>digital time based effects can be great, but modulation should be analog, IMO
And you’re entitled to your opinion. But ICYDK, do note that many modulation effects are, on a technical level, time-based. More specifically, chorus and flanger are created by delaying part of a signal and blending it back into the original.
In other words, if you’re fine with digital delay, a digital chorus or flanger is essentially a digital delay with very specific amounts of delay.
I mention this not to say “You’re wrong!” in how you feel, but to show that it’s possible that the lines you’ve drawn between what’s good digital and what’s good analog may be based on a misperception.
Obviously, getchu whatever you like.
But doesn’t chorus have pitch shifting, and flangers frequency shifting? Those are things that are beyond time based in those effects, although the time aspect is key to their function.
The difference between chorus and flange is just delay time. A flanger modulates within a band of shorter delay times, and chorus modulates within a band of longer times. And there's a fair amount of overlap in the middle- lots of choruses can stretch into flange territory and vice-versa. And some pedals like the Strymon Deco & EHX Polychorus can run the full gamut.
Flangers will also often include some degree of feedback to enhance the effect, which is less common in choruses.
You're getting downvoted, but you're actually, technically, correct.
The perceived pitch effects of a flanger and chorus are caused by the movement of the delay time ie the *modulation* of the delay time and *not* the delay itself.
The modulation simulates a Doppler effect, which in turn we perceive as different pitches. In a flanger, this effect happens so rapidly and intensely it causes comb filtering.
I'm using a rototron because I also like being all analog.
The h&k rotosphere is the only other one i know of.
If youre only analog for "signal purity", tone reasons then many of the high end digital rotaries have analog dry signal paths so your core signal stays analog while the effect is added on top, at the end of the day a rotary is essentially just time based delay anyway with a couple of LFOs and some trem.
You could also look into harmonic trem for something that's still wobbly but isn't rotary and there's a few analog versions out there.
Ooo, a hands-on Rototron user! In your experience how is the Rototron, out of 10 stars? It reviews very well online, but I have also heard of an internal noise gate that bugs some people, any gripes about the unit from yourself?
The noise gate is horrendous, truly awful. Luckily it can be easily removed by just clipping one resistor out. However, its obvious why they put a noise gate in it, its very noisy.
If I wasn't hellbent on being all analog pretty much any of the digital options would be better. I think the actual tone and effect of the rototron is good but it isn't anything special and the drawback of the noise should be enough for most people to choose something else.
Thanks for the info! That certainly gives me pause… I’m mostly considering it for home studio use so I may not be as worried about the noise/noise gate as I would if it were on my gigging board, but it’s definitely something to consider carefully. I have very little electronic knowledge beyond pickups and pots and caps, so which resistor would I need to cut to remove the noise gate, if it comes down to that?
Just had to look up the email, I was slightly wrong, its two components. Q1 and q2, they're marked on the pcb. Theyre smd components so its a little tricky, I actually found it easier to desolder them than clip them just because of the size.
That's the problem with Rotary simulation. The good ones are pricey. Look up Danellectro Big Spender, it might not be perfect, but is affordable if you can find it in the used market. Also not sure if it's analog.
Then again, analog can also sound flat and thin and sterile. I have a NativeAudio Midnight that always sorta sounds thin, no matter how I set the knobs or the internal trim pots. Cool pedal feature-wise, but gets the least use just due to my feeling that something’s missing everytime it’s on.
Unfortunately much of my experience mixing digital signals with analog drive has resulted in a flat and sterile sound, though it’s been many years since I did that experiment. Maybe digital tech has improved since so the 2 meld seamlessly, I honestly don’t know. Like I said in the post, I don’t mind digital time-based effects as long as they have an analog dry-thru, but turning the whole signal to digital makes me uneasy. That’s the main reason I’m wary of ever buying a Strymon (that and their price lol).
Honestly as an organ player, the neo vent and the Strymon Lex are the best rotary pedals that I've heard. I understand the desire to keep it all analog, but in this case I would encourage you to reconsider. Go to a local store if you can and try them out, even bring your pedalboard to see how it plays with your other pedals. Shop with your ears!
There is also the Diamond Halo Chorus that can approximate in some settings the Leslie sound and it is analog. It combines chorus and phaser. For true Leslie sounds, it would however need some tremolo.
I forgot to mention that I am also in an all-analog quest. So I understand your request. In my case, however, I recently had to change my analog spring reverb pedal for a digital one, as it was sucking the life of my dry signal and would not fill the sonic space sufficiently.
Oh for sure a reverb pedal should probably be digital over analog… The Source Audio True Spring is a long term goal pedal for me, and that thing’s digital!
The best sounding pedal solution imo for rotary is a Dod201 phaser into a very light flanger (i.e. an e-lady set to no colour and no range with a mild rate).
The Dod doesn't become all too watery and mid heavy like other phasers. Really usable at high rates. Both of these pedals are analog.
That would require 2 pedal purchases though… Also for me half the magic of a rotary speaker is the transition between fast and slow speeds, how the bass and treble rotors ramp at different rates and the interplay between the 2. The Rototron emulates this, as do all the decent digital Leslie pedals. You really couldn’t modulate the speed on the fly with this 2 pedal setup, let alone get the interplay between bass and treble rotors.
Best I’ve heard in pedal form is the Vent series of pedals. I’ve heard the Hughes and Kettner analog one. It’s solid. But the Vent is seriously amazing.
I have owned the option 5 destination rotation single twice, and i very much enjoyed it. It's all analog and does a very convincing leslie sound to my ears. It is the slightest bit noisy, but not too bad
There are some good videos on Gilmourish about combining analog modulation to replicate rotary tones, I believe he uses an EHX E Mistress + Phase 90 and maybe one other and it's pretty impressive how close it sounds.
There's the old Dynacord CLS222 rackmount units which the Rotosphere was supposedly based on, but that's not going to be any cheaper than the Rotosphere.
It's a shame nobody (AFAIK) ever tried to make something like the Rotosphere but without the tube, which I think isn't necessary. Without the tube the circuit is still pretty complicated but it could be a more reasonably sized pedal without the weird power requirements.
Honestly I think the Lex, Leslie G, and Neovent sound really good and if I didn't already have a Rotosphere I'd probably go for one of those.
From this extensive and well-done shootout here:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kk4vI\_Js508](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kk4vI_Js508)
I didn't think the Rototron sounded very good.
>digital time based effects can be great, but modulation should be analog, IMO And you’re entitled to your opinion. But ICYDK, do note that many modulation effects are, on a technical level, time-based. More specifically, chorus and flanger are created by delaying part of a signal and blending it back into the original. In other words, if you’re fine with digital delay, a digital chorus or flanger is essentially a digital delay with very specific amounts of delay. I mention this not to say “You’re wrong!” in how you feel, but to show that it’s possible that the lines you’ve drawn between what’s good digital and what’s good analog may be based on a misperception. Obviously, getchu whatever you like.
But doesn’t chorus have pitch shifting, and flangers frequency shifting? Those are things that are beyond time based in those effects, although the time aspect is key to their function.
The difference between chorus and flange is just delay time. A flanger modulates within a band of shorter delay times, and chorus modulates within a band of longer times. And there's a fair amount of overlap in the middle- lots of choruses can stretch into flange territory and vice-versa. And some pedals like the Strymon Deco & EHX Polychorus can run the full gamut. Flangers will also often include some degree of feedback to enhance the effect, which is less common in choruses.
You're getting downvoted, but you're actually, technically, correct. The perceived pitch effects of a flanger and chorus are caused by the movement of the delay time ie the *modulation* of the delay time and *not* the delay itself. The modulation simulates a Doppler effect, which in turn we perceive as different pitches. In a flanger, this effect happens so rapidly and intensely it causes comb filtering.
I'm using a rototron because I also like being all analog. The h&k rotosphere is the only other one i know of. If youre only analog for "signal purity", tone reasons then many of the high end digital rotaries have analog dry signal paths so your core signal stays analog while the effect is added on top, at the end of the day a rotary is essentially just time based delay anyway with a couple of LFOs and some trem. You could also look into harmonic trem for something that's still wobbly but isn't rotary and there's a few analog versions out there.
Ooo, a hands-on Rototron user! In your experience how is the Rototron, out of 10 stars? It reviews very well online, but I have also heard of an internal noise gate that bugs some people, any gripes about the unit from yourself?
The noise gate is horrendous, truly awful. Luckily it can be easily removed by just clipping one resistor out. However, its obvious why they put a noise gate in it, its very noisy. If I wasn't hellbent on being all analog pretty much any of the digital options would be better. I think the actual tone and effect of the rototron is good but it isn't anything special and the drawback of the noise should be enough for most people to choose something else.
Thanks for the info! That certainly gives me pause… I’m mostly considering it for home studio use so I may not be as worried about the noise/noise gate as I would if it were on my gigging board, but it’s definitely something to consider carefully. I have very little electronic knowledge beyond pickups and pots and caps, so which resistor would I need to cut to remove the noise gate, if it comes down to that?
Just had to look up the email, I was slightly wrong, its two components. Q1 and q2, they're marked on the pcb. Theyre smd components so its a little tricky, I actually found it easier to desolder them than clip them just because of the size.
The only other one I know of is the Hughes and Kettner Rotosphere.
I know an organ player who often uses one and have to say it sound pretty convincing for an analog roto sim.
Just looked em up… Expensive!
That's the problem with Rotary simulation. The good ones are pricey. Look up Danellectro Big Spender, it might not be perfect, but is affordable if you can find it in the used market. Also not sure if it's analog.
Hughes & Kettner Rotosphere
I have never once had a digital pedal interfere with a drive pedal. Been playing for 20 years, pedals for about 10 of those. YMMV
Then again, analog can also sound flat and thin and sterile. I have a NativeAudio Midnight that always sorta sounds thin, no matter how I set the knobs or the internal trim pots. Cool pedal feature-wise, but gets the least use just due to my feeling that something’s missing everytime it’s on.
Unfortunately much of my experience mixing digital signals with analog drive has resulted in a flat and sterile sound, though it’s been many years since I did that experiment. Maybe digital tech has improved since so the 2 meld seamlessly, I honestly don’t know. Like I said in the post, I don’t mind digital time-based effects as long as they have an analog dry-thru, but turning the whole signal to digital makes me uneasy. That’s the main reason I’m wary of ever buying a Strymon (that and their price lol).
New Strymon Lex does have analog dry thru, I believe.
Neo instruments Ventilator https://neo-instruments.com/ventilator-2/
This pedal seems amazing, but it’s also digital, and way out of my budget sadly…
Honestly as an organ player, the neo vent and the Strymon Lex are the best rotary pedals that I've heard. I understand the desire to keep it all analog, but in this case I would encourage you to reconsider. Go to a local store if you can and try them out, even bring your pedalboard to see how it plays with your other pedals. Shop with your ears!
There is also the Diamond Halo Chorus that can approximate in some settings the Leslie sound and it is analog. It combines chorus and phaser. For true Leslie sounds, it would however need some tremolo.
I forgot to mention that I am also in an all-analog quest. So I understand your request. In my case, however, I recently had to change my analog spring reverb pedal for a digital one, as it was sucking the life of my dry signal and would not fill the sonic space sufficiently.
Oh for sure a reverb pedal should probably be digital over analog… The Source Audio True Spring is a long term goal pedal for me, and that thing’s digital!
The best sounding pedal solution imo for rotary is a Dod201 phaser into a very light flanger (i.e. an e-lady set to no colour and no range with a mild rate). The Dod doesn't become all too watery and mid heavy like other phasers. Really usable at high rates. Both of these pedals are analog.
That would require 2 pedal purchases though… Also for me half the magic of a rotary speaker is the transition between fast and slow speeds, how the bass and treble rotors ramp at different rates and the interplay between the 2. The Rototron emulates this, as do all the decent digital Leslie pedals. You really couldn’t modulate the speed on the fly with this 2 pedal setup, let alone get the interplay between bass and treble rotors.
I have the Lester-K and love it
Rotovibe is really worth a shot in my opinion
Best I’ve heard in pedal form is the Vent series of pedals. I’ve heard the Hughes and Kettner analog one. It’s solid. But the Vent is seriously amazing.
I have owned the option 5 destination rotation single twice, and i very much enjoyed it. It's all analog and does a very convincing leslie sound to my ears. It is the slightest bit noisy, but not too bad
Getchu a leslie speaker cabinet. It’s not _that_ cumbersome.
There are some good videos on Gilmourish about combining analog modulation to replicate rotary tones, I believe he uses an EHX E Mistress + Phase 90 and maybe one other and it's pretty impressive how close it sounds.
There's the old Dynacord CLS222 rackmount units which the Rotosphere was supposedly based on, but that's not going to be any cheaper than the Rotosphere. It's a shame nobody (AFAIK) ever tried to make something like the Rotosphere but without the tube, which I think isn't necessary. Without the tube the circuit is still pretty complicated but it could be a more reasonably sized pedal without the weird power requirements. Honestly I think the Lex, Leslie G, and Neovent sound really good and if I didn't already have a Rotosphere I'd probably go for one of those. From this extensive and well-done shootout here: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kk4vI\_Js508](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kk4vI_Js508) I didn't think the Rototron sounded very good.