Anyone else digging Visual Sound's videos?

[Agreed]

I think I've talked about the flaws with their test model at least four times, but the thing you really need to consider is that they are trying to sell you something. Still, I'll have another go.

 

Things wrong with that test:

 

1. They're trying to sell you something

 

2. What's next, a VisualSound Ice Cream Flavor shoot-out? Or how about a VisualSound music genre shootout? What I'm getting at here is that it doesn't matter what X number of people think about one versus the next, because tone is totally subjective.

 

3. The basic model is flawed because it doesn't allow for 1:1 comparison of all of the pedals; you only hear the "winner" against whatever's next in the row.

 

4. There's no effort to demonstrate the range of sounds available from each pedal, just one setting on each. This is a flaw for a few reasons. First, since they're trying to sell you something, what's keeping them from adjusting their pedal to sound its best, but adjusting other pedals to sound not so great? Second, you have no idea after viewing this what any of the pedals can really do except for that combination of settings. That doesn't tell me anything about any of the pedals; I care about versatility, including how well the dirt sounds when adjusted for lower or higher gain, how much range the tone adjustments allow, and how much output the pedal has. This video leaves all three of those things a mystery.

 

5. Compounding number 3, human sense memory is notoriously unreliable. There's no way for anyone in that room to have a clear idea how they like the pedal that ends up winning relative to the others. We're just poorly equipped mentally to evaluate differences that aren't occurring quite literally back-to-back. Our sense memory is measured in seconds, not minutes.

 

6. Finally, people reliably pick the louder of two sounds as sounding "better" when there are no differences besides output. Given how poorly other variables are controlled for, the fact that their pedals are adjusted louder puts the nail in the coffin of this tests neutrality and hence utility.

 

7. They're trying to sell you something.

[dZjupp]

i thought it was clear that everyone liked the Klon the best. for the money you can't beat the v.s. stuff. But i found this video kind of ridiculous.

[ben_allison]

I dunno Agreed. It depends what you choose to take from the vids. With the OD shoot out, I didn't come away thinking, "Whoa! The VS smokes!" I came away thinking, "Man, they can all be dialed in to sound more or less the same!"

 

I don't think anyone believes it was the world's fairest test, or anything approaching "scientific rigor." But neither are your pedal demos... and you're not claiming that they are. Good resource, helpful as a piece that fits into the entire Gear Adenture, and as always, taken with a grain of salt. The VS videos are no different, though one needs to approach them with more suspicion and caution being that a company is pushing their product.

 

So what? That doesn't make it entirely valueless. What I found more interesting were opamp swapping and the true-bypass demos, but those just confirmed opinions that I (and plenty others) already hold.

[Agreed]

Well, for one thing I do try to go through a range of settings on my pedal demos; and the body of my reviewing gives a base for comparison which is growing all the time, since hearing demos over time gives you a baseline to interpret my settings against. All the same I don't attempt scientific rigor in my demos, that would be silly - but neither am I publishing a marketing video that has the ostensible trappings of a real, blind test. It's important to understand exactly what it is about the video that makes it problematic so that you don't get suckered by it.

 

Also, the fact that they can all be dialed in to sound (with the same guitar and same amp) pretty similar is way, way less interesting to me than the ways they can be dialed in to sound different; and it's in VisualSound's interests to try to get a homogeneous sound across the board because it leaves people with the idea that "wow, the VisualSound pedal for not a great deal of money sounds a lot like those high dollar boutique pedals!"

 

As far as op-amp swapping and true-bypass demos, well, everyone ought to have had the opportunity to see what true bypass does for them in their own setup by now... and op-amps make as much of a difference as building the miniaturized circuits discretely would. They're little, full amplification circuits in a standardized i/o format. You wouldn't expect two discrete amplification circuits using different technology to sound identical. Hopefully close, since an amplification circuit is (before guitar pedal makers get to them and turn them into clipping devices) intended to amplify, after all, and you wouldn't want too much deviation from ideal behavior, but not identical. Some exhibit bigger differences than others, and can handle more or less voltage, etc. which can have an impact. It's the kind of thing that someone designing or modifying the circuit ought to really consider depending on the application, although I've never seen much point in just swapping them for different ones to see how it sounds. Sort of silly, if you ask me, but no one did

[amarr1]

all of their videos seem like a pile of bull{censored} to me.

[relva3]

I laugh at their claim against true bypass because the VS pedal I have is a piece of crap. Its the H20, with a painfully inadequate chorus, a fine delay (main reason I bought it), and some tonesuckage. Whatever comes out of the pedal is quieter and compressed compared to if I plug straight in or use my true-bypass pedals. I'll admit, soundwise, you probably wouldn't notice if you weren't trying to hear the difference, but the real issue is the change in dynamics and feel. Its enough that I have to engage a boost to compensate if I want to use the h20.

 

Because of VS I developed the rule of only buying true-bypass, thus discounting any of their lineup.

[valvestate]

Visual Sound's pedal though are not really affordable or cheap here.. c'mon... S$200 + for a chorus?!?


.... but I still have GAS with their new Liquid Chorus... 2nd hand, I will definitely buy it if I have a spare cash.

[Agreed]

Yeah, there is that, too, but their smaller single-function pedals are pretty par-for-the-course (though for that money I'd like a pedal that isn't made in China).

[amarr1]

your username is ironic.

[twinkletoes]

I find shootout videos very useful, if you don't like this one go make your own and I'll probably enjoy it too...

 

emailed them and got some of the settings in the video if anyone wants to try them

 

Route 808, Vol. - 11:00-12:00, Drive - 11:00, Tone: 2:00. We also had the Bass Boost on.

 

Hyde: Drive - 2:00, Treble - 3:00, Mid - 1:00, Volume set to unity. We had the Sharp/Blunt set to Blunt.

[dZjupp]

I liked them in a way. I have to be careful though as i think the VS stuff is some of the best pedal stuff out there, their bypass really does 'add' to my tone, i've done the tests.

that said, i think it is unfair to shootout any pedal in line with a bunch of other pedals. they should have only run one at a time in the signal chain. this is the only way to truly test any pedal.

i don't think Bob was oozing the whole time over his own pedals, he even went as far as saying he really liked some of them and talked up alot of them as well.

It was slightly biased but only in the view of him believing in his product.

i thought it was funny that he was surprised that the dyna comp won, that was funny to see the look on his face when the group chose it over the Keeley, like utter disbelief.

[Gunner Recall]

Rigged video is rigged time again.

Corksniffers will want to believe their $500 swirly paint TS clone is better, while the populists will want somebody to tell them VS/any cheaper pedal can hold its own.

There is no truth/answer...there is no spoon.

[twinkletoes]

spoons are so real, there is no spork

[juri]

 

I liked them in a way. I have to be careful though as i think the VS stuff is some of the best pedal stuff out there, their bypass really does 'add' to my tone, i've done the tests. that said, i think it is unfair to shootout any pedal in line with a bunch of other pedals. they should have only run one at a time in the signal chain. this is the only way to truly test any pedal. i don't think Bob was oozing the whole time over his own pedals, he even went as far as saying he really liked some of them and talked up alot of them as well. It was slightly biased but only in the view of him believing in his product. i thought it was funny that he was surprised that the dyna comp won, that was funny to see the look on his face when the group chose it over the Keeley, like utter disbelief.

 

 

I am pretty sure Visual Sound made the opamp remark because of the Keeley mod. I am also convinced that a Keeley will not sound good if you configure it to sound like one of the other comp pedals. Opamps do have influence on sound, the question is how much. Even in the test you can see that people do hear a difference albeit a little one.

 

I do think the Visual Sound Jekyll and Hyde has a big following and is a very popular pedal, so I don't think Visual Sound makes bad pedals. I did buy a Route 66 pedal and got rid of it cause I wasn't really impressed by it.

[southpaw pete]

I enjoyed them. Of course he would be a bit biased, but like someone said, he stands behind his product. But he didn't talk down any of the other pedals or companies; recognizing that they are great companies as well. And regardless of the final results or whether or not the settings were optimal for each pedal, I thought they gave a good general representation of each, and showed that VS can hold their own. I've since bought a couple of their pedals, and am really impressed.