Other Digital Effects

Digital Effects Processors are everything that is great about digital signal processing and provide multiple effects in a single box. Everything from digital reverb, digital delay and modulation effects are included. The ability to combine these effects takes everything to another level altogether. Eventide was one of the very first companies to head down this path with the Eventide H910 Harmonizer. The H910 was the world’s first commercially available digital audio effects processor. The H910 combined pitch effects with delay and feedback to create a very unique device for the time. The success Eventide enjoyed with this first product spawned many products over the years, and Eventide deservedly own the multi-effects processor market to this day. Their latest product the Eventide H9000 is an extraordinary bit of technology that will take them through the next decade.

A number of companies over the years have tried to take on Eventide, some with great success, some not so much. One such company that did succeed was Yamaha with their range of SPX signal processors. Yamaha introduced their SPX90 processor in 1985 and it offered everything from reverb to delay, chorusing and a multitude of other effects in a single rack space. The SPX90 was a massive hit for Yamaha who followed it with a string of even better processors. Companies like Alesis, Ensoniq, Korg, Kurzweil, Lexicon, Roland, Sony and TC Electronic all got into the multi-effects processor market with varying degrees of success. There are however some real standout products for those looking to buy hardware based multi-effects processors besides the Eventide and Yamaha offerings, and that includes the Ensoniq DP/4 and DP/4+ processors, as well as the Sony DPS-V77.

Released in 1987
The Korg DRV-3000 is designed and constructed to professional specifications and incorporates sophisticated state-of-the-art LSI technology to create a wide variety of superb effects.  The Korg DRV-3000 can be used in virtually any music situation where high-performance sound processing is required and is particularly suited to MIDI applications.
Released in 1987
Yamaha was on a roll with the great success of their SPX90 and SPX90 II multi-effects processors, and expanded the line up with the SPX50D. The Yamaha SPX50D added distortion to the list of effects, clearly aiming the processor towards guitarists and perhaps trying to compete with the success Eventide were enjoying with their processors.
Released in 1988
For anyone holding out on buying the original Alesis Midiverb, the Alesis Midiverb II was enough to convince them it was time to jump on board, including Tommy Emmanuel.
Released in 1988
The Roland E-660 is a versatile two-channel digital equaliser with eight filters for precise sound adjustments, offering flexible configurations and intuitive controls, along with delay capabilities and extensive connectivity options.
Released in 1988
For many engineers, the Lexicon 480L is the pinnacle of digital reverbs and has never been bettered, not by Lexicon or anyone else. The Lexicon 480L came along in 1988 and has remained in place at most studio around the world as it simply cannot be replaced by a plugin according to those who own them and love them.
Released in 1988
The Yamaha SPX900 was the first SPX processor to feature full bandwidth, 20Hz to 20kHz. In doing so Yamaha put to rest the REV series of processors. As digital technology improved over time, Yamaha moved forward with just the one series of processors and given the success of the SPX series, the REV series was dropped and all efforts were put into SPX series.
Released in 1988
BY 1988 Alesis were on a roll, and with the release of the Alesis Quadraverb, they took things to the next level and continued to dominate the market for home recording. The Alesis Qudraverb’s party trick of course, was that it could use up to four different effects, reverb, delay, pitch and equaliser, simultaneously. And it did so with 20k bandwidth!
Released in 1988
Akai Professional Products released their Akai AR900 Digital Reverb alongside the PEQ6 Programmable Equaliser with similar commercial acceptance. The Akai PEQ6 was targeted more towards the keyboard player rather than studios, and with its MIDI implementation it was perfect for that purpose too.
Released in 1988
The Korg A3 Performance Signal Processor offers 41 dynamic effects and 200 effect chains, allowing for instant recall and seamless integration of complex sound combinations, making it ideal for both studio and live performance settings.
Released in 1988
By 1988 when the Yamaha SPX1000 was released, Yamaha had pretty much established their place in recording studios the world over. Look at any modern studio effects rack and you will find Yamaha SPX1000s and it’s siblings, in studios the world over, such was the quality of these multi-effects processors.
Released in 1989
The Lexicon M300 not only contains the finest sounds, as you’ve come to expect from Lexicon, it incorporates new functions that satisfy the needs of today’s audio production. For both analogue and digital use the Lexicon 300 takes full advantage of recent advances in converter technology and combines them with flexible digital interfacing.
Released in 1990
The Korg A2 Signal Processor provides 102 Separate Effects and 97 Effect Chains that work very well with guitars: all with Professional Quality, Studio Sophistication built in.
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