N
Great potential, too many half measures
This is a great idea: Put all the toneprint pedals into a single pedal with analog dry through (something the X3 and X5 doesn’t have).
I bought it mostly to have a single pedal that does phaser, vibrato, tremolo, etc. Effects I almost never use together. And it was the only pedal I found of this type with an analog dry through, which is important to me.
It has the potential to sound great, but is tricky to set up to do what you want.
If you have an toneprint you made earlier for another toneprint pedal you can’t use it directly with the Plethora X1, which totally makes no sense. Why?
It also sucks that you can’t adjust the artist toneprints. Some of them are nice, but why shouldn’t we be able to make adjustments to them? There are some nice delay toneprints I tried where the control ranges was just unusable. On one of them the delay was barely audible, so I turned the knob 1 mm. Then it was way too loud…
The toneprint editor could also generally be more user friendly.
There was a QR code on the box for the manual. That didn’t work. So no manual, I guess? There was also a strange message from Uli Behringer written inside the box. I wish there wasn’t. I would like a working manual instead. I found a “manual” online that another X1 user had made. Without that i had been lost. Looked for the manual on tcelectronic.com now, and it seems like they have removed the X1 from their website…
The delays sounds nice
Tremolo sounds nice
Pitch shifting is good, can make some cool sounds
Harmonizer seems ok
Phaser is nice, but not as organic as an analog phaser
Vibrato is good
Doubler sounds bad, like you are having some weird phase issues
The reverb CAN sound nice, but it often does not. The reverb tail is often kinda grainy, in a bad way. Fiddly to adjust to get a nice sounding reverb out of it. After much trial and error I managed to make a toneprint for the Hall of Fame pedal that I could live with. It would be nice if I could use that one on the X1..
The analog dry through sounds good, doesn’t color the sound badly.
I wish there was a dedicated on/off LED. The display doesn’t make the status of the pedal that obvious. Maybe a firmware upgrade can make the “Mash” LED act as an on/off indicator?
Build quality isn’t perfect, mine came with paint blemishes, and the build quality doesn’t feel as nice as my Flashback mini, Spark mini boost, and PolyTune mini. It had a more matte finish, and especially the toneprint selector doesn’t feel nice to use (I think they just used a potentiometer with some detents instead of a proper rotary switch?). On my pedal it is hard to get to the “Connect” button, don’t know if that is the case always. The printing for the power input reads SV instead of 9V…
It would be cool if it was possible to run it as a audio interface via usb, and have the analog dry through available for use with plugins for delay/reverb. A mini version would be great as well.
It is not an expensive pedal for what it can do, but I really wish TC fix the editor/toneprint flaws and get me a dedicated on/off LED.
I bought it mostly to have a single pedal that does phaser, vibrato, tremolo, etc. Effects I almost never use together. And it was the only pedal I found of this type with an analog dry through, which is important to me.
It has the potential to sound great, but is tricky to set up to do what you want.
If you have an toneprint you made earlier for another toneprint pedal you can’t use it directly with the Plethora X1, which totally makes no sense. Why?
It also sucks that you can’t adjust the artist toneprints. Some of them are nice, but why shouldn’t we be able to make adjustments to them? There are some nice delay toneprints I tried where the control ranges was just unusable. On one of them the delay was barely audible, so I turned the knob 1 mm. Then it was way too loud…
The toneprint editor could also generally be more user friendly.
There was a QR code on the box for the manual. That didn’t work. So no manual, I guess? There was also a strange message from Uli Behringer written inside the box. I wish there wasn’t. I would like a working manual instead. I found a “manual” online that another X1 user had made. Without that i had been lost. Looked for the manual on tcelectronic.com now, and it seems like they have removed the X1 from their website…
The delays sounds nice
Tremolo sounds nice
Pitch shifting is good, can make some cool sounds
Harmonizer seems ok
Phaser is nice, but not as organic as an analog phaser
Vibrato is good
Doubler sounds bad, like you are having some weird phase issues
The reverb CAN sound nice, but it often does not. The reverb tail is often kinda grainy, in a bad way. Fiddly to adjust to get a nice sounding reverb out of it. After much trial and error I managed to make a toneprint for the Hall of Fame pedal that I could live with. It would be nice if I could use that one on the X1..
The analog dry through sounds good, doesn’t color the sound badly.
I wish there was a dedicated on/off LED. The display doesn’t make the status of the pedal that obvious. Maybe a firmware upgrade can make the “Mash” LED act as an on/off indicator?
Build quality isn’t perfect, mine came with paint blemishes, and the build quality doesn’t feel as nice as my Flashback mini, Spark mini boost, and PolyTune mini. It had a more matte finish, and especially the toneprint selector doesn’t feel nice to use (I think they just used a potentiometer with some detents instead of a proper rotary switch?). On my pedal it is hard to get to the “Connect” button, don’t know if that is the case always. The printing for the power input reads SV instead of 9V…
It would be cool if it was possible to run it as a audio interface via usb, and have the analog dry through available for use with plugins for delay/reverb. A mini version would be great as well.
It is not an expensive pedal for what it can do, but I really wish TC fix the editor/toneprint flaws and get me a dedicated on/off LED.
1
0
Report
PP
Great pedal - eventually
It's a brilliant idea, and once you get it going it's easy to use, like all the Tone Print series.
The first one I was sent had problems - wouldn't connect to Bluetooth, couldn't load some artist presets, and whilst carefully following the firmware updater instructions, after 12 attempts it just bricked.
The replacement however works fine and is outrageously handy on a small board.
For me I'd say the "instructions" let it down. It isn't made clear that the Bluetooth is a bit special - the pedal won't show up on any devices list on iPhone or Mac no matter how much you mash the button, but will only connect to the app FROM the app. Once you're in, it's plain sailing though.
Also the pedal's foot switch function is tricky to get at first, you have to mess a bit to get it how you want. Some of these finer points could have been mentioned. If they were, then I couldn't find them.
You need the latest firmware to use some of the effects, but given my experience, I don't fancy that again.
All in all, after a shaky start, I'm well pleased with the sound, ease of use, price and concept. If they can sharpen up the rest it'll be perfect.
Like all tech products, if you're prepared to put in the work, you'll get a great pedal. Thumbs up.
The first one I was sent had problems - wouldn't connect to Bluetooth, couldn't load some artist presets, and whilst carefully following the firmware updater instructions, after 12 attempts it just bricked.
The replacement however works fine and is outrageously handy on a small board.
For me I'd say the "instructions" let it down. It isn't made clear that the Bluetooth is a bit special - the pedal won't show up on any devices list on iPhone or Mac no matter how much you mash the button, but will only connect to the app FROM the app. Once you're in, it's plain sailing though.
Also the pedal's foot switch function is tricky to get at first, you have to mess a bit to get it how you want. Some of these finer points could have been mentioned. If they were, then I couldn't find them.
You need the latest firmware to use some of the effects, but given my experience, I don't fancy that again.
All in all, after a shaky start, I'm well pleased with the sound, ease of use, price and concept. If they can sharpen up the rest it'll be perfect.
Like all tech products, if you're prepared to put in the work, you'll get a great pedal. Thumbs up.
0
0
Report
D
Noisey
Very noisey on my modest board. Will be replacing. Great price though.
0
0
Report