DigiTech EX-7 Expression Factory

I am highly critical of digital modeling products and I initially set out not wanting to believe the sound clips that I had heard were as good as they seemed to be.

My basic impressions of this pedal are as follows...

The Sweep...

OK...the sweep is pretty short, but I find that I am able to get a lot more articulation with the wahs than I normally would...so I like it a lot. Some may not, but I find it to be one of this pedal's strengths.

The Switches...

Again...some may find the switching to be stiff...personally, since it has a double switch, I like the fact that it's not super easy to activate the pedal. To be fair, it's not that hard to turn it on and off.

The Wahs...

I own a Teese RMC-3. It's a great pedal and it's very flexible...however setting it up can be a pain, so I usually leave it on one setting.

The wahs on the EF-7, while not as sweet as the RMC-3 (which is a pretty high benchmark) are remarkably good...and they're very easy to tweak. I would never guess that they were digital. Digitech really out did themselves with these models...and I usually hate any kind of digital modeling. I really like the wah's.

The Synth Swells...

As many have said...this effect pretty much makes this pedal worth the price of admission. Sounds great clean...sounds great with some distiortion. It does what it does as advertised without a lot of hassle.

The Whammy...

I never used any of the earlier Whammy pedals, but I like this effect a lot. It definitly adds to the value of this pedal. It's easy to setup and use and sounds great.

The Univibe...

OK...yes...there are better Univibes out there. The vibe on my Captain Coconut 2 is one if the best. Again, while this doesn't sound as awesome, it's still pretty damn great...I'd say it's at least as good as my Voodoo Lab Micro Vibe, which is nice. The chorus sounds great too. I like this particular model a lot.

The Leslie...

It's good...in fact it's one of the best Leslie sims I have heard...I need to tweak it a bit more, but you'll be hard pressed to find a better Leslie sim.

The Flanger...

I found that you can get this to sound a lot like a phaser, which is great because I'm not the biggest flanger fan. This effect is a little more difficult to set up than the others, but there's good sounds to be had here.

The Distortions

OK...while these are supposedly designed to be used in conjunction with the other effects in the unit (I guess they don't want to kill sales of the Distortion Factory pedal) here's how you can work around it and have the Expression Factory become a Distortion Factory...When you go to edit your distortions...make sure you do so in the Whammy mode and set the wet/dry mix all the way to dry. Presto...instant Distortion Factory.

As for the sounds...I have to admit, I'm not as impressed with the distortion models...not that some aren't good, and not that some of them don't sound cool with the other effects, they are not the high point of the pedal...but they do add value and functionality to it so let your personal tastes be your guide here.

The DOD OD/Preamp...

It takes a little tweaking but this is one of the better models. Sounds the most like it's supposed to.

The RAT...

This functions and sounds very little like a real RAT. I was able to get one sound out of it that I liked, but it still was just OK. Best used as a textural effect than as a stand alone distortion. Aside from the one setting it's either too bright or too woofie sounding. You won't be tossing out your favorite distortion pedal for this model.

The Digitech Metal Master...

This is a decent sounding metal/rock distortion...not surprising since the DOD OD/Preamp also sounded decent. Again, like the OD/Preamp, as a stand alone it's utilitarian in function. You can get good results with it, but don't expect to be knocked out. Sounds great with the Synth Swells and the Whammy.

The Boss Metal Zone...

This sounds very little like a Boss Metal Zone. It just sounds bad. I really question the inclusion of this model since the Digitech Metal Master model sounds so much better. The lack of low and mid range EQ really hinder this model. I think it's the worst sounding of the lot next to the TS-9 model. It's pretty much useless. They could have put a Fuzz Face model here instead.

The Big Muff...

This sounds NOTHING like a big muff at any setting. I compared it to my rehoused Big Muff and my ICBM Fuzz on a number of Smashing Pumpkins riffs and some other better known Big Muff riffs and it doesn't even come close.

However I think once you get the notion that it's supposed to sound like a Big Muff out of your head, you can find SOME usefull sounds here. Again...I think this model is best utilized in a textural context. Fans of the Big Muff won't use it as a stand alone fuzz.

The TS-9...

This sounds nothing like any TS-9 or clone I have ever used...I couldn't get a single useful sound out of it. Again...with the OD/Preamp model already in place, there is little use for this model unless it actually sounded like a TS-9...but it flat out doesn't. Probably my only serious disappointment with this pedal.

The Boss DS-1...

I actually like this model better than a stock DS-1...that's not to say I love this model, but it has it's uses and it does some things better than a stock DS-1 (for example, it has a nicer low end). Works best in a textural context.

My final thoughts on the EF-7...

As a whole, this unit is an amazing creative tool that is rugged and fairly easy to use. This should be in every recording musician's tool box.

The modeling is better than anything I have heard from Line 6, Korg, Berhinger, Vox, etc.

I think Digitech is heading in the right direction with these kinds of effects. If they continue to release more quality pedals like this, the Experience Pedal, and the Jam Man, I'll keep buying them. Keep upping the ante guys.

What I would like to see

1. Two obvious things that are missing are tremolo (which would benefit greatly from having it's speed controllable with the expression pedal) and a nice reverb. If it had those two effects this would be a complete package.

2. Better distortion models. Everything else sounds so great...the DOD/Digitech models are the best ones. If Digitech raised the bar in this area, they could easily put Line 6 out of business. Seriously.

3. MIDI/Preset Storage/LED Display...it would be great to be able to store 99 presets and be able to name them so you can keep track of them and have a MIDI "in" and "thru" for being able to switch between presets. This would be a HUGE improvement to the functionality of this unit.

That's pretty much it. As it stands, it's a must have unit for the studio and a handy device for live use. I give it a hearty 8.5 out of 10.

Well, first things first...you have to calibrate the pedal. on the underside of the pedal are the instructions for calibration. its fairly easy to play with the settings, the 3 "tip" knobs control the settings for whatever expression pedal you're on, the 3 "ring" knobs control the settings for whatever distortion you're on. rock the pedal forward to engage the expression setting, rock it back to engage the distortion setting. there's a bit of light programming type stuff like "setting a distortion", but thats about it. its a plug and play pedal, but you really should setup the thing to get decent sounds.

my set up:
guitar> boss compressor>ernie ball volume> distortion section> DIGITECH EX-7> delay> boss reverb> amp

it sounds kinda silly but i should start by saying, you should want the effects this pedal provides, if you want something else, buy something else.

the distortions are all right. they're very....digitech. its pretty useful in a live situation, i have a few overdrives that i really love and i only use this pedal for a few moments when i need a really over the top drive, and after passing through my effects chain, the sound is really warmed up. it says it models amp cabinets, though i can't figure out how to select them...i think each distortion has a cabinet its modeled to. wierd. its got a couple outs too, so you can play around with that, also it supposedly a cab emulator good enough to record direct out. haven't tried it though.

the univibe isn't as warm as an original, but its actually pretty good. the same can be said of both the flanger and leslie settings. personally i like spaced out sounds, so the fact that these sounds aren't as warm doesn't bother me.

the whammy could definitely have better tracking, if you're looking for a very stable pitch shift, you're better off getting something else. as i said before, im into noisy effects, so the fact that the tracking warbles a little is kinda cool for me.

the wahs are pretty good. they do sound a little bit digital, but you can EQ them with a kind of control that you don't get with traditional wahs, so for this reason alone they're pretty great. my personal favorite is the vox clyde mcsomethingorother wah. its a little more versetile as the crybaby can sound a little too stereotypical (think "stereotypical" porn music). but again, you can eq the heck out of them.

finally, what i bought this pedal for...the synth swell. i never played an original digitech space station, but ive heard them and always wanted something that could turn my guitar into a orchestra-esque string pad section of a keyboard. this is definitely it. you can adjust the accompanying pitches into 2nds 5ths octaves up and down etc. you can also adjust how much of the pitch comes through, and the length of time it takes to swell to full volume.

very good pedal sounds for the price all in all...

these knobs feel kinda flimsy. i really wish i could open the thing up and replace the pots/knobs with boss ones. this doesnt seem like an easy to fix pedal though, so im not going to bother it until it breaks on me. the actual pedal looks/feels like plastic, but i think its metal. cheesy carbon fiber overlay on the whole thing too. digitech and dod always have this way of making things cheesy looking, i kinda wish they'd just cool it and make sturdy, plain ol' pedals, and spend the extra effort on better sounds. its velcro'd to my board though, so its not too worrisome. the rocker seems strong. but the actual switching mechanism seems just as flimsy as the knobs...again, i wish they'd spend more money on parts than looks.

no idea......yet.

i play ambient rock music. this pedal helps out lots for unusual sounds.

if it were lost of stolen, yeah i'd probably get another

i read that theres a footswitch for it, though without some sort of indicator, it'd be a chore to remember what setting you're on.

i wish it had a dedicated footswitch for the distortions, i don't like that you have to rock the pedal to the "volume off" position to turn on the distortion.

i dunno how legit this thing would sound: guitar >ex7 >amp. but in a chain of effects, its really nice.

i wanted every effect it provides, and i can have it in the convenience of one pedal. there are certain effects i'd never really rely on non-analog pedals for, but these are mostly to make ambient noise, so its great.

I had a few problems combining some of the effects with the distortion, so mine may have been a bad unit. Sometimes the footswitch is hard to shut off because it isn't a regular footswitch like on a wah wah. It appears to be inside the casing and might be digital? Sometimes it is hard to turn it off/on and some effects get stuck, so I'm hoping this is not a problem that all units have.

If you are familiar with the Digitech Distortion Factory, you get the same pedal/sound from that with the addition of the efffects. I found that a couple of the effects weren't useful or just didn't sound very good. The 2 wahs, univibe, and whammy appeared to be the best functions on the pedal. YOU CAN ALSO PROGRAM THE DIFFERENT DISTORTIONS TO USE THE EFFECTS OR HAVE JUST THE EFFECTS OR JUST THE DISTORTIONS WORKING. Pretty cool idea. The Whammy if you set it right, you CAN get the Dimebag, Satch, Vai, Morello sound going and its dead on. Go out and try this sucker its not perfect, but does a pretty damned good job that is crammed in the size of your standard wah pedal!!!!!!!!!

Not sure because it just came out how reliable it is/will be in the future. I am hoping that it will be like most standard Digitech products and hold up to years of use and abuse. For another 200 bucks, I'd buy another one as a backup because so far I'm very seriously impressed with it.

They were very prompt in responding to my e-mail and my questions. I hope that others out there will have similar experiences. They should also have a manual/part on their website advertising the product to learn about it.

For the wahs, whammy, and univibe it more than pays for itself. This is the same company that made a modeled pedal for Jimi Hendrix and in general most have been very satisfied with that. Not to mention that you get the 7 distortions AND can COMBINE ONE OR MULTIPLE DISTORTIONS WITH THE DIFFERENT EFFECTS and set them in memory. It does have a few defects like hard pedal switching, some effects didn't sound that good,and some functions didn't seem to work all the way they should (2 distortions had effects coming out of them in JUST distortion mode).... but for the price of an antique distortion pedal, you can sure find something that will sound kick ass! I'd say to try it out first before you but it to see if it is in your liking. I couldn't tell any difference between the effects and the real ones on records, so it comes pretty darn close to the real thing.