Ugly Guitar Truth: EHX Synth9

Almost like clockwork, EHX has been issuing new versions of the 9 series. Each one giving us new voices to transform our guitars into. The B9 was so revolutionary that it was widely seen on pro and hobbyist pedal boards near and far. Electro Harmonix have continued to release up date to the line to keep us busy. The C9 gave us even more organ noises. The Key9 let us made keyboard sounds. The Mel9 was possibly the last thing many of us expected, but still expanded the pallet of sonic expression. Now, we can apply synthesizer noises to the now-familiar 9-series format. So is this all good new, or is there some ugly truth behind all this. Let's see...

It's A Little Bit Too Familiar

Five knobs, one switch. The try-and-true format of the 9-series is back and weirder than ever. The synth sound is a mystic and allusive beast for many guitar players. While synth-guitar is nothing new, the quality of said synth is something that has alluded many a play for quite some time. I've played several effects that are supposed to create synth noise but each one comes up shy. Line6, Digitech, BOSS and others have tried and have come up wanting. So, is this just more of the same? From the demo video they dropped recently, it looks like they are hitting at least a few of those sweet spots to recreate some classic 80's rock and synth pop hits. Is this the go to pedal for 80's cover bands? Probably.

This Is Not The Update You're Looking For

Much to the dismay of many of the 9-series fans, this is not the update that many are begging EHX for. There is no edit function, no customizable parameters, no usb connectivity. We now have 45 voices in the 9-series and no hint that we will even be able to mix-and-match or edit and deeper than the 4 parameters physically on the pedal. However, this pedal is the furthest we have ventured for any sound that we can create with a POG. Organ sounds were one of the key selling points of the POG for many player, but the Synth 9 gives us things the POG is not capable on its own.

Nailed It?

From the beginning of the 9-series, these pedals have been nearly perfect. Some would argue that they are, in fact, perfect. I would say to them, that the lack of some key features would show us that they are not. The B9 gave us great organ noises, but no expression pedal in or fast/slow Leslie feature (they stuck that is a completely different pedal). The Key9 did cool keyboard sounds, but lacked a little of the authenticity that we loved about the B/C9 units. The Mel9 was cool, but obscure. Now the Synth9 is taking on a huge task: upping the guitar-synth game. ... and it has? Look, the 9 series is great at what it does: being the next best thing to the real thing, or faking it just good enough.

Conclusion

Here is the next in what is becoming a long line of rather ingenious pedals. With the power of these pedals combined, you'd hardly ever have to hear the sound of your actually guitar again. I am impressed with the ability of EHX to keep finding niches for their family of funky sound machines. I thought they were running out of ideas. Turns out they are feverously coming up with new ways to make crazy sounds. And when you take a long at the guy running the show over there, it make a lot of sense. So, do  you need this pedal in your life? Well, you have to ask your self. Do I have a consistent need to play "Jump". 

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Is The Electro Harmonix Key9 A Disappointment

The other day, I was able to sit down with the Electro Harmonix Key9 Keyboard Modulator pedal. It was exciting. This is probably one of the most anticipated pedals of 2015. I know that there isn't a shortage of media out there about this pedal, but my experience was a little surprising.

The Sounds

Let me begin with the B9 and C9. These two pedals do similar functions. They both make you guitar sound like different type of organs. Piano sounds seem closely related to organs, so the Key9 seems almost a shoe-in for EHX. However, The two instruments are vastly different, thus the Key9 and the B9/C9 must make very different sounds. And they do. In my own head, I expect to be immersed in the polyphonic tones of keyboard when I plugged into this pedal, however when I ran the pedal 100% it still produced guitar like sounds. To be honest, I'm not extremely familiar with all the instrument the Key9 emulates. In my opinion the best sound the pedal made were the ones that were ones most different than the guitar. Steel Drums and Vibe were my favorites. They were convincing and a lot of fun to play.

The Disappointment

The Rhoads. I wanted this pedal for one reason. The suitcase setting was supposed to reproduce the famous Fender Rhodes suitcase piano. The demo EHX put out was a little underwhelming when it came to this setting. The flanger that is included on the setting is a little off putting as well. Even at the lowest setting it was a little too much. (of course the knob is there for 'speed' and not depth or mix so it's a little hard to tame in that respect) My biggest gripe is that this setting and others weren't far enough away from the guitar that originated the signal.

WHY?!

Yes, why is this pedal the luke-warm brother to the two coolest pedals in recent years? I have a prospective answer. Where as the organ is typically played by air moving through pipes, or some approximation of this, the piano is a string instrument. Yes, its played with a keyboard, just like an organ, but the sounds are derived just like a guitar. The Key9 emulates electric pianos, but the electric pianos were the 80's answer to acoustic pianos. So in reality the Key9 tries to sound like something trying to sound like a piano. It's modulation inception!

In Conclusion

I probably won't be buying this pedal. Even though I loved the concept. I was rather disappointed by the sounds. Maybe I had to much expectation going into this. I really wanted to be blow away by how authentic the sounds were, just like when I played the B9 and C9. However I was left turning knobs trying to coax a little more piano out of the box. I'll keep my eye out for some videos and or posts with hints to maybe get some more realistic tones and maybe revist this one, but right now it is proving to be a substantial let down.

Electro Harmonix Key9 Update

It has finally happened. Was now have teaser trailers for effect pedals. Just like when a major motion picture is upon us, we have gotten a glimpse of what the KEY9 pedal from Electro Harmonix can do. But is this the case of the "unwanted sequel"? I'm rather impressed by the authenticity of the voice this little box can achieve. Having said that, There are some let downs.

 So besides sounding amazing on "Somebody I Used To Know", this unit has a solid list of sounds that it really hits the mark. But if I'm being honest, the Rhoads sound was a little disappointing, but that be a strong case of "I already had a sound in my head and it doesn't live up to that exact specification even if that expectation might not be actually possible". That Rhoads that I mention is heavily influenced by the band that led me to fall in love with sound in the first place, Mutemath. If you don't know them, do yourself a favor and check out what they have to offer. If you are a fan of spacey-electro-rock that dips into a little bit of everything else, then they might be your thing. The band employs amount of Rhoads and that sound has haunted me ever since.

 Something That I like/don't like is the organ. Does it sound like an organ? Sure. But, do you think that the fans of this series of pedals wont already have a B/C9? Probably not. Even so, this pedal doesn't change on the fly very well. If you have one voice dialed in thing you have to wait for a break to flip you controls to another sound. Those wanting Organ and piano will have multiple pedals, so the organ setting is basically taking up space that we could have had another set of keys...

Should you get this pedal? Sure, it does some great thing that might come in handy for you. Do you often wish to make your guitar sound like other things? Then this pedal might be up you ally. If you like the B9 or C9, then this pedal might interest you as well. Want to turn your insane guitar solos into piano solos? Pump the brakes, make sure you get the sounds you want before picking this pedal up. The tracking sounds good, but there is a lot going on under the hood here. You might have to adjust your playing style to get the best results, but there is a lot of potential here.

The Ugly Truth About The EHX Key9

It feel like every time we turn around, Electro Harmonix drops a new pedal on us. I have no complaints about that. I love to look at new gear. Today I became aware of the newest their line of effect that make you guitar sound like keyboards. It is called the Key9 and after I ran around my house in excitement, I sat down to find out what I could about it. So... here's what I got:

It Has Its Obvious Advantages

Yes, those of us that get excited about making weird noises with our guitars rejoice when a new, weird pedal comes out. Making a guitar sound like a piano is great. Being able to translate guitar notes into a piano sounds makes a lot of sense. If you don't have a piano player, or you need a piano for that one bit in that one song, then you can easily emulate that sound with your guitar. Just like the B/C9 pedals, EHX has a nack for creating convincing filters for making you guitar sound like different things.

It Has A Wide Range

It looks like there is a lot of different sounds in this box (dynamo, wurli, suitcase, wallets, eighty eight, tri-calculous, yeti, oregon, 9786 drums) Not just different voices of pianos, but Vibe, Steel Drums, and Melodic Percussion abound. This pedal takes the idea behind the B9 and C9 pedals and gets a little crazier with it. I would love to make Rhodes sounds with this thing. I like the the other two pedal they've put out, but I haven't bought them. There are a couple reasons.

They Don't Replace The Keyboard Player

There has been comments that go along the lines of, "The Organ player better not be late" or "The organ player better watch out". Sure, these pedal sound good, and they extremely easy to use, but it's not going to replace another musician. The most obvious reason being that you can have either guitar or organ/keys. (Yes I know that you can have a stereo rig where only one side is an "organ". But you are still limited to playing one part. (and BTW, not all guitar parts sound good through the B9/C9/Key9)

They Are Pricey

I'm cheap, I know that. But I get to spend about $200 a year on pedals. The other two of these pedals go for just north of that figure. So, am I going to spend a years budget on a single effect that I'm going to use once a set (maybe) or am I going to but a couple cheaper ones... All I'm saying is that it's hard to drop that much on a neat, but limited, pedal. The real question here is, "Why haven't EHX released a pedal that is editable." In stead of giving us a few preset voices, give us the option of editing our own sounds with a choice of custom presets. The internals can't be that different on the pedals. I can't see too many people running three of these pedals on their boards.

Conclusion

Out of the pedals in the series, this is the one that have gotten my attention the most. Roland have been turning guitars into pianos for a while now, but now we have it in-line in stead of running a weird midi pickup and with a record of good sounding voices. I really like this idea. I hope that they pull off these sounds as well as they've done with the organ voices. If they do, then they just might get my money... some day when I can stop being cheap...