Tons of CHORUS FX comparison

A LOT of chorus FX A/B/C etc.
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

[@WrenchDevil6]

TC Electronic 1210 for the win.

[@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

[@tokenofdevotion]

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

[@offriff]

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

[@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

[@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 😃

[@TrentSolo]

Best chorus video EVER! Thank you for doing this!

[@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!

[@Henrikvikinghartfeldtjohansson]

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

[@RussWoWSolo]

OLD (80s 90s) chorus THE BEST!

[@GuusEikens]

Very very cool! Thanks for all the hard work!

[@scottm3775]

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

[@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

[@waitingforanalibi3069]

Should have 200k subs. Love your channel

[@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.

[@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 😉😉.

[@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.

[@nogoogleplus]

Thanks for making this excellent vid!

[@rezakhan8290]

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

[@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.

[@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!

[@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.

[@robb4340]

Killer Video! For A Chorus and Pitchshift Lover.

[@bruceanderson8720]

thanks, great review!

[@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

[@shorerocks]

Your are officially crazy. :-) Cheers!

[@ShredShed]

All guitarists are crazy

[@MrFreevo]

And I do love u!

[@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!

[@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.

[@michaeltaylors2456]

Thank you so much 🔈❤️

[@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!)

[@waskerbasket9601]

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

[@guitarz]

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

[@ThemFuzzyMonsters]

Fantastic!!!

[@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. : )

[@geoffduncanmusic]

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

[@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.

[@fenderjose401]

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

[@craig9802]

Sweet KYG shirt! :)

[@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?

[@fabriziomilo3092]

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

[@michaelstahl2967]

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

[@xxxxenoxxx]

Nicely done, surprised the kemper didn't make it into the video, been quite impressed with the kemper chorus effects lately.

[@BigHairyGuitars]

Oh. You're right, man, it was sitting right in front of me, and I never thought about the Kemper. duh.

[@xxxxenoxxx]

@@BigHairyGuitars Easily done when there are 50 other effects to work through! The Eventide Eclipse "Richer Chorus" sounds superb, something magical about that.

[@BigHairyGuitars]

@@xxxxenoxxx oh that Eclipse is a fantastic box.

[@richardaling5278]

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

[@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.

[@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!

[@utherlightbringer2751]

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

[@austinfailz]

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

[@toddvancleve2797]

killer video...

[@ChrisToft]

Giving me the run around!

[@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.

[@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.

[@TrebleMidBass]

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

[@davidbuzzin426]

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

[@cmath8577]

Dimension D?

[@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.

[@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.

[@hittingnote75]

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

[@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?

[@oansun]

sweet

[@fernandes5986]

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

[@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.

[@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

[@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

[@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.

[@zdenekkrapka5325]

That old gear is magical....

[@johncecilia4517]

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

[@leewestwoodmusic]

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

[@healingworksyesjohnn]

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

[@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!

[@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'.

[@stefpir]

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

[@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.

[@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!

[@donsmith5385]

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

[@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

[@samjonez4854]

ADA sounded pretty impressive.

[@witnessthewrath8061]

Man that 1210 sounds amazing. Any plugins come close?

[@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

[@TRADINGARMOR]

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

[@dafxtone]

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

[@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.

[@go4384]

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

[@marmo75]

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

[@coffinshaker]

TC for the win

[@jeddak]

There can be only one. and it is the ROLAND DIMENSION D.

[@stephencook9357]

Good ol Boss, any version. Electric mistress sounded great too. The Roland rack mount honorable mention. IMO! Some big names disappointed honestly

[@Burkhimself]

I think I preferred the TC1210 1st.....then Eventide eclipse 2nd.....

[@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!

[@tho-mas83]

for me the very best is the 2290 tc electronic!!

[@tobbebergman7583]

Yamaha UD Stomp or Yamaha Magicstomp ! No contest !

[@henriquecanalle2630]

Spx 90...fuck...so perfect

[@Peter_Stoops]

I love chorus, I freely and openly admit it!! I did not love all the chorus I heard here. Boss and lexicon killed it and my fav was the yamaha zakk chorus.....

[@JordonBeal]

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

[@billhewlett1214]

Rockman #1

[@ukaeyfvkfiayuvefyiu]

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

[@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!

[@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?

[@tunoman]

Roland Sde 3000 is a legend but.... I think you missed trying the arion chs-1

[@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 🎉