Roland DEP-5, SRV-2000 or Lexicon mpx-100

[cjacek]

Hi,

These go for about the same low price used, approx $100 bucks US, (I'm truly on a budget) and I'm just wondering if you had to choose only 1 from these which one would it be ? I'm familiar with the mpx-100 but not the other ones. I'm particularly interested in delay, echo and reverb patches. One thing that is missing on the mpx-100 is eq to tweak (reduce) the "sss" sounds of reverb. I assume the rolands' have it ? I aim to add some subtle effects to my high-baritone voice. Btw, what is the difference between the DEP-5 and the SRV-2000 ?

Thanks for your input,

Daniel

 

[SonicAlbert]

I would expect the Roland's to add more "sss" than take it away, as they are several generations old at this point. They are more of an effect reverb if you know what I mean. I hear about people using them on drums, for example. Kind of grainy. If you are looking for smoother all purpose reverbs you'd be better off getting something newer.

Of the three you mention I would probably choose "none of the above" and save up for a TC M300 or TC M-One XL. If I *had* to choose one of those three it would be the MPX-100. As I mentioned in another thread on this subject, the Alesis Wedge is worthy of consideration, and is very quiet, certainly more quiet than the Roland reverbs you are considering.

If you are hearing a hissing sound loud enough to be objectionable, I'm not sure that's coming from the reverb box, although it could be. Thsi could be caused by any number of things, including the mixing board, like maybe the fx sends are noisy. Could be gain staging not right.

The fastest and easiest solution would be to route the returns from the effect box into a couple channels of the board, and just eq down the range where the hiss is. No need to throw any extra money at the problem with that solution.

Not a whole lot of reverb boxes have eq built in, especially in the budget range. As has been mentioned in another thread, the new Kurzweil Rumour has global eq. I believe the Roland SRV-330 has eq per patch.

 

[cjacek]

I would expect the Roland's to add more "sss" than take it away, as they are several generations old at this point. They are more of an effect reverb if you know what I mean. I hear about people using them on drums, for example. Kind of grainy. If you are looking for smoother all purpose reverbs you'd be better off getting something newer.

Of the three you mention I would probably choose "none of the above" and save up for a TC M300 or TC M-One XL. If I *had* to choose one of those three it would be the MPX-100. As I mentioned in another thread on this subject, the Alesis Wedge is worthy of consideration, and is very quiet, certainly more quiet than the Roland reverbs you are considering.

If you are hearing a hissing sound loud enough to be objectionable, I'm not sure that's coming from the reverb box, although it could be. Thsi could be caused by any number of things, including the mixing board, like maybe the fx sends are noisy. Could be gain staging not right.

The fastest and easiest solution would be to route the returns from the effect box into a couple channels of the board, and just eq down the range where the hiss is. No need to throw any extra money at the problem with that solution.

Not a whole lot of reverb boxes have eq built in, especially in the budget range. As has been mentioned in another thread, the new Kurzweil Rumour has global eq. I believe the Roland SRV-330 has eq per patch.

Thanks Albert! Yeah, the 244 TASCAM that I use states in the manual that I can route the reverb outs to one of the channels and then can eq it. But what I was relating to is the accentuated "ssss" sounds whenever reverb is added. That's to be expected with any reverb which is not eq'd at the high frequencies or somethin' ...

Thanks,

Daniel

 

[SonicAlbert]

Actually not. Sounds like something may not be quite right with your setup. Perhaps something amiss with the mixer or the gain staging? Or maybe that's an onboard reverb in the Tascam by any chance? I'm not familiar with the 244.

The way reverb should is is just like the original signal but with the added space of the simulated room/hall/tajmahal around it. If hiss is added then that's just not the way it is supposed to work, or it's just a super cheap crummy reverb (no offense intended).

I'm sure you've probably checked all this stuff already, but here's a short list to go over: The output of the reverb unit should be set to 100%, and the volume of the reverb should be controlled at the board. Set the intput volume of the effect box to anywhere from 10-2 o'clock and adjust the send on the board to give the lowest noise. You'll have to play around with both settings, but you can get quieter by playing with the board aux send level and the effect input level. the idea is to send the box as much level as it can handle without distorting. Then adjust the reurn level at the board to taste.