Tons of CHORUS FX comparison

[@BigHairyGuitars]

02:19 Dry 02:42 What is Chorus STEREO CHORUS 05:12 Boss CE-5 Chorus Ensemble 05:36 Yamaha SPX90 "Symphonic" 06:00 Yamaha SP90 "Chorus" 06:23 PCM70 "Chorus" 06:47 Lexicon PCM96 "Wide Medium Chorus" 07:11 RSP Intelliverb "Octopus" 07:34 Eventide Eclipse "Richer Chorus" 07:58 Eventide H8000FX "Stereo Chorus 08:21 Fractal AX8 "Digital Stereo Chorus" 08:40 UAD ADA STD-1 09:07 Line 6 M9 "Analog Chorus" 09:31 UAD Tri-Stereo Chorus 09:55 Fractal AX8 "Tri Chorus" 10:19 TC Corona Chorus "Tri Cho" 10:40 Line 6 M9 "Tri Chorus" 11:07 Strymon Mobius "Dbcket Chorus" 11:31 TC Electronic 2290 "Chorus" 11:54 TC Electronic Stereo Chorus + "Chorus" 12:18 TC Electronic 1210 "Chorus" MICRO-PITCH FX 12:45 Eventide Eclipse "Micropitchshift" 12:08 Eventide H9 "Micropitchshift" 13:31 Eventide H8000FX "Dual H910s" 13:56 Eventide H8000FX "Micropitchshift" 14:19 Fractal AX8 "Pitch Detune" 14:42 TC Electronic Stereo Chorus + "Pitch Modulation" MONO CHORUS (panned against dry signal) 15:09 Boss CE-2 15:32 Boss CE-2W "S" 15:56 Boss CE-2W "CE-1" 16:20 ADA 2FX "Chorus Flange" 16:43 Guyatone MC3 Micro Chorus 17:06 Lexicon PCM41 17:31 Lexicon PCM42 17:54 Roland SDE-3000 FLANGE 18:20 EH Deluxe Electric Mistress 18:43 Harman Analog Flanger

[@FlashGrover]

very cool. all the TC Electronics & Eventide stuff sounds killer

[@BigHairyGuitars]

I think bang for buck... the Eventide Eclipse is hard to beat.

[@kurtdmay]

@Michael Nielsen ​ Just bought one for my mini rack (Eclipse, PCM91 and Korg DL8000r, controlled by a Sound Sculpture Switchblade). Can't wait to get it!

[@marmo75]

money matter, so good

[@WrenchDevil6]

TC Electronic 1210 for the win.

[@tokenofdevotion]

Yamaha, Boss/Roland, Ada and Lexicon will always have the best choruses

[@Chord_The_Seeker]

Yes! I love that you played “Runaround”. It’s one of my favorite VH songs, and very underrated track. I love playing that song.

[@stupid28273]

Hi Michael, You left out of the list one of the surprisingly nicest chorus pedals. The Arion SCH-1. Made in the 80s. Worth trying. Sped up, it does a great Leslie effect.

[@Johnsormani]

The Landau chorus 😃

[@tihinter]

@@Johnsormani…and the Scott Henderson chorus, not to forget!

[@shorerocks]

Your are officially crazy. :-) Cheers!

[@ShredShed]

All guitarists are crazy

[@MrFreevo]

And I do love u!

[@michael_caz_nyc]

Free the Tone Tri-Avatar Multi Dimensional Chorus and the Shiva Little Wave = 2 of the Best Pedals. Also love the Analogman Bi-Chorus and the Tortuga Martini. Great Video. What a ton-of-work went into this? Wow. Great Information.

[@offriff]

Michael, that was a very well produced video. I got a lot out of it. Thank you for putting that together!

[@AlanW]

Wow, this was really informative for me. I learned a few things about what I like: 1) the 2290 is way better than I thought. That just blew me away. 2) The Lexicon/Eventide aren't as good as I thought. 3) The TC SCF sound I remember loving back in the day was the PM setting and not the Chorus setting. Thanks again for this!

[@RussWoWSolo]

OLD (80s 90s) chorus THE BEST!

[@Mr.Goldbar]

My main is a 1982 Boss CE3, I'll never get rid of it in my life! It has that mode where as you explained one out is 100% dry and the other one is 100% wet. Sounds nice in the room but actually in a headphone situation it literally sounds like a double tracked guitar in real time! My favorites here were the more extreme ones. SPX90 in Symphonic, PCM70 in Wide Medium, the Mobius Dbcket, the TC Stereo Chorus+ pedal and the 1210, all the Tri chorus and micropitch sounds

[@waitingforanalibi3069]

Should have 200k subs. Love your channel

[@paulaluculesei9400]

I hate chorus but I have to say, I watched the whole video and enjoyed it thoroughly. Thanks for taking the time to do this.

[@guitarz]

Dig it...man that boss waza held its own... lovin’ the VH riff too!

[@RezaKhan2024]

WOW What a cool video. I think I liked the Yamaha, TC racks, Eventides.

[@e.g.systems6146]

Thanks so much for taking the time to do this - I appreciate the time it must have taken. However, I now officially hate chorus..... :O)

[@BigHairyGuitars]

E.G. Systems ha! I agree completely! Haha

[@carlosgranada1147]

Quizás falta haber oido Dytronics CS 5 tri chorus, años 80,90. El mejor sonido d Chorus analógico de todos los tiempos. En ésta prueba comparativa, para mi, los Eventide, son magníficos. Buen video amigo. Un saludo.

[@waskerbasket9601]

You got a lot of the racks I’ve been eyeballing

[@Henrikvikinghartfeldtjohansson]

Great video. Thanks for nerding out, I love it!!!

[@scottm3775]

That was crazy...awesome! A history lesson in chorus. Thanks for doing it. For modern stuff the Strymon sounded really good!

[@Max10_B]

Just wanna say thanks for all these type vids. Delay chorus reverb they've helped me decide gear to buy. Thanks for your time and tone

[@TrentSolo]

Best chorus video EVER! Thank you for doing this!

[@robb4340]

Killer Video! For A Chorus and Pitchshift Lover.

[@GuusEikens]

Very very cool! Thanks for all the hard work!

[@baranjohn1]

Thank you for this video! I'm sure this took a TON of work to do and it definitely helped me in figuring out which choruses I should try!

[@jonathanbelzley2877]

Thank you! I remember saving up for my SCF back in ‘95, ordering from MF based on all the hype and then being so underwhelmed. Then, one day patching in a 2nd amp. Whoa!

[@fabriziomilo3092]

Pcm 70 is the one I would pick to have that 80s "Dytronics Cs-5" sound!

[@fenderjose401]

I loved the old Ensoniq DP2 and DP/4+ for chorus!

[@chungaleta1234]

As with many other effects.... They all sound different, but they all sound good. Great vid mate!!! Cheers

[@peterschaefer1665]

Hello Michael, thanks for this awesome vid. Made me think about the Scholtz Rockman modules and what a great vid that would be 😉😉.

[@manatarms]

Great review! Have you every tried the Rockman Stereo Chorus in the "Long" and "Wide" mode? To me it sounds very much like your Wet/Dry/Wet example.

[@michaelstahl2967]

Boss' marketing should just say, "not the best but damn good enough" for their pedals.

[@cmath8577]

Dimension D?

[@ThemFuzzyMonsters]

Fantastic!!!

[@ChrisToft]

Giving me the run around!

[@chrisbirdsall6055]

Thanks for doing this as Chorus is my favorite effect. For my money, the Eventide and TC stuff is the cleanest and more like a marinade rather than being saturated. You inspired me to learn the 'Runaround' riff and your unaffected guitar tone sounds incredible. What were you playing through?

[@vikramjitbanerjeetuki]

I liked these- Best in my opinion was-H8000 micro Honourable mentions- Line 6 m9 trichorus Lexicon pcm 70 Tc 2290 Tc SCF Tc 1210 Eventide eclipse micro pitch shift H9 micro Guyatone micro chorus Boss Waza in CE1 setting The rest were dogs What was shocking is how bad those expensive plugins sounded 🤔😬✌️ btw the Spx 90 has a pitch detune setting that is great and that's what Mike Stern uses and so does Dominic Miller

[@zdenekkrapka5325]

That old gear is magical....

[@nogoogleplus]

Thanks for making this excellent vid!

[@fernandes5986]

Awsome and very relevant video. I own 2 of this chorus ( CE-2 and T.C. SCF ) and its surprising how they sound weak. Would you consider adding the following chorus to a future video: Boss Dimension C-W, Pearl Chorus ( or Flanger ) and Danelectro Cool Cat Chorus. At last that guyatone chorus was fantastic, and congratulations on your impressive gear collection. Merry Christmas and a happy new chorus. : )

[@hittingnote75]

Now I need to learn how to play Runaround by Van Halen.

[@ShredSixx80s]

You forget the 2 most important things of the list the FIRST IS!! DYTRONICS CS 5 STEREO TRI CHORUS, and the H3000 eventide ultra harmonizer micro shift for the perfect michael tompson michael landau tone

[@austinfailz]

Michael! Didn't you know we aren't doing the hard R anymore? Sheesh, dude! /s Great comparison.

[@57Techboy]

Wow, so many flavours,. I'm fond of the SPX symphonic effect, also using the rocktron replifex pitch shift on slow tracking which gives a doubled chorus effect a la Randy Rhoads, in addition the MXR Pitch transposer does a similar effect.

[@craig9802]

Sweet KYG shirt! :)

[@utherlightbringer2751]

the tc electronic 1210 is running circles around my head. great!

[@samjonez4854]

ADA sounded pretty impressive.

[@fernandes5986]

Boss CE-5 it's the more ear pleasing for me. I miss 2 chorus though Rockman stereo chorus and Roland Dimension D.

[@michaeltaylors2456]

Thank you so much 🔈❤️

[@toom6087]

This is a usefull video but to me there is a problem : you can't compare digital with analog when it's about electric guitar. The way you plug the FX in the audio chain is very important. And the chorus you need depends the amp you play too. For exemple the Strymon Ola (full stereo) is awesome in the FX loop of a Diezel VH4S (stereo) on clean channel, not front. The Boss CE5 is great front to a Marshall stack, not in the FX loop. And it depends to the kind of stuff you play of course. I use to say each guitar player needs 3 chorus pedals : one for the lead, one for the crunch and one for the clean. Boss rules the party here with the CE2 because this is the best chorus for that kind of riff, that kind of dirty clean sound. Not a surprise. The CE2 is better than the Providence Anadime Chorus (not tested here) witch is almost the same but can't be play with high gain. You should try the Jam Waterfall witch is huge for clean tone. This diamond made in Greece sounds something like the Boss Ce2 WazaCraft on CE1 mode you played right here. But better. About high gain : the MXR Black Label chorus is just the best for a lead tone on a Dual Rectifier (front to the amp of course). The Boss CE5 can do it too. The Moollon Chorus (a beast made in Corea) is very good too with a mix in and a mix out. The Arion stereo chorus is made for distorsion too if you wanna sounds more 80's. The Seymour Duncan Catalina is very good with overdrive if you need a stereo chorus. I had a good surprise with this video : the Lexicon PCM41 is pretty good. And Eventide stuff sounds very good in the digital world, the best to my humble opinion. Line 6 is not bad too. Forget about the others. TC Electronics and Lexicon are at the top about reverbs. I don't like their chorus. Fractal… well it's Fractal : everything in it. And nothing at all in the same time. No signature, no strong identity. At the end, you tried the very good Harman Flanger. This one I know well is very close to the EVH Flanger. But, well, it's not really a chorus… My conclusion is : choose a pedal witch match with your amp.

[@BigHairyGuitars]

thanks for the great informative reply. I agree. Quickly it became apparent that a 1 to 1 comparison is impossible with Chorus'.

[@jamiemorgan4146]

I'm sure that you've figured it out .. They all sound great even with their differences. With all of the different sets of ears in this world, you'd get thousands of different choices. I'm a Chorus nut and have many pedal , rack and software . I like different ones for different things. The Boss CE 2 is still amazing. Try the Neunabor Inspire. I e got that too. It has settings in serial , parallel , 6 cascading . On and on.

[@dennisdaniel1146]

TC Electronic 2290, Line 6 M9 Analog, then Boss CE-2W (CE-1). All tri chorus is way to flanger, dreamy, for me. Thank you. I am looking for a chorus.

[@StephenCameron]

That UAD Tri-Stereo "CHORUS" just sounded dead compared to everything else 9:48

[@kpbenoit]

This is GREAT video but sadly does a disservice to the UAD Tri Stereo Chorus as it appears Micheal rendered the UAD in mono while the rest of the "Stereo Chorus" section is stereo. I recently used the UAD Tri Stereo Chorus on a track while mixing - it sounds exceptional in stereo, but YMMV.

[@tradbowseven]

I like chorus effect on guitar, but I never use one. Just rubs me the wrong way while I’m playing thru one. Weird but true

[@davidbuzzin426]

👍🇺🇸❤RSP ROCKTRON "OCTOPUS" 🤓 BEST TONE (SAG) BEHIND JUST THE CHORUS EFFECT👍 & TC 1210 is my fave 😁

[@geoffduncanmusic]

great video!! I still favor the Arion SCH-Z and Arion SCH-1, but this has inspired me to check out some more!

[@stefpir]

I've got a boss se50/70 😊 i would have loved to hear it there ahahah

[@witnessthewrath8061]

Man that 1210 sounds amazing. Any plugins come close?

[@leewestwoodmusic]

Would be interested to hear how the Moogerfooger Cluster Flux fares amongst all these

[@coffinshaker]

TC for the win

[@TheDogPa]

All that and you missed the only chorus I ever had that made it on my pedal board for more than one song...Boss CH-1...LOL!

[@daveryan2148]

Yeah the eventide path is a wild one to try and compare just bc all of it has delay lines, pitch shifting, and modulation controls. So almost any of their effects can become a great chorus. On the H9 I actually use their fuzz algo for my microtuned chorusing with the fuzz turned off.

[@healingworksyesjohnn]

I really love this! Can you add a review of plugins, like waves?, One of my live sound guys say the touring groups just give him a plug in usb stick to put into the console and out comes the effects, set list, and patches direct from the console without any foot pedals. Paul McCartney and others all use computer driven effects with a sound guy to run them.

[@bruceanderson8720]

thanks, great review!

[@johncecilia4517]

Cool video Sounded like you had the rate al lot higher on electric mistress

[@miguelpessanha]

Nothing better than actually double tracking. The best sounding of them all was funny enough the CE2. Have you tried the Soundtoys MicroPitch? It samples 3 of the most famous micropitch presets - presets #231 and #519 of the Eventide H3000 and AMS DMX 15-80

[@marmo75]

the eventide eclipse pitch detune is THE evh 90's tone key

[@ahabfoul8056]

has anyone ever told you that you look surprisingly awesome :)

[@BigHairyGuitars]

Well that's the nicest thing anyone has ever told me on the internet. Thanks!

[@techniqueswithtodd]

What about the classic Yamaha SPX90 rack mount chorus from Zakk Wylde's early years?

[@BigHairyGuitars]

TechWith Todd yeah man!!!! I wouldn’t forget that! 05:36

[@techniqueswithtodd]

@@BigHairyGuitars my bad for skipping ahead looking for it!! Thanks :)

[@techniqueswithtodd]

@@BigHairyGuitars Dang that Yamaha still sounds amazing. After all this time.

[@BigHairyGuitars]

Yeah! It’s a great sounding box for sure

[@denisrad4339]

@@BigHairyGuitars Would the SPX900 or SPX1000s "Symphonic" preset sound the same as the one found in the SPX90?

[@richardaling5278]

Last week i picked up a spx90, amazing! Via auxilairy blending me that special stereo on the console:).

[@JesseJuup]

SPX90 and deluxe electric mistress were the top ones of these imo. DOD Chorus FX65 is a really nice 80s chorus too, likewise the Boss Dimesion D/C.

[@TRADINGARMOR]

Eventide eclipse sounded excellent but then the 2290 sounded maybe a little better still. The subtly of the 2290 really impresses me.

[@henriquecanalle2630]

Spx 90...fuck...so perfect

[@yagoravell7944]

The best is the 1210 (for me), but, since i can't afford one, the flangers+the dry signals sounded the closest (am i crazy?)

[@dafxtone]

I hardly reckonized here the CE 1 sound here (and i have the pedal).

[@Smurf431]

VERY nice, Thank You! My fave Chorus is software based from the old Classic Series, in fact ALL of those effects are GREAT on guitar / bass/ everything.....you can still grab them from the Acustica site, the folks that make Mixcraft DAW (Thanks Acoustica!)

[@donsmith5385]

Ha ha I knew it! The AX8 was flat compared to those other awesome older rack units!

[@ExpatZ266]

Awesome to get to hear the differences as well as we could over KZbin. Sounds great but you might want to get some sibilance filtering on your vids.

[@MelodicDreamers]

Arion SCH-1?

[@go4384]

Smaller micro pitch adjustments would sound better. Maybe +/-7 or less

[@raysmetaltracks6782]

Wow, that Strymon Mobius sounded like it was playing under water. Gotta admit, overall, I think I liked the pedals a bit more (or perhaps I just like less of the effect level altogether). did you have a favorite?

[@TRADINGARMOR]

Excellent video! How much timing offset was there between the left and right tracks at 3:10. Thanks!

[@TRADINGARMOR]

Never mind. It looks like you actually recorded the part twice. Sounds nice!

[@healingworksyesjohnn]

Eventide has their Eventide Complete plugin bundle for only 499, how does this compare to the foot pedals?

[@AdamIronside]

Really useful video man thanks. I was a little disappointed by some I expected to sound awesome, and surprised by others! If you get a chance I recommend trying out the Nomad Axxeman Preamp. Its a very average 80's SS preamp but with a really nice chorus circuit in it. I've also been really surprised by the Digitech Studio 400 choruses, far from a legendary unit.

[@JordonBeal]

Man, the Fractal stuff sounded almost messed up in a way I can't quite put my finger on.

[@brevink01]

Hi Michael. Looking for that VH balance kind of tone. Is a yamaha spx or eventide pitchfactor a good choice for the detune stuff? Thanks!

[@BigHairyGuitars]

The Eventide does some VERY good VH effects. I think it's more VH than the SPX is.

[@brevink01]

Michael Nielsen thanks👌🏻

[@brevink01]

Michael Nielsen , Do you think the PF or H9 is suitable to use in a racktype effect rig, or should I buy a rack type harmonizer/detuner in conjuction with the pcm60/sde2500 I already have. Thanks!

[@charlesrocks]

No Danelectro Cool Cat???

[@oansun]

sweet

[@ttestates1]

ADA STD was very niceBut, the TC 1210 is the GOAT!

[@markmcgibbon2101]

I was surprised at the first 2 fractal choruses. From such a highly thought of brand they were quite dreadful. Every Eventide and Lexicon clip sounded stellar pretty much.

[@BigHairyGuitars]

I agree, I wonder if they have improved. Fractal is known for constant updates

[@markmcgibbon2101]

@@BigHairyGuitars maybe time for an updated chorus video? Love your work btw. 👍🏻

[@BigHairyGuitars]

@@markmcgibbon2101 Funny you say that...

[@markmcgibbon2101]

@@BigHairyGuitars woohoo 🎉

[@SweetcornTA]

I think something was wrong with the fractal settings. Thought it sounded bad too. Yet I’ve never had a problem with the chorus on the axe. Bunch of nice sounds though. Ce-2 and h-9 cover a lot

[@Johnsormani]

Where is the intellifex 8 voice chorus? I’m a real chorus nut and keep buying chorus fx. The rocktron Tsunami is also very nice and I have an old locobox cosmochorus pedal that sounds really lush. And the Corona does do a very nice trichorus imitation as well .Dann Huff in a box

[@mrdf730]

any chance to make a kemper profile of the yamaha spx90?

[@BigHairyGuitars]

I wish I could. The Kemper won’t capture time based modulation effects. Actually there is t any convolution box that will do that (to the best of my knowledge). That’s why these old fx boxes are so unique. To recreate them, they have to be programmed from the ground up.

[@mrdf730]

@@BigHairyGuitars thanks for the detailed answer!

[@ukaeyfvkfiayuvefyiu]

Where’s the MXR Flanger/Doubler? I guess that doesn’t count as chorus.

[@TheZooropaBaby]

tbh I loved almost all of them, even a flanger. but from my experience, I feel like setting flanger to sound like a subtle thing seems kinda hard.

[@wilsoncrocker]

kinda hoping to see a jc120 on here...

[@johnbrooks2646]

Boss Stuff first. Old ADA 2FX then the Roland SDE 3000 but then again just my preference of what I like to hear in chorus.

[@danielhenry4614]

What riff are you playing at the beginning

[@BigHairyGuitars]

Van Halen Runaround ... I think.

[@toddvancleve2797]

killer video...