Product: Alesis Phlngr
Price Paid: US $35
Submitted
09/26/2005
at
02:56pm
by
Bill
Ease of Use
:
9
Pretty easy to use. There's lots of combinations to try out, way more than any average flanger, but everything's printed on the faceplate. I was familiar enough with the options to skip the manual.
Might take a little time to find the "perfect" settings, but there's no menus or anything to scroll through, which makes editing super fast and simple. The 'tap tempo' helps a lot, too.
Sound Quality
:
7
It sounds pretty cool. Flanging can be a really hard effect to control or use in a subtle way, but this fx unit has a lot more than the usual controls so it's easy to use just a 'pinch' here or there.
I liked it with guitar, but also with keyboard. Really cool with a drum machince.
The "bypass" is kind of a joke, so points off for that. Unless you're comfortable with this thing always processing your sound to a certain degree, you'll need to unhook it or use a 2nd bypass device (like a 'loooper' pedal). When I use it I leave it on and just dial it back when necessary, so it's not a HUGE problem for me, but some people are picky.
Reliability
:
No Opinion
Feels pretty cheap. But it was, actually, cheap. So no surprise there. It might last a long time with care, though.
Customer Support
:
No Opinion
No experiences.
Overall Rating
:
10
It's pretty cool, does a lot of stuff most other flangers don't offer. It's a lot of fun, and hardly costs anything, so I rate it highly, even though it's certainly cheap.
I've been playing for a long time, mostly guitar. It's a good, varied effect. I tried it with several instruments and it went well with most all. If it were lost or stolen I'd regret it, because it's unique and could be tough to replace. But I can't imagine anyone, like, not being able to live without flange, in general. Good for people with an affection for synth-like modules or just sound warping.
It makes pretty much any signal more interesting. The "center" control is great for adapting to different sources. It can sound kind of lo-fi, in a good way. It's digital, and sounds it. It can sound kind of broken, like most things, when set 'wrong.' The bypass bites, but it's kind of an all or nothing effect any way. The "input" trim is a nice touch. The 'tap tempo' is very appreciated. There's 5 different 'types' of effect, and 5 wave shapes, which can be combined in any way. Once selected, there's 4 knobs to control the effect beyond that. That's a lot of options for one effect! I love that it's stereo.
