Anyone heard the Yamaha DG Stomp yet?

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KaBudokan

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Hey kids... just wondering if anyone here has had a chance to check out the Yamaha DG Stomp amp modeler yet?

I'm probably going to be getting a modeler in the next month or so. I have been leaning toward the POD. I think it's basic sounds are better than the J Station, even though the J has more effects and better control over them.

I was reading a forum for POD users tonight, and someone said they just played with the DG Stomp, and he was sorry to say that the POD is no longer the "best" direct recording device. I've read some really good reviews of the Yamaha DG modeling amps, and I know some "big names" use them.

So... Anyone had a chance to check this out? I'm not really concerned about using it live, so the "stomp" part doesn't matter.

I'm probably going to try to find one to play with in the next few days, so I'll keep ya updated. :)
 
Well... did some research and found some sound samples on a Swedish (!!!) site that did a review. The samples are pretty nice. Clean stuff sounds nice.

http://home.swipnet.se/Nermarks_hemstudio/artiklar/div_artk/2000/Yamaha DG Stomp/DGstomp.htm

Has digital out, which is a plus over the POD, and the effects are supposedly better than the POD's are also. From the BBS where I found this link, the author said that he liked it better than the POD, except it was maybe missing the extreme high gain sounds of the POD.

The clips on this site are all in the context of a full mix. Gotta say, listening to it again, it sounds really good. I am definitely gonna have to play with one myself though. All the pieces there are kind of jazzy, and it seems to work really well in that context, but maybe not so well in others.

ANyway, just thought you might like to hear some samples.

(BTW, I also found some other POD sites that had some GREAT sounds on it. I am beginning to suspect that the presets, like with most units, suck. ;) )
 
I wanna know more too

I just tried a POD for the first time this Saturday at Guitar Center and liked what I heard - although admittedly I didn't get in depth with it. They also had DG Stomps but they were all in their boxes - they only arrived a few days before - I didn't have the time to wait for them to set one up. (Flagging a waiter in there on a Saturday can sometimes be a challenge...) I do want to try one out...

All I have right now is a Marshall DRP-1 which is ok, but really has only one sound to it.

Would love to hear any more feedback on the DG Stomp...
 
Well, I couldn't resist...

I went out to GC and tried the DG Stomp for about 30 minutes, then walked out of the store with it in my arms.

I'm not an amp tone expert like other guitarists seem to be; I also wish I had more experience with the POD or J-Station so I could give an informative review. The only piece of equipment I have remotely comparable is my old Marshall DRP-1 which was Marshall's answer to the original Sansamp. I like the DRP-1, but it really only has one sound to it.

Anyways, here are a few subjective observations about the DG Stomp:

* I found the DG Stomp to be very very good throughout the entire range from clean to heavy sounds and everything in between. (I've read comments that POD leans more towards the metal side of the tone spectrum...true?) Now if you want the option of having a truly over-the-top super hi-gain setting, you may find the DG Stomp is just a hair shy of filling the bill. That didn't bother me though.

* The effects are good. They didn't overwhelm me, but they also didn't disappoint me - they were exactly what I expected. I didn't play the POD enough to verify that its effects were substandard (as so many say), so I can't really compare them. It's definitely easier to set the effects on the Stomp because there are knobs for each parameter. One reservation: the Stomp has hall, plate and spring reverbs. Am I alone in thinking that we oughta toss out spring and plate reverbs? I'd rather have a good room verb instead of those two. The sounds themselves are fine though. (I probably won't be caught dead using the spring verb on any amp.) This is the only complaint I have with the unit.

* The Stomp seems pretty sturdy and would probably weather live performance better than a POD. I love the layout of the controls - very easy to dial up the different parameters. Good manual too. Unlike POD or the J-station, there's no software interface - you don't need it anyway.

* Optional stuff: coaxial S/PDIF output, MIDI in/out, optional expression pedal jack for wah-wah, 8 amp models and 16 speaker models.

All in all, I'm really pleased with my purchase. A big thumbs up from me. I can't wait to lay down some tracks with it. I'll probably get myself the expression pedal too.

Utlimately, if you're considering a direct recording unit for guitar, you should really try one out for yourself - this is such a subjective area with many many opinions.
 
I finally got to play with one today. I liked it a lot. The presets were all soaked in effects, but as you stripped them down the sounds were really good.

I thought the amp models were good. There were some really nice sounds... Very realistic and a wide variety. They seemed to be VERY responsive to pick attack and digging into it. Mixing different speaker cab's really made a difference, and there were some great sounds.

I thought the effects were definitely better than those on the POD. They were decent. Not amazing, but definitely usable. The verbs were a little much, but tamed down they were fine.

I didn't A/B the Stomp with a POD, because the POD they had out wasn't working right. I did plug into a J-Station for about 5 minutes. It still sounds just like it did before when I compared it to the POD - digital. It does have some nice high gain sounds. Still, when I went back to the Stomp, I was able to get some nice high gain stack sounds with some tweaking.

Now, I just need to compare it side by side with the POD before I make up my mind.

It's definitely an option for those looking for a modeler. If you're planning on gigging with whatever modeler you get, definitely think about the Stomp. With a few minutes looking through the manual, I was able to tweak stuff VERY quickly and easily.
 
What's the price on the Yamaha? Also, since they ARE calling it a stomp box and all, I'm assuming there is NO delay when switching effects??
 
The price at Guitar Center is $300, which is probably the same everywhere at the moment since it just hit the market (in the US anyway).

As for switching effects, there's no lag time when you switch between them.
 
Futuredays:

I only have a few stomp boxes, and what pisses me off about most processors is the lag time. So I'm seriously thinking about getting the Yamaha myself. Know where I could buy one online? Anybody know if it has Compression, Tremolo, and stuff like pitch shifters and octave layers?
 
Trippalot:

The main selling point of the DG Stomp is that it's an amp/speaker modeling processor/preamp like the POD or J-Station - it digitally simulates tube amplifier/speaker tone combinations. It does have effects but they are more like icing on the cake. If you're looking for a fancy multi-effects processor, this really isn't for you. It doesn't have pitch shifting or octave effects, for example.

I'm not sure what you should be looking at instead - maybe something from Digitech or Rocktron - or maybe the Boss GT-3 or GT-5.
 
Thanx, Futuredays. I appreciate the extra info. Maybe I'll shop around a little. Peace.

Tripp
 
Well, figured I would post a follow up for anyone interested. I finally got to sit down with both the POD and the Yamaha today and A/B them side by side.

I'm going to go with the Yamaha for a couple of reasons. The main one is the sound it has, which seems more suited toward my style. Both the POD and the Yamaha seemed to have good clean sounds - by clean I mean total, crystal clean. Pretty comparable IMHO. The Yamaha however seemed to do a MUCH better job at the in-between, crunch kinds of tones. You could take any of the clean sounds and by using pick attack and the volume control get them to break up in a very nice, convincing manner. In the same way, you could take almost any of the amp models and clean them up by easing off. The POD seemed to work like this on some settings, but not most as far as I could tell. The Yamaha seems to be really well suited for blues type sounds.

If over the top distortion sounds are your primary goal, the POD is likely better. Still, I definitely was not disappointed at all with the Yamaha in that department either. With some dialing in I could get pretty close to the high gain POD sounds I tried to emulate.

The effects on the Yamaha seemed to be a bit better and more flexible. Also, the controls on the Yamaha seemed to be easy set up. I think the midi editing capabilities of the POD are a good and bad thing - good because you get to edit those parameters, bad because you have to turn on the computer to access them. That to me is a bit of a hassle.

Add in a few bonuses like the Yamaha being set up well for live use already, an SPDIF out and a cheaper price and my decision is definitely made.

Either of these units would work well for just about anybody looking for a wide variety of sounds. I think which one you would choose just depends on what kind of style you want to primarily focus on.

OK Yamaha, now where's my free DG Stomp? ;)
 
Tripsalot?

have you checked out the gt-3?
i have one and love it!
I has modeling of amp and speakers and mic placement.
I am considering getting a dg stomp or pod I had a the Pod 1.0 but sold it in a momment of stupidity.
But I would say that if you want those sounds and efects try the gt-3.
Im gonna try out a stomp tommarow!
 
clean pod....

I would have to agree, the POD seems to be much more geared towards high gain sounds, which suits my tastes. It can give good clean sounds, but you have to read the manual and work to find the good clean sounds. every control on the pod has two uses, you just have to read into it to find out what they are.
 
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