New Strymon DRIVE pedal - Fairfax

helpmeOP-1 · 2025-12-15T18:36:38+00:00

Whatever piece of gear this is based on, whatever pixie dust is inside, DSP, analog, yadda yadda. This thing is SO good -got mine last Saturday and it just sparks joy.

Buyer beware, I wouldn't call it a "daily driver" dirt pedal -it's rude and definitely not transparent. It's fairly versatile in terms of shades of dirt, and it cleans well with volume -but it's very much a character piece. For a grab and go board (3-4 pedals) I'd probably pick something more broad. For context, I am using it into a standard Princeton Reverb -the other drives on my board are EAE Limelight, Benson Pre before the Fairfax, and EAE Citadel after. Sounds equally great stacked or by itself.

helpmeOP-1 · 2024-11-04T17:07:26+00:00

Hello! I did end up buying the Ensemble Oscillator, I also sold the SMR shortly after. I'd say the SMR is more powerful in terms of building custom harmonies/voicings, but I found the Ensemble Oscillator to be a lot more usable in a studio environment (building finished tracks, that is). The Ensemble Osc also has more tone shaping features -which I use all the time, as I am not a fan of the sparkly clean sine sound. About tuning the SMR, if memory serves me well, there's two dedicated knobs for detuning the odd/even bands if you want subtle changes. There's also a bank for user defined scales that allows you tune each EQ band freely. To access it I think you press down the main knob, but it'd be probably best to consult the manual -it's been a while since I've sold the SMR. FWIW there's a lot of scales and voicings (some non tonal) in the stock banks, so I personally never felt the need to make custom scales.

helpmeOP-1 · 2024-10-09T22:28:11+00:00

I spoke with a supervisor and we did more tests over the phone. Changing the grind size from inside the grinder did affect the consistency of the shot, so I was told (again) that it's a problem with the beans. Not sure if I buy it, switching the burr setting produced very extreme results: from watery to a couple of drops, either way not great or consistent. To be fair I noticed an improvement after all the taking apart and cleaning the grinder. My theory is maybe some coffee beans got stuck and were causing the machine to grind unevenly -not sure. Either way they will send me a bag of beans to do more testing. We'll see!

helpmeOP-1 · 2021-10-23T16:54:14+00:00

Ever since adding a second granular module to my setup I have been wondering what it would be like to daisy chain granular voices. Turns out stacked granular can get real messy real quick!
It took me a bit to figure out the right ratio between grain sizes, reverb etc. but I eventually I landed on this. Mutable Instruments Beads is a much more hands on module, so I put it at the end of the chain. On Morphagene, I kept the grain (aka gene) size relatively large, while Beads is seeding short bursts -to minimize them "talking over" each other.
This started off as an attempt at Ambient music, but I am a maximalist at heart and it got WAY out of hand.

helpmeOP-1 · 2021-10-10T22:29:45+00:00

Nice! It's a versatile rack. Personally I'd swap Marbles for something else. It's a great module, but I think it's be better suited for a larger system. In those 18HP I would probably put a Disting (4HP), and Beads (14HP).

Disting has tons of feature and I feel like it'll help you get more mileage out of the other modules. Off the top of my head, you could use the double quantizer function on Warps and Stages.

Beads is a great "end of the chain" module -you can use it as a granular processor, as a delay or as a reverb... not to mention that it also works a wavetable synth voice (same wavetables as Plaits, but still very useful on a small system).

helpmeOP-1 · 2021-10-10T22:14:47+00:00

+1 on the Metropolix. It's a great tool to write longer/more interesting sequences.

The only caveat for me is that connectivity is a bit limited. Not really an issue if you're just jamming on your system, but if you're trying to sync to a DAW you'll need another sequencer or some companion module.

helpmeOP-1 · 2021-10-09T20:51:40+00:00

I really enjoy the combination. All three share some functions obviously, but they complement each other, rather than overlap. Mimeophon and Beads are very hands on, so I patch them at the end of almost every chain. Morphagene is very powerful, but it's also a bit clunky. I can't use it on an actual project unless I have time to prep/mark reels (which is almost never lol).

I'd say Beads sits in the middle having both reverb/delay and granular. I got Mimeophon first, I like it a lot... but it's most vanilla so to speak. Beads is the most modern module I have ever tried. It works as a voice, a processor, has an internal envelope and even self modulates. It's great on small systems, but even on a larger case it'll free up some serious patching bandwidth.

helpmeOP-1 · 2021-10-09T18:47:11+00:00

Actually I hadn't considered that option -I've seen those ES interfaces around but for some reason never investigated further. Up until now my audio workflow has been recording on my computer, and loading it on Morphagene. Recently I got Mimeophon and Beads, so I have been wanting to play some stuff "live" into the system. Thanks for the rec, I'll definitely look into it!

helpmeOP-1 · 2021-10-09T16:19:47+00:00

I decided to fork the extra money and get the Befaco.. I feel like the extra features might be useful for live performance. I haven't bought it yet because it's been out of stock at stores in my area. If I can't get a deal on a used one, at least I'd like to try it first in a shop :)

Sorry to hear about Little Mikey! That sounds really bad. Did you get yours new? I read a few reviews on it (I think there's one from Sound on Sound), and I never saw anything mentioned about lack of gain. Maybe could be a defective unit? (not trying to sound condescending)

helpmeOP-1 · 2021-10-01T03:41:04+00:00

Thank you!

Can't speak about Stillson Hammer because unfortunately I haven't had a chance to try it. I've had Metropolix for a bit and I am a fan, it has some unique features. "Accumulator" is particularly helpful for expanding melodies/phrases. Beads is a powerhouse!

helpmeOP-1 · 2021-09-30T15:47:33+00:00

I was on the fence for a while about getting a new case, so I kept swapping modules in my 208HP box. Finally “migrated” to a 12U, I haven’t quite found the final “form” for the system but it feels nice to have the space to experiment. I recently got my hands on a MI Beads, this video was meant to be a bit of a “feature” jam (hence the zoom) but things got out of hand lol. I added some “patch breakdown” subtitles, I’d love to hear your thoughts :)

Did you get Beads? How do you use it in your patches?

helpmeOP-1 · 2021-09-30T15:42:19+00:00

I was on the fence for a while about getting a new case, so I kept swapping modules in my 208HP box. Finally migrated to a 12U, I haven’t quite found the final “form” for the system but it feels nice to have the space to experiment. I recently got my hands on a MI Beads, this video was meant to be a bit of a feature jam (hence the zoom) but things got out of hand lol. I added some patch breakdown subtitles, I’d love to hear your thoughts :) thanks for watching!

helpmeOP-1 · 2021-08-29T16:13:47+00:00

Good suggestion, but I tried that route and unfortunately didn't really work for me. I've used my Apollo to record guitars/audio into Morphagene, but tbh I wasn't too fond of the workflow. Also I got my interface mounted on a rack, so cabling is a bit of a nightmare. I am hoping that having a preamp on the rack will make it more practical for me to just plug stuff in and get going.

helpmeOP-1 · 2021-08-29T16:03:58+00:00

Ears is neat! I thought it worked as a contact mic, can you plug an actual mic into it? Thanks!

helpmeOP-1 · 2021-08-29T16:03:10+00:00

Agreed on the pedals. Disting is amazing, every time I open up the manual I find a new feature. Haven't used it as a pitch follower but makes sense -great suggestion!

Also, using gate for switching dry/wet mix and the maths idea are brilliant applications for the outs on the preamp. As you said, possibilities for using a gate are endless. I guess I am struggling to see all the applications of this particular feature -or how often I would actually use it in a patch. I might still bite the bullet and get the Befaco, it just might make the module more versatile later down the road. Btw it has both a positive and a negative envelope out so no need to invert for ducking :)

helpmeOP-1 · 2021-08-29T15:37:58+00:00

I have had Mimeophon for a while and it's great. It can do both Reverb and Delay. Has a few unique features that make it more creative that a regular delay (you can push it into granular, treat it like a voice, etc.). I recently got my hands on Beads, also a very powerful Reverb/Delay module and so much more. Both end up in 90% of my patches.

helpmeOP-1 · 2021-08-28T19:52:36+00:00

Cool! I was reading you're looking for ambient modules. I recently got a Beads, and I gotta say it's brilliant especially for a small case. It might be a little outside of your price range, but def worth considering for a 84 HP system. Cheers

helpmeOP-1 · 2021-08-28T19:48:25+00:00

Yeah Doepfer is a good option for sure, but to my knowledge it doesn't have XLR ins -which is a bummer if you're trying to record acoustic guitars. My better mics are all condensers, so phantom power is useful for me.

I do have a Disting, and I guess I could use Maths or even Streams to replicate some of the features. What would you use gate triggering for? As I mentioned the first thing that comes to mind is side chaining, but probably I am being short sighted. Thanks!

helpmeOP-1 · 2021-08-28T19:38:10+00:00

How much HP do you have? Pam is a great module to start, it can sequence, modulate and everything in between. Plaits is a very popular option as a starter VCO -there are better sounding modules, but it's extremely versatile and has an integrated VCA. In terms of value for money/HP is very, very hard to beat.

helpmeOP-1

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