Rocktron Replifex

Im basically a lazy user and so I have remapped for convenience and changed a few effects and thats that. I found it takes time but is not difficult.
Have never been able to get the download thing happening. Not sure if it was my computer or what.

Have always previously used patched into a Carvin X100B head with 2 celestion half quad (since Ive had the unit)and sounds absolutely superb. I have recently moved to the USA from Aussie and bought Mesa Boogie 50/50 and V twin pre amp and am still waiting to see how this thing sounds in stereo (when I get speaker boxes).
This unit Ive found to be noiseless. Ive been using my unit since I bought it new 5 years ago(Ithink)and playing in church thats very important. I mainly use the delays,rotary and chorus but have not really been overly impressed with the chorus. I must admit I love nearly all the sounds and their quality but have heard better chorus on pedals and other rack units. Thats the only disapointment.
I dont use it much but the detune sucks as well (not much scope).

Been superb what can I say. The unit has been used heaps.
I wouldnt use a backup (and havent) mainly because of cost but Id just use the amp dry.

Have only dealt with Rocktron to ask about accessories.

My music style is blues flavoured rock,funk and heavy rock and the Replifex is great. I thought the sound quality better than everything I had heard when buying except the chorus. When I was looking I tried the GP100,Digitech stuff,zoom(crap),Boss and others and found nearly all of them had better chorus but werent a patch (haha) on the Replifex for basic modulation effects with clarity and depth.
If it were stolen I would probably look for a better unit such as a Lexicon or something but I would miss its channel changing ability and usefulness with my Midimate(Rocktron as well).
My brother swears by vintage pedals but for me playing live all the time although in the perfect world or for recording that would be great, my Replifex does a proffesional job of emulating the classic pedals. I would thoroughly reccomend it to anybody who play from Jazz to Death metal really.

First of all: I am from Germany so please excuse my bad english...

I bought the Replifex in 1996 and paid about 900US$ ( including an 2HE
plastic Rack...). I use it with an Hughes&Kettner Attax100 + that MidiExtension. I play a Framus Renegade CustomShop.

The ease of use is ok. I don't know how to improve it...
But it really takes some time to edit a preset ( u like).
But I guess that's why it has got a lot of great effects in it.
Rotary, Flanger, Hush, Compressor.... all u need...
With a software called Dumpster ( download it @ rocktron.com) you can
upload presets of other users from the net. Very nice, even if the patchbay@rocktron offers not many ( 10 or so) presets to download.

The sound quality is really great. My amp somehow makes some noise
in the distorted channel...But the HushNoiseReduction of the Replifex
kills it.
The Rotary effect is nice for vintage sounds ( sounds like warm >wapwapwapwapwap<). Great for alternative sounds.
The Flanger and the phaser are great too.
The Compressor is not the best i ever played... It somehow doesn't his job well.
Delay and Reverb are kickin ass. The EQ-Section rules! You get nice
sounds. ( Check the "DeathScoop"-Preset with your amp full distorted!)
All in all you will get a top-sound quality.

I never had any problems with the Replifex.
I use it since 1996 and no problems so far...

Never needed it... ( 10!)
But the patchbay @ rocktron's site is too small. They could offer or
develope a little software to edit presets from the pc. The Upload
with a midi-cable works great... But no software so far...( 1!)

I play kinda independent and alternative music. Sometimes hard heavy
stuff. The Replifex is like the Intellifex with a Rotary-Section.
You can really improve your sound. But I think, that the Replifex is better for players who like alternative. But Top40 will be ok too
( never played top40...;-) I would pay about 550$ used. You will enjoy it!

Its great, but I'm looking for someone out there who has written a software program for editing the Repliflex in my PC for windows...

I have the dumpster its great for saving patches but we all need a piece of programing software. do do all the editing realtime on our PC's
Does anybody out there write code come on guy's get busy and help us all out...

works great need a windows interface...

its reliable but again who has a windows interface fot this piece of gear?

haven't had any problems just looking for a software interface for this piece of gear?

Very good for the price
If you have or know of some who has programing software for the the Repliflex send me an e-mail

ausnss@proaxis.com

I m sorry for every body, but this review will be written in french, 'cause my english would not allow me to write the whole review.
(I also know that a lot of frenchies are checking this out).

Bien...
ce replifex est a mon gout assez facile a programmer, mais il fo preciser que g possede un intellifex et un voodu valve avant, ce qui aide a se familiariser avec l'interface Rocktron. Les menus sont clairs, et les potards se tournent bien, avec un peu d experience, on peut aller assez vite en fait. Je ne lui ai mis que 7, parce que je sais que d autres sont beaucoup plus faciles a programmer, et que la notice, bien que complete n'est pas d'une grande aide lorsqu'il fo se faire un petit delay, et qu'il ya 20 parametres a prendre en compte... le plus rapide a ce moment la est de passer en revu les 128 presets et de copier la partie delay de celui qu on aime bien !!

bon.. ca c'est le bluff total de rocktron, c'est pour ca qu on les aime : au lieu de creer un son, il mettent reellement un effet sur VOTRE son.
J'utilise mon Replifex entre un JMP1 (preampli marshall a lampe) et un ampli de puissance marshall 8008 (ouais je sais c un peu pourri, mais mesa boogie c tres tres cher qd meme)... apres ya deux cabinets marshall 1912 qui font sortir tout ca...
Les sons sont tres credibles (meme le rotary speaker, que je ne pensais pas utiliser au depart se revele plus que potable...), la qualite est au rendez vous, et on peut tres facilement grossir un son, ce qui est bien appreciable. La stereo est bien utilisee (l auto pan a basse frequence alliee a un petit delay de 240 ms, et zou : vous avez deux guitares au lieu d une :o) ) et les nombreux effets permettent a peu pres tout ce qu on peut vouloir (dans la mesure ou on a pas des ambitions a la Reeves Gabrels genre nappes de violons a la guitare). Enfin, on notera la presence du spillover pour la reverb et le delay (ces effets "debordent" alors lors du changement de preset, evitant les blancs habituels accompagnant ce changement), qui assure grave lors de session d enregistrement.

Je ne m'en suis pas encore servi en concert, mais plusieurs fois en repetition en studio, et oui, on peut lui faire confiance : la fonction "global" permet rapidement de mettre au point son son face aux inevitables problemes de table de mixage defaillante, ampli differnet de chez soi etc etc....

r a s ..
juste, avant de choisir, j leur ai envoye un mail pour connaitre la difference entre tous les intellifex differents, et ils m ont repondu dan sla journee, tres poliment. Plus tard, g decouvert que cette question faisait partie des faqs dispo sur leur site... sympa de pas m avoir jete.

bon..
je l ai eu ya pas tres longtemps, mais je pense que si on me le volait, je racheterai le meme. Je joue du rock et ce multi effet (qui porte pour une fois vraiment bien son nom : ce truc ne cree pas de son, il ajoute juste des effets) est vraiment ideal. Je ne lui met que 9, parce que je sais qu il existe mieux sur le marche (nivo qualite, genre TC Electronics G Force), mais dans sa gamme de prix, je pense que le replifex est imbattable..

voila voila....
pour entendre la bete, n hesitez pas a aller sur mon site : www.bob.fr.st

Pretty easy to use, especially for idiots like me! This is my first effects unit and I love it. I didn't really need the manual. I just experimented with it and got the sounds I liked.

I use several guitars. A strat, tele, Les Paul, Ibanez RG, three Danolectros, and every one of them sounds great with this unit with a Mesa/Boogie Studio 22. The biggest selling points to this unit was the channel switching, reverbs, and Leslie sounds. It nails the Leslie pretty well. I used to have a Leslie 147, and the Rocktron is pretty convincing. It's the most transparent processor I've ever heard.

I've had mine for almost four years and have never had a problem with it. I use it non-stop.

Never had to deal with them.

I love this thing even though I know I haven't even scratched the surface of it's full capabilities. If it were stolen, I would first scream like a little girl, find the son of a bitch who did it, and then go after his family. It's a shame they have discontinued it. I think Rocktron products have gone downhill since then. I've played around with some of there other stuff and it all pales in comparison to the Replifex. As mentioned before, it's totally transparent and doesn't mess with my tone. It enhances it.

It is not difficult to use. One knob for selecting presets, one for fx, one for parameters and one to adjust. I never read the manual, and am very capable of working with the unit, so I guess you don't need it.

I use one output from my Marshall JMP-1 to the mono-in from the replifex and from there on stereo out.
It's not noisy, that is, not noticeable to my ears (which already have been through a lot!). But I never heard other people comment on that, so I guess my ears are still o.k.
The delay is not perfect. The delayed signal does not sound the same as the original although you have to pay very close attention to observe this. I think the reverb-section is a little 'under-parametered' but for live or jamming at home it's good enough.
The pitch-shift is crap, as it is on virtually all FX-devices, unless you own an eventide. You can only use detunes, 5ths and octaves, and only on a low volume, cause the edited signal sound real crap. I only use it to add a slight detune (-9) to my clean sound, which I must say makes it sound very nice. The pitch-shift is only single voice, which I think is too limiting for any FX-processor.
The flanger sound very good. I'm also satisfied with the panner. I don't use it's chorus. Once you heard and 8-voice on an Eventide or even an intellifex, you would not like to use this one (2-voice).
I don't use the compressor, noise gate or anything, because you CAN'T.
If you want to use this stuff, you'll have to swith the Replifex in the post-hush setting, in which case you'll hear DROPOUTS between switching. In the pre-hush setting, the incoming signal is guided directly through the unit, so when switching this masks the dropouts.
So you can only ADD effects and NOT CHANGE the signal. OR you'll have to assign several buttons on your midi-controller to the individual effects, and only switch presets between songs. But then why switch from pedalFX to a unit. For the same money you'll have several good BOSS units, here in Holland about 8 or 9 for one replifex.
even if I could use all the FX at once, I probably wouldn't. Think about it.
If you have a good pre-amp, you don't need an E.Q.
If you need a comressor, buy a quality one (dbx 166 or so) don't limit yourself to one from an all-in-one box. Same goes for the noisegate.
If you're serious about your sound, do NEVER buy a unit with even a pre-amp built in. I NEVER heard one that sounded good-enough. Not even the GTR-4000 from eventide (which is very very very much more expensive than any rocktron/roland/boss/digitech or whatever product)

I'd have to give the FX a 7 for overall performance.
But considering the pricerange (eventide GTR4000 = 6 or 7 replifex's, Lex PCM-81 = 3 or 4 replifex's, TC - 2290 or G-force = 2 to 3 replifex's)
I'd have to give it a 9 as it is one of the best I heard in it's pricerange.

I used it live extensively for over two years now, never had a problem. So to me it is flawless.

I'm not real happy with the guys at rocktron. They advertised for this unit with big words: You've asked for no drop-outs, you got it!!
So when I got the unit and noticed the dropouts between presets, I thought my unit's electronics were somehow defective, and send an e-mail to rocktron. They mailed me back saying that it was quite normal for the replifex. So I guess they F*@k with you there.
I noticed they discontinued the thing very soon after it's release. (one or two years after). I can imagine that lying to your customers is bad for sales, so I realy have to give them a failing grade on this one.

I play in a Thrash-Metal band, but at home I also do a lot of rush, older Kings-X and the like, So I use the FX extensively and in various styles of music. On the replifex I mainly use delay and reverb for solos and backing, flanger on some rhythms, and delay, reverb, pan and detune on clean, all in several different parameter settings. I guess I use about 10-15 presets in all on it.

It is a great unit for live. It's not too expensive to be afraid it will be stolen or damaged. And if you're in a band that is not drawing 10.000+ audiences, the P.A. systems are usually not that good to justify buying more very expensive and higher quality equipment.
If it got damaged beyond repair or stolen, I would want a new one. But I'd probably would go for the new intellifex online, as it is cheaper, but has the software of the superior old intellifex (which was more expensive!!, but in time has it's R&D payed) and use a BOSS-flanger.

This was my first multi-effects processor and I was able to use it and create my own effects right off the bat. I didn't even have a manual for the first few weeks!

Editing patches is cake, dial in til' it sounds like you want and hit "store".

The manual was helpful. I was able to figure most of it out without the manual, although with the manual I was able to make some of my presets sound even better.

I don't believe the firmware can be upgraded in this unit. The Replifex is also out of production (or so I was told).

Most of the effects are awesome. As with any processor that does everything, some of the effects are always weaker than others. I use the Replifex in my guitar rack, with a Marshall JMP-1 preamp, I also use a Marshall JFX-1 for delay and reverb.

On the Replifex, the phaser, flanger (one of the best I've heard), tremolo are all awesome. Delay works ok, but it always seems to be really weak (i.e. it fades into the background really easily). The chorus is OK, I wish it was a little more lush (I got the Marshall JFX-1 for this reason). The auto panning on the Replifex is pretty cool as well, I just wish it were a tad stronger, a little more obvious when it's turned on.

I've had it for over a year and never had a single problem with it.
I would definately gig without a backup. I never even consider this breaking down on me.

Rocktron is very cool. I bought this unit used and I called them to ask if I could buy a manual for it. THEY SENT ME ONE FOR FREE! Now, that's nice.

If you are familiar with other MIDI devices, this unit is pretty easy to use. The presets are not very good, but with some tweaking they can be adjusted nicely.

I use the Replifex with a Rocktron Pro Gap preamp, Intellifex, and a Mosvalve power amp. For guitars, I have a '79 Fender Strat, A Fernandes strat w/ DiMarzio HS-2 pu's, G&L Commanche, and a G&L ASAT. This unit sounds wonderful. It has just what any guitarist would need for the vintage stomp boxes in one unit and with the built in HUSH, none of the irritating noise associated with these boxes. If you are a serious guitarist, get serious with your effects and try this unit. You won't be sorry

I have used this in live shows for about a year and a half now playing every weekend. No trouble whatsoever.

Never used it.

I have been playing guitar for 25 years and this unit is a dream. I would definitely buy this unit again should something ever happen to it.

The menus and scrolling order are mostly intuitive. Turn the wrong knob by mistake, however, and it takes a little work to get back to where you you wanted to be in a particular menu. I appreciate parameters being given in physical units like dB or mS wherever applicable, instead of abstracts like 0 to 127, or 1 to 99. Memory managment with Store, Compare, Copy, Title Edit, and the like is well-done. Input and output level controls are real knobs - that's nice. I'm controlling patch changes with a Tech21 MIDI Mouse. Works just fine. Rocktron was nice enough to provide phantom power on extra MIDI pins 6 and 7. But Tech21 wasn't so nice, and put their phantom power reception on 'no connect' pins 1 and 5. Making a custom cable was necessary. I can't change any parameters on the fly with this set-up, but that doesn't matter much. As long as I don't saturate the thing with EQ boosts from instrument or amp I'm all set.

I'm playing a Pedulla Thunderbolt-5 bass through an SWR Bass 350 head. That combination means an exceptionally clean and solid bass sound. I was looking for a rack effects unit that would package that sound up for me, not destroy it. I was interested primarily in compression, EQ, and chorus, to replace the Boss pedals that I was using. The selling feature on the Rocktron unit to me was the transpar- ency of the effects. Time-based effects like chorus, flange, and phase-shift are warm and clear. They add the spatial ambiance or lushness to the sound that you're looking for, without making your instrument sound plastic or two-dimensional. There's also the possi- bility of some way-out stuff using heavier combinations of effects. The rotary speaker simulation is impressive. It generates some noise, especially at high compressor duty, or with treble boosts. The noise is comparable to that of pedals, but the Hush cuts it dead silent when you're not playing. And bypass is as quiet as can be. It gets a big thumbs-down for recording - additional noise-reduction gear is a must. Work this one out with your engineer, or go in armed with a dbx or other in your rack. I've got the unit in my amp's effects loop. Both the Pedulla bass and the 350's pre-amp are fairly hot outputs. I've had to reduce the pre-amp gain level that I was used to playing with, in order to keep from saturating the Replifex. Adding a separate compressor before the unit's input would cure the saturation problem and improve the S/N, but that's unnecessary for gigging, and again something to be worked out with your engineer in the studio.

My idea of 'backup' is 'bypass.' If anything goes wrong with the unit, I'll just turn the effects blend knob on my amp to full dry. Problem solved...
Anyway, no problems yet.

Most of the effects in here are fun, but unnessary for bass. I bought it for the flexibility of the sound, and to get away from the hassle and unreliability of a number of pedal connections. (The pedals, while a hassle, still sounded great - Boss Bass Limiter, Bass Chorus, and a pair of Bass EQ's.) If I had to do it all over again, would I choose Replifex? Probably. There's not a lot else out there with the clarity that bass demands, at this price. We'll see what the next few years may bring.

If you've used a digital multieffects unit before, then the Replifex will be relatively easy to use. I switched over from a Digitech DSP-128 and had no problem programming it. This unit DOES have a lot of features, though, and in that respect you should plan to take some time learning how to use it. It's not as easy to program as the Boss GX-700, but it's good enough. Once you've stored your patches, it's very easy to switch in live performance situations. The MIDI mapping works well so you can use even the most basic MIDI footpedal to send program changes. Additionally, the Replifex allows you to channel switch two other processors, so you can control everything from a central pedal rather than doing the effect dance in the middle of a show. For the program changes I make, there's not even a noticable drop between patches, and the delay and reverb spillovers are very nice. I've programmed one preset into bypass mode, so whenever I select that preset through MIDI, the unit can be switched off. It's also got a tap-delay feature that allows you to set the delay or modulation speed by tapping your foot on a momentary footswitch. I haven't tried it in a band situation, but it means you can play your tunes at whatever speed you like AND have the delay keeping the right time. With all the programmability, there ARE a few tricks that you'll have to learn through experience: my most recent is that you can't have two presets in bypass mode and shift between them -- it turns the second one on. No big deal, but you'd never know without trying it out. The main thing to remember is that this unit takes some time to program, but how often do you program your multieffects? Once you have it down, it's a very playable unit.

Raves: I bought this unit for a bass, and it's by far the best multieffects unit I've heard on a bass for under $1000. The Boss GX-700, the Art Nightbass, and the Digitech and Zoom processors I've tried all pale I comparison. Although the Replifex is marketed to guitarists, don't be fooled: this unit is so transparent and prgrammable that it will blow away other bass multieffect alternatives. All of the modulation sounds are absolutely wonderful, and the EQ goes all the way down to 16hz, so there's not going to be any problem about this unit cutting off low end, even on my boomy 5-string. In bypass mode, it has no effect at all on tone. With the effects on, the low end comes through beautifully and it perserves the tone of my bass perfectly. The flanger has a beautiful low, grinding quality to it (especially on the B string), and the phasing and leslie emulation also sound exceptionally good. The tremolos are lovely and haunting, especially with a little boost on the low end of the EQ. And of course all the usual effects (chorus, delay, reverb) are crystal clear and very sharp, unless you don't want them to be (the high frequency damping on the delay is a nice touch). The pitch shifting tracks well and can do a nice octaver or harmonizer imitation when called upon. In general, the nice thing about the Replifex is that it provides the bassist with exceptionally good sounding versions of effects not normally available to bassists. I used to cruise used effects dealers and the 'net compulsively looking for the right vintage pedals that would let my low end through (the Ross Phaser is a good bet to preserve your low end and still get good phasing, by the way), but the Replifex has happily ended my searches: it's got everything I need (except wah and distortion, which are best taken care of elsewhere, anyway) and almost every effect it offers sounds as good or better than any you'll find in stompbox or rackmount form. Plus, with the Hush, the unit is very quiet. In deference to those with more discerning ear than my own, I give it a 9, but I really think it's a 10.
Cautions: 1) I found it took a little experimentation to get the right levels once I was using it with the band, but the amount of effect to clean ratio is extremely flexible, so you can have a little or a lot of effect as you need it. 2) If you set the HUSH settings a little too high, you'll get some digital distortion, especially on the low notes. Easing off the hush will solve the problem. 3) The compression sounds good as an effect, but if you're a serious slap player (I'm not, and rarely use compression), you'll want a separate compressor. 4) You can approximate a wah sound with a continuous controller and the right EQ settings, but it's no substitute for an auto-wah. 5) Another writer complained about the lack of flexibility with reverbs. I suspect this has to do with keeping a market around for the Intellifex; for bass, the reverb is just fine. I kept my Digitech DSP-128 around at home in case I ever want some tripped out reverse-reverb effects in the studio, but it's more than enough live. 6) If you're seriously into vintage effects, buy vintage effects -- this unit sounds wonderful in its own right, but it isn't an MXR phaser or a Tremolux. In fact, the guy I bought it from was going back to vintage pedals for just that reason.

Yes I'd gig without a backup. I can't imagine what would go wrong with the unit. When I bought it, it had a knob missing, but other than that nothing's gone wrong with the unit at all.

They've been very helpful with basic questions, even though they know I got the unit used. They sent me a free knob when I asked about getting a replacement, and they even have a bassist on staff who has actual gigging experience with a Replifex. Absolutely first rate, especially in comparison to the usual level of customer support for these kinds of products from other companies.

Like I said, I'm a bassist who uses effects and who enjoys treating my SOUND as a place to be creative, and this is THE modulation unit to get. It was a little pricey for my budget, but compared to the money I would need to invest to even get SOME of these effects in usable versions for bass, it was totally worth it. The unit can be very subtle, or it can be completely over the top -- the choice is yours. This unit seems to play well with my other toys, and most importantly, it's got tons of programmability. I'm sure I'll be playing with it and coming up with new sounds for years to come. It sounds good in a rock setting (I play in an all-originals band that's somewhere between grungy alternarock and pop), but it's subtle enough that it could be used for jazz, fusion, country or whatever you play. Lastly, if you're another bassist who uses a Replifex, I'd love to trade tips and stories with you.