Ugly Truth: Digitech Dirty Robot Synthesizer Emulation Pedal

It is undeniable that in the last few years, electronic music has grown from an odd niche to something that has permeated its way into nearly every genre of music. EDM artist are among the highest paid artist and it has never been easier to join the ranks of DJs and artist creating new and more progressive sounds. So it has been for guitarist. Recently there has been a surge in tools to make your guitar not sound like a guitar. We emulate organs, keyboard, and rainbow... We delay, loop and shimmer to make pads and swells. We've come a long way from 'Cranking It Up To 11'... Recently we got news from Digitech about a new pedal to give us yet another tool to make crazy noises with.

It's A Filter

Yes, another filter. BOSS just gave us a Vocorder and EHX released the Cocked Wah. Auto-wah pedals have been around a long time. Talk Boxes are nearly a relic of the past now. So now we have a vocal filter that seems a little late to the game. What makes this relevant now? Most notably, the controls are expressive and functional. Turn any of the 7 knobs and change to sound dramatically. Mix, Mod, Start, Stop, Sens, Time, and Drift (not to mention the toggle to change the voice) help you wrangle your desired sound out of this box. Yes, it is another filter, but one of the best I've seen shoved into a compact pedal. This pedal easily fits in with the Polara, and Obscrua. In that it is pretty and shiny, but compared to its sister pedals, this one seems to be the first one on the scene.

It's Late

This pedal seems to be in a series of pedal that Digitech have been developing. It seemed that they are rebooting some of their core effects (delay, reverb), but this pedal is something that would fit it with more edgy builders. The sounds are unique and controllable. The pedal seems we developed. This almost excuses the wide gap in time that it took for Digitech to come to market with this pedal. The Polara and Obscrua both seem like they had to keep up with other pedal manufactures putting out similar pedals, but the Dirty Robot is a offering that doesn't seem 'directly influenced' by another pedal. This is a good thing.

It's Familiar

Guess what!? I've heard this effect before. It was in a very unlikely place. An RP series pedal. The Robot Voice effect has been around for a while. While this effect seems to be refined and very usable, this pedal has history in the pedal series that occupy the bargain bin of nearly every music store. It might have been wrong timing, or maybe the fact that they stuck it a pedal that next to useless, but it's not Digitech first attempt to make some weird robot noises.

Conclusion

This pedal is a breath of freash air. I actually like it a lot, despite the fact that I think it would basically useless for me personally. It expected more form the Delay and Reverb in this series, but they have average features, decent sound quality, but nothing groundbreaking. This pedal however exceeds expectations. So it took three tries, but Digitech did it...

The Ugly Truth: Electro Harmonix Lester G

Today we found out that EHX has been at it again. This time they've developed a Rotary Speaker Emulator. That is a fancy way of saying it is a Leslie pedal. There are many pedal out there that help you sound more like a spinning horn, so why have EXH now released their own? Electro Hamonix is regularly adding to its already extensive line of effects, and becoming more and more well rounded with each addition. Let's take a look at what we know about this pedal.

ehx.com

It's Massive

It looks like the Lester G is a big boy. Compact in some respects, it sports eight knobs and two footswitches, it has a lot going on. I looks to take up about as much space as the Memory Man or any of their "multi-effect" pedals. Which aren't nearly as bloated as the Boss twin-type pedals. What it does have going for it is its looks. This is a good looking pedal. It seems that EHX are stepping away from there bare-metal ascetics and giving their pedals a more "premium" look. The white/cream painted boxes and matching knobs are  nicely contrasted with the graphics. Everything looks top notch, which is nice because there is a lot of 'it' to look at.

It's Pricey 

The Lester G is reported to debut at $298. That's higher than their other emulators, the "9" series. That's POG money. The Lester K is more affordable, but you are still looking at $237. There are other pedals that do similar jobs, but not with the flexibility that we see in these pedals. I not saying that this pedal is or isn't worth the price, but if you want the most flexible Leslie emulator with expression control, then you're going to pony up the cash.

It's Not Alone

Yes, this pedal is fantastically flexible, but I already own a rotary. It has a slow and fast function like the EXH. What the Lester G has going for it is its depth. Well, depth and a compressor. It looks to be an MXR or ROSS type comp with Attack and Sustain. With an added bonus: squash. The Lester K is free of all those features. Making it stand out less than it's big bother. 

Conclusion

The final word is not a word. It's the sound. Close your eyes, and listen to the sounds of this pedal. If you can't convince your self that there is an actual spinning horn in the room then move along...