Electro-Harmonix Micro Synthesizer

This unit is fairly easy to use out of the box, The controls are well layed out and self explanitory. I plugged it in turned it on and in a matter of minutes I was able to make my guitar sound like a moog. Since this a purely analog device, there are no tricky buttons or menus to deal with. There are 10 faders, a power switch and a bypass button. The 10 faders are layed out like a graphic equalizer. The first fader is 'Trig' trigger for short, it acts like a threshold adjustment. The next group of faders is your voice mix: Sub-octave, guitar (unprocessed signal), octave and square wave. Next is the attack delay fader, this is handy when you want to produce an 'e-bow' like sound. The last group is the filter section consisting of resonance, start frequency, stop frequency and rate. The filter section in conjunction with the trig adjustment allows you to make those cool sweeping filter effects. I am going to give the ease of use a 9 because the average joe might not know what that silver button on the lower right does, because it doesn't tell you on the unit itself.

I used a Fender Stratocaster with single coil pickups and didn't have to delve into the process of gain adjustment which requires a tiny screwdriver and an ear for distortion, not my bag. First I plugged it into my Fender twin reverb amp, the sound was warm and lush, I didn't really notice any coloration of the guitar's sound when the unit was in bypass mode. Next I plugged the output of the unit into a Millenia STT-1 origin mic pre/DI. I noticed a tiny bit of idle noise out of the unit, again it is an analog device and i did have compression enabled. Without compression the noise is barely noticable. There is some sort of gating circuit built in that helps keep the noise down. As far as the sound quality going direct, it is more harsh sounding but that analog fatness is still there even when I had my STT-1 in FET (solid state) mode. The sweeping filter sounds great from a quick wet slap to a long swell. It is a good idea to learn to play one note at a time especially when sub-octave or octave voices are being used, they don't track multiple notes too well. Although, drop D power chords do sound pretty fat and the octave voices were able track them. The only quirk I found that this box has is if you turn the filter rate all the way down and sub octave voice is being used, there is sort of a 'popping' noise that is made when the sweep filter is triggered. That problem can be remedied by either turning the filter rate up a little more or just turn the sub-octave voice down. Another funky issue is the trig adjustment, if it's set too high, the filters trigger and keep triggering yeilding a sci-fi space war sound. All quirks aside, the variety of sounds that this box is able to produce is pretty amazing. I was able to get a nine inch nails thrash distortion to a pink floyd synth swell and all points in between. I am going to give the sound quality a rating of 8, this is due to the popping noise, and the dynamics are a bit tricky to master, one must have dynamic control of his or her guitar playing. Or one could just use a compressor.

I mostly use this unit in my studio, I will take it with me to jam sessions every now and then. No matter where I use this thing, it turns on every time, it has never failed on me. I don't want to put too much stock into that because I only had this unit for about six months. I have a freind who has had his micro synth for about eight years and it still works. Being the backup freak I am, I would take a backup. No matter how reliable I think a peice of equipment is, I always have a backup of some sort. I going to give a perfect 10 for reliability for I have heard nothing about the unit failing.

Never needed it. A good thing?, yes

I write and record my own music, electronica. I have been playing for about 11 years. I like keeping up with the latest and greatest technology along with the oldest and funkiest vintage tube equipment. I like using vintage equipment, It keeps my style of music a little more honest sounding. I am not saying electronica is not an honest form of music, I am saying that electronica doesn't have to be 100% sythesized and sequenced. Therefore the Electro-Harmonix micro synth is a very useful unit to have in the studio. It allows me to put some expressiveness in my music. I mainly have it going direct via a Millenia STT-1 origin DI directly into my digidesign digi001. I use that configuration because the STT-1 has a built in compressor and parametric EQ. It never hurts to put a little bit of flange or chorus in the chain, it sounds good for lead synth sounds. I do wish it had the ability to save and recall presets, but that's just me, I don't expect Electro-Harmonix to add that ability to there line of products, after all thats what makes them who they are, purely analog. Other than the few quirks that can be worked around with out a lot of fuss, I have three complaints: 1) I HATE WALLWARTS!!!, again, thats me talking. The unit doesn't run on batteries, you need to use the wallwart power supply. 2) There is no visible indication of whether the effect is bypassed or not. 3) The manual isn't really detailed, although it does contain some templates for getting to know the unit a little better. That I thought was useful.
Overall the micro synthesizer is a powerful guitar synth that can find its niche in any studio or live rig and its not too expensive. I am going to give an overall rating of 9.

Once you understand the function of each control element, the thing is quite obvious to control. The manual is very helpful on this task. If you're not a technical person, you might need some exercising at the beginning.

In my opinion, the sound quality is good. Of course there are some difficulties in tracking the signal for producing the lower octave, triggering off the sweep and so on. But this is mainly a matter of adjustments. In general the sounds are of a good quality and the noise is low.
The thing I really missed on this box was a true bypass! The bypass signal is quite weak and cuts off some higher frequencies. But since I'm an electronics and the built- in switch is an DPDT already, the modification was done within a few minutes. After that, the problem was the weak synth signal compared to the bypass signal. I had to replace a resistor in order to be able to get the synthesizer signal as strong as the bypass signal. At the end it is fine now, but this is not a job, a user of this box should have to do.

The case is made of steel and the ciruit boards are mounted in a solid way. I've owned the thing for a few weeks now, so I can't really tell, but I guess the reliability should be quite good.

No experience yet, sorry.

This little box is really amazing! Without having to bother about mounting a hex- pickup into your guitar, you're able to produce quite weird sounds. With my two mods (see above) I'm also able to bypass it without it affecting the signal and in addition can adjust the output signal level to my needs. I'd definitly buy it again! :-))

A lot of experiementation is needed. If you don't have much patience,
then this thing is not for you.

This thing is wicked awesome. If you like space-aged trippy sounds, this pedal is a must. If you watch the Pink Floyd's Live at Pompeii
concert, one of the scenes in the studio shows David Guilmor tinkering
around with one of these. They are fun little gadjets.

This pedal is cool. Buy it. You will like it unless you're a digital
freak.

Right out of the box (nice wood box I might add) I was already getting some cool sounds from it. I bought it to try to get some analog Moog synth sounds. The controls take some getting used to, but with any pedal, you gotta just sit on the floor with it and mess with all the settings till you find what you like.

I just ditched my Zoom3030 so I could build an analog effects rig. Right now I'm just running it by itself. I think it would sound great with a phase or flange over it (Small Stone perhaps). I'm just playing a Fender Toronado and a Crate GFX-212 and it sounds great. You can't match a Moog 100% but it sure does bring the word Moog to mind. By only problems have been getting the filter sweep to sound perfect and the notes don't sustain as long as the guitar does. You can get some notes to hold but then it just stops as though you had muted the strings.

I just got it a few months ago, it's made out of a very thin sheet metal (I think). Like any other pedal, don't abuse it and it should last. It's definatley not a Danelectro (I've heard stories of tumbles down steps without so much as a dent).

I haven't had it bust on me yet, the manual lays out the controls but you really just have to experiment to understand how it works.

I use it for those moments in songs where you would like a nice synthy keyboard riff without the hassle of adding a keyboardist to your band. I've been playing for 6 years and it's the most unique pedal that still has practical applications. I bought it to get a Moog synth sound, and I've got something close enough. My only real problem with it is the lack of sustain. But it lasts long enough to play a riff. You couldn't hold a note like a keyboardist could. All in all I think it serves my purpose. New gear is always inspiring.

See below.

This is an update of my 4/28/00 review. First, I've tried the Micro Synth with my acoustic set up and it rules. Who would have thought. I like it because I can get a good low octave and some distortion to do leads and bass lines, not to mention the other whacked out tones that live within this box. See below for the rest.

This is the third E-H pedal I've owned that has developed a problem when engaging the damned on/off switch. (The unit will not completely turn on once in a while and create static). The other two were a long since traded Electric Mistress and a Q-Tron that I currently have. The MicroSynth and the Q-Tron are only about four months old and I do not mistreat my gear, so I wonder about the quality control aspect of the E-H production facility. Anyone else find this to be a problem? Please put it print.

When I first hooked it up in Sam Ash, I got some cool effects. enough to buy it any how. But when I took it home and tried one of the pre-set lead synth sounds WOW! Sounded a little "gimicky" , but it was still an awesome sound. You can get that Dr. Who theme music sound from it. After using the pre-sets I went from there and made some cool sounds myself. You can get flute like sounds out of it at high frets if set right. very nice pedal. Isn't very good at tracking cords usualy. My other guitar player in my band got another cool sound out of it that we call an "under water cove sound". Overall great pedal, But it isn't actually as diverse as electrp- harmonix makes it out to be. Still it's a great pedal and i would recomend it to anyone who is doing any kind of experimental music. Very trippy sounding.

its a little noisy, but then again it is an analog effect. Effects usaully sound great, although it depends on what your looking for. I'm not using a great amp. I have a Crate grx65. But my other guitar player runs it through a Marshall stack, sounds fucking amazing. I listen to all types of music I'm not a huge Smashing Pumpkins fan but you can definately get Siamese Dream era sound out of it.

Ive personally never had a problem w/any electro- harmonix stuff. I also own a big muff and a small stone, but I heard they can be a problem sometimes.

Overall great pedal.

The manual for the reissue model gets you on a good start, giving a quick description of each slider and also includes settings for you to try out and modify. They are extremely helpful when you first start playing around with it. You might be a little confused at first, but after trying out some of the settings in the manual and changing them around to achieve more useful sounds, you will soon figure out what each slider does. You'll be a pro before you know it.

I run My Gibson SG straight into the micro synth, then if desired through another effect or two (such as my MXR flanger) then into my Marshall JCM2000 40 watt tube combo. The clarity of the tone depends on how high you set the filter resonance and frequency pair, if you set them too low you will get a muddy mess. Attack delay gets a nice reverse effect. I wish this thing had an master output slider though, because the volume can change radically based on how you mix the 4 voices (sub octave, guitar, ocave, fuzz). Not noisy at all, only if you leave the filter open on a high frequency, which you usually won't do. You can get a wide variety of tones with this thing, like percussive 80's synth tones, organs, funky sweeps, and some slight ring modulation when you start playing multiple notes high on the neck, depending on how its set. You can get even more when you add more effects into the signal. Tube overdrive can do some great things along with the micro synth; it can emphasize the octaving effect or make it sound like an old synth horn. Or it can take the character of the micro synth, and sort of "guitarize" or less synth-like and make a completely different sound. Try a flanger too. The bypassed tone is very flat and I highly suggest a true-bypass mod or put it in a true-bypass chain. It completely kills your clean sound. This thing isn't exactly hi-fi.

I can't really say much here, I don't gig and I baby my gear. It seems good enough if you watch out for it, but I don't think you could stomp on it or dump cheap beer all over it, like what an MXR could take.

Havn't had problems, heard EH is great.

I'm willing to try new and weird stuff and this is a very cool box. Nothing like it, in its price range at least. I'm into a variety of stuff including Luna, Superchunk, led Zep and Smashing Pumpkins, so I guess the micro synth could at least fit in with the Pumpkins. I think Billy uses one actually. I don't listen to that Creed garbage they play on the teen-rock stations. I've been playing for 5 years and I own a crybaby wah (essential to my "songwriting", if you wanna call it that), original EH small stone phaser (my favorite! Also essential), original MXR flanger, ProCo Rat (cool when all I had was a transy amp, but once I got a tube amp it stopped sounding so cool and is now only used for extremely high gains that my marshall cannot reach), DOD TEC4 (first effects unit, crap), and a Boss Flanger (pretty much crap too). Since I don't have my eyes set on anything else I'd probably buy the synth again if it were lost or stolen. I love its uniqueness and versatility. Wish it had a master output control though. Overall a fine kick-ass box. Check out my Micro synth site and submit some settings!
http://robzerker.tripod.com/microsynth

I just got it today and have already figured out at least three totally tripped out and usable settings that I can say I'll come back to, so that's easier to use than I was expecting. The manual helps get you into a ballpark but I began adjusting from there to get more what I prefer. If my opinion changes after a while, I'll revise my review.

Gibson Nighthawk > Micro Synth > Q-Tron > Z. Vex Seek Wah > front end of Flextone XL and Line 6 Modulation and Delay Modelers > to the loop. The Micro Synth doesn't seem to be all that noisy, not even close to what I was anticipating. It seems to depend on how much Square Wave is added and there is a slight tracking noise (no more than with any octaver I've used) which is acceptable. I found the Garcia tone from 1978 when old Jer played the Close Encounters theme (for you Deadheads out there, if you're not, watch the movie) when you kick on the Q-Tron. It seems that most of the reviews I've read are from Smashing Pumpkins type players and since I'm not really into them, I can't relate to those descriptions, but the Micro Synth seems to be a pretty versatile pedal. Anyone who's into adventurous tonal wanderings could probably make it work for them. Again, I'm just learning with this but already get a good vibe from it.

One day and it's still working, whoop-dee-doo! I'm going to be an optimist even though I've had a problem with an E-H Electric Mistress. It seems to be pretty well built but I'll be more careful with it than other pedals from other manufacturers.

Hope I don't ever need 'em.

I'm the folkadelic, jam-based guy who also plays the Dead, Floyd, classic '60's/'70's rock and anything else that inspires me and while I doubt I'll use this in my acoustic set up, I feel pretty sure that I'll get a lot of good use from this pedal. After 20+ years of jamming I've probably sent many pedal manufacturers on vacation with all the gear I've bought and traded. I already LIKE the Micro Synth a lot for its variety to tonal options and trippy sounds. I don't believe there's anything out there to compare this thing with as far as pedals go (the MXR Blue Box doesn't even come close) and I chose the Micro Synth for no other reason than I wanted to add strange, octave-type, otherworldly, mindbending, eyelid movie creating tones to my set up. Why else would anyone want this thing?

It's not for idiots. But it's a guitar pedal---play with it for a while and it can do some fresh stuff.

I have 12 analog effects patched in a series and don't have any problems with noise. the electro harmonix reissues are very nice. the effects on the micro synth can be very harsh---this is a good thing. Don't be a copycat---this pedal can help you get something unique.

No backup. Just don't dump beer on it or jump on it. the EH stuff is great and reliable.

Man, this thing is simple, 10 sliders that are all labeled and everything. Those who have experience in analog instruments will have no problem figuring this thing out.

This thing is noisy, but that's precisely why I love it! You can get some pretty mean filter sweeps, fuzzed-out low-register synth sounds, an auto-wah sound, etc. It's packed with electronic fuzz! The sliders are all responsive and sensitive to the slightest tweak. Occasionally, a note will be sliced or sound choppy, but that's prolly cuz I tune down to hell.

I can without a doubt depend on it. Hello, sheet metal...

Haven't had to deal with them and, with this pedal, it doesn't look like I'll have to.

In case, you haven't figured it out already, this is my favorite pedal of all time. I'll never give this up. I play industrialtrancegoth (heh) so this thing is perfect. It would be cool if it had even a couple user patches to store some sounds, but that's nothing. Prop this up on a table and play with the sliders in real time. The microsynth is heaven. If it was per-chance stolen, I would condemn the stealer to hell, cry, cry some more, stare at my electro-harmonix sticker for solace, jump off a skyscraper, then buy another one...