Strymon BigSky MX

That's why I suggested a more conservative price difference. I don't think many would pay 749 € for a modulation pedal, but might stretch to say 649 € because it's Strymon. The GFI Synesthesia at 499 € already does the dual modulation thing with a vast featureset but there's very few contenders in that category that are not straight up multifx boxes like a HX Effects/Stomp or Boss GT-1000 Core.


The Analog Devices ADSP-21375 processor (266 MHz, 0.5 Mbits SRAM) is used in their V1 pedals, Riverside, Sunset and Volante. Not sure of the Nightsky, couldn't find any specs and can't be bothered to crack open my own.

The old BigSky uses the ADSP-21369, which is 400 MHz, 2 Mbits SRAM so much more capable.

Both processors are shown as still being in production though, but it's possible that the supply for them is not good enough to fill the demand for all of their pedal range.

Original bigsky based on their page.

  • 366MHz SIMD SHARC processor core, capable of 2.4 Gigaflops peak performance
 
On the bigger stuff -- those things were already jam packed, so really going to need to up the capability to make them compelling vs. a used V1 pedal. Which is gonna make them expensive.

If you look at it purely from the “It’s V1 + Moar Stuff = Moar Expensive” angle sure, but most of these pedals they are refreshing are decades old and could have used a refresh to maintain their previous price points much less drive substantial price increases. So I don’t look At it as an A + B = C scenario. (Noting the BigSky is a little different in they were clearly trying to position it against say the H90, but the value of running two reverbs vs two entirely different effect types like in the H90, remains to be seen)

As an owner of two V2 pedals, I am capable of talking out of both sides of my mouth and reserve the right to be entirely full of shit. :ROFLMAO:

I just find some of this pricing disappointing.

Ill go watch some Magneto sound demos to cheer me up. :rofl
 
If you make soundscape-y music built around sampled IRs like Sascha's examples, it's pretty impossible to put it on stage without IR capable reverb pedals.
Put this in the hands of, say, Radiohead and see how they run.
It's total overkill for a bit of spring and a dash of plate.
But then, there are folks out there who build their rig for maximum price tag. Which is fine, too.
Ice T Fin GIF by Law & Order
Most people making soundscapey music are not utilising IR's. Those are the people using Bloom and Cloud algorithms, the people stacking reverbs even though guitarists on forums laugh at them for it, and generally also the people who will keep an old 1970's tape delay around even though they are a bastard to maintain.

I personally don't see a need for IR's in a reverb pedal, when algorithmic reverbs offer so much more. My music is so soundscapey it borders on interesting-but-not-quite.
 
If you look at it purely from the “It’s V1 + Moar Stuff = Moar Expensive” angle sure, but most of these pedals they are refreshing are decades old and could have used a refresh to maintain their previous price points much less drive substantial price increases. So I don’t look At it as an A + B = C scenario. (Noting the BigSky is a little different in they were clearly trying to position it against say the H90, but the value of running two reverbs vs two entirely different effect types like in the H90, remains to be seen)

As an owner of two V2 pedals, I am capable of talking out of both sides of my mouth and reserve the right to be entirely full of shit. :ROFLMAO:

I just find some of this pricing disappointing.

Ill go watch some Magneto sound demos to cheer me up. :rofl
They probably saw the success of the LVX and thought a new price point has been set. I reckon they're right too. Most Strymon fans aren't going to balk at this price I don't think.

Still.... I recall someone telling me an FM3 would be a better purchase than an Eventide H90, and actually... I think they're right in that case... and maybe in this one too.
 
I personally don't see a need for IR's in a reverb pedal, when algorithmic reverbs offer so much more. My music is so soundscapey it borders on interesting-but-not-quite.

But algorithmic reverbs can't do what convolution reverbs can. Name me a reverb pedal that sounds like chirps from crickets or frogs, or engine taking off etc.. Things that can be captured and turned into some weird reverb pad etc.. Just can't be done with algorithms.
 
But algorithmic reverbs can't do what convolution reverbs can. Name me a reverb pedal that sounds like chirps from crickets or frogs, or engine taking off etc.. Things that can be captured and turned into some weird reverb pad etc.. Just can't be done with algorithms.

I'm very familiar with using unconventional IR's to come up with soundscapes and things like that. I've made entire ambient albums using that approach. But for me it is more interesting on synths, and I'm not that fussed about 10second IR's in a reverb pedal. Personally.
 
I'm very familiar with using unconventional IR's to come up with soundscapes and things like that. I've made entire ambient albums using that approach. But for me it is more interesting on synths, and I'm not that fussed about 10second IR's in a reverb pedal. Personally.

Got a bandcamp? I love to check it out!
 
Not for that stuff. It used to be on a small internet label called Intelligent Machinery, waaaaaayyyy back before Bandcamp.

I believe this is one of the droney albums I did back then, using that kind of technique:


I love this stuff! You should definitely get a bandcamp thing going with them!
 
Sean Halley over on reverb said this about the freeze/infinite

"There are two different modes - one is Infinite and one is Freeze. Freeze does what you probably expect, in that it just freezes anything currently playing in the buffer and sustains it, but any new notes you play are not added to the reverb. So in Freeze, your new notes stay dry from BSMX. In Infinite, BSMX sustains any audio currently in the buffer, and new notes you play are added to the wash, instead of staying dry. That's the way the original unit works, so we've kept it consistent for the new guy. Hope that helps!"
 
Ok so I asked Sean Halley "how much storage space for IRs does it offer on the bigsky mx pedal"

His reply...

"Lots and lots. I'd have to ask what the real storage is like, but you should be able to shoehorn lots of stuff into it. Basically, you load WAV files into Nixie 2, and it converts them to FLAC files that then get loaded into BSMX. It was the best way to get lossless performance and save a bunch of space. Ten second impulses are FUN - and don't sleep on the ones that we made ourselves. Some of the springs are stupid good."
 
All the sheep will be selling their big skys now . A bargain to be had if they are your thing. I personally think there are a lot better reverb units out there .
 
Is pot metal the antithesis of having a good one? :unsure:
Shit hardware is made of it sintered pot metal is even worse. Just look at Dusenberg if you want to see what Korea can make out of metal that you can melt in a kettle.🤣
 
Shit hardware is made of it sintered pot metal is even worse. Just look at Dusenberg if you want to see what Korea can make out of metal that you can melt in a kettle.🤣
I set up an old EZ-series Ibanez for a friend a few years back. The trem block, that was obviously made out of pot metal, literally disintegrated while I was adjusting the spring tension.

After hours of trying to find a replacement block, I gave the guitar back and told him that it wasn’t worth either of our time.
 
Back
Top