]

Amazing, all the nitpicking naysayers on this thread. It’s like no one on this board has paid $400 US (($475 CAD lol) for a modern, currently manufactured pedal. It’s like some of you believe Strymon is scheming and trying to rip you off because other pedal manufacturers are offering the same thing for less. It’s like some of you can’t come to grips with the fact Strymon has been one of the leaders, if not the leader, of boutique pedals, and all that term implies, for well over a decade. It’s like some can’t come to grips with the fact that the v1 series were long overdue for an update and when they come out with v2 you bitch about pricing, features, functionality etc.

I, for one, welcome my pedal Overlord Strymon and will happily get the second version of one of the greatest pedals they’ve created: the DECO!!

Just because you don't agree, doesn't make the gripes any less legit or negate the fact that other manufacturers offer similar products for less.

And Strymon is hardly "the leader of boutique pedals", for any amount of time. They are one of the major brands of the digital realm.

I'd consider a new El Cap if it were better than the old one. Giving the reverb its own knob doesn't justify the price difference, to me, or probably anyone else who isn't all about the added MIDI connectivity. More onboard presets would make a difference, or more sound options.

 

[vmann]

All great points but when Strymon came out, there was arguably no one else who did digital modelling as well as they did. I mean, they were WAAAAYYY ahead of the competition so much so that if you put the BigSky/Timeline next to a competing pedal even TODAY, it still holds up. That’s like at least a 5 to 7-year headstart.

But that landscape has changed a lot since those days. Which is a good thing. At least there are great options for all people at various price points.

Agree. But I truly believe Strymon pedals have stood the test of time *and* competition during the years. You have to ask yourself why they have always retained a high resale value. Not for all their pedals, of course, but their staples: the 3 big boy boxes; the El Cap, Deco, Flint and arguably the DiG, Sunset and Riverside. Yes, landscape has changed but there is still nothing out there like the Deco, El Cap and the Sunset. They’re all, imho, brilliantly sounding pedals.

 

[cyberattack]

I, for one, welcome my pedal Overlord Strymon

I love this simpsons ref

 

[vmann]

Just because you don't agree, doesn't make the gripes any less legit or negate the fact that other manufacturers offer similar products for less.

And Strymon is hardly "the leader of boutique pedals", for any amount of time. They are one of the major brands of the digital realm.

I'd consider a new El Cap if it were better than the old one. Giving the reverb its own knob doesn't justify the price difference, to me, or probably anyone else who isn't all about the added MIDI connectivity. More onboard presets would make a difference, or more sound options.

Yep. Doesn’t make the “gripes any less legit”. And if you think Strymon didn’t spur the boutique’sh brand then I respectfully disagree. They were always pricey but not egregiously so. And you have to ask yourself why they commanded high used prices. I think you know the answer.

 

[baybruin]

Received my El Cap today (I live very close to Strymon so standard shipping has always basically been next-day).

Initial thoughts:
1) There seem to be some “new” sounds, especially in regards to the spring reverb implementation and maybe the JFET? Maybe it’s just my excitement. Probably just my excitement.
2) MIDI implementation is stellar. I had (and hated) the Volante for this. This seems to be a lot better and does a lot with a little (LED colors change when MIDI clock is being listened to as one example)
3) Yes, it’s still good ol’ El Cap. This is home.

 

[hafizimran]

Received my El Cap today (I live very close to Strymon so standard shipping has always basically been next-day).

Initial thoughts:
1) There seem to be some “new” sounds, especially in regards to the spring reverb implementation and maybe the JFET? Maybe it’s just my excitement. Probably just my excitement.
2) MIDI implementation is stellar. I had (and hated) the Volante for this. This seems to be a lot better and does a lot with a little (LED colors change when MIDI clock is being listened to as one example)
3) Yes, it’s still good ol’ El Cap. This is home.

View attachment 644268

Woohooo!!! Do you have a Gen1 to compare with this new Gen2?

 

[Pedalometrist]

I am really curious how the JFET front end impacts the “feel” of the pedals if anyone has received a V2 yet and compared it to a V1

 

[pup tentacle]

Yep. Doesn’t make the “gripes any less legit”. And if you think Strymon didn’t spur the boutique’sh brand then I respectfully disagree. They were always pricey but not egregiously so. And you have to ask yourself why they commanded high used prices. I think you know the answer.

Yes, because that's what people will pay, just as with all the other brands that command high used prices. Also, Strymon don't allow discounts on new pedals, so the fact you'll never get a deal on a new one, in turn affects the used prices.

Again, there were boutique brands around years before Strymon. Foxrox, Analogman, Catalinbread, Zvex, Fulltone, Keeley...

 

[mouth]

Received my El Cap today (I live very close to Strymon so standard shipping has always basically been next-day).

Initial thoughts:
1) There seem to be some “new” sounds, especially in regards to the spring reverb implementation and maybe the JFET? Maybe it’s just my excitement. Probably just my excitement.
2) MIDI implementation is stellar. I had (and hated) the Volante for this. This seems to be a lot better and does a lot with a little (LED colors change when MIDI clock is being listened to as one example)
3) Yes, it’s still good ol’ El Cap. This is home.

View attachment 644268

Does the tap tempo button still kill the repeats? Is the spring reverb only on repeats (like it was on the previous version) or does it actually effect the dry signal?

 

[kingdavidy2k]

The Compadre compressor also claims for an JFET input something. is that what they put in the V2 pedals?

 

[kingdavidy2k]

Received my El Cap today (I live very close to Strymon so standard shipping has always basically been next-day).

Initial thoughts:
1) There seem to be some “new” sounds, especially in regards to the spring reverb implementation and maybe the JFET? Maybe it’s just my excitement. Probably just my excitement.
2) MIDI implementation is stellar. I had (and hated) the Volante for this. This seems to be a lot better and does a lot with a little (LED colors change when MIDI clock is being listened to as one example)
3) Yes, it’s still good ol’ El Cap. This is home.

View attachment 644268

Does the repeats spillover between midi presets?

 

[jonthomas83]

More power to you guys shelling out $400++ dollars for a foot pedal. I'll just do without....
I get plenty of good tones with the pedals I have and currently use....

You have visited this forum before, right?!

 

[jonthomas83]

Dear Strymon. If you truly are listening...bring back Pete Celi's demos.

cc @Strymon Matt

 

[LaXu]

Do you have to choose between using an exp pedal or using MIDI with these pedals? In other words, you can't have both?

I use MIDI with my Riverside, so I know how that works, but that's not a pedal I'd use an expression pedal with. Some of the others--maybe. But I want MIDI capability for sure.

You can hook up an expression pedal to your MIDI controller (depending on the controller of course) and then configure that to be used as an expression pedal. It's more complicated than using it directly into the pedal but possible.