From: fishead@cwis.unomaha.edu (David L. Britton)
Subject: Re: Need advice: rack-mount multi-effect units
Organization: University of Nebraska at Omaha
Date: Fri, 4 Sep 1992 19:18:40 GMT

As far as choosing a rack multi-effect unit, there's a large amount of personal
taste involved.  However, I've fooled around with a lot of what's out there and
might be able to steer you in the right direction.

As far as the GSP 21 upgrade goes, I'd ask the person your buying from what 
exactly the upgrade entails (chances are they won't know and you'll probably
have to give Digitech a call), but Ive heard both and the different capabilities
are minor compared to the price difference.  Personally, I tend to stay away
from digitech products because of some bad experiences with their foot pedals.

ART (the sge, sgx, multiverbs, etc.) are fairly nice.  I have the SGE Mach II 
(it's one generation behind the latest).  However, one problem I've had is 
with the signal to noise ratio.  They boast 90dB s/n (CD quality sound).  What
they fail to inform you of is that this is only true if you don't use the 
harmonic exciter (i'm inclined to think it's just another band of EQ judging
from the amount of hiss I get ) and the noise gate is closed.  Otherwise, 
the noise level can get annoying.  However, unless you're going into a 
digital studio in the near future, chances are you won't be able to tell.
Another positive thing about the ART (SGE, not SGX) is that it is not 
just a "guitar" processor.  I have used the SGE Mach II to add revebs, delays,
flanges, etc. during the mix down of a recording session.  It does a fairly
adequete job in that situation (the GSP will not perform as well).

The best bet I've seen lately is Roland's GP-16.  It has 64X oversampling 
(most digital processors have 8X or less) to assure a very high quality,
high resolution a/d transfer.  I do not particularly care for the distortions
on the GP-16 (or any multi-effect rack i've heard for that matter), but I'm
of the opinion that your distortion should come from your preamp, not an
effects rack.  What makes the GP-16 really stand out in my mind, though, is
that you are not limited to algorithms (most DSPs will only let you use 
certain reverbs with certain delays and certain pitch shifters, etc) and it
will let you design the effects change yourself.  You are not limited to what
the manufacturer is the proper set up for effects (this is not necessarily a 
good feature if you are effects illiterate, but is extremely helpful if you are
and have a desire to break away from the norm).  The only problem you might have
is in the cost (it list for around 1100, i've had quotes at 700, but that's the
lowest i've seen it).  

Personally, I say split up your effects (use pedals if you have to) because no
one company makes effects of equal caliber.  You pay for a good delay in the
form of reverb, etc.  Shop around, you may find something that you like for
a lot less that really does what you want (not a box that does two things you
want and performs 30 other meaningless tasks).

Dave

"a fool and his fish are soon parted"
				-someone


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