Walrus ACS-1 thoughts?
- Thread starter ADAOCE
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Laundryroom David
Keyboard Cowboy 🤠
Curious too. I had an Iridium for a while but the lack of effects loop was a deal killer and I returned it. I’m kind of wary of Walrus stuff, but if others have had good experiences with this one, I’d def be interested.
Fingolfen
Well-known member
It's not bad... I picked one up because I needed a headphone amp for the pedal show I did a few weeks back, but even through good headphones it falls short of my Katana...
I also picked up a Two Notes Re-Volt... I think I like that one better, but it actually has a tube in it...
I also picked up a Two Notes Re-Volt... I think I like that one better, but it actually has a tube in it...
Interesting idea although I feel it would have the same menu diving and tweaking effect that drove me away from the stomp or my Ampero. Part of what is so appealing about the Dream
Thanks for the info. I have never much gotten along with headphone playing. I use the dream through studio monitors so that would be my primary application l.
I’ve heard about the revolt maybe I’ll have to look into that too.
jhaneyzz
Well-known member
I haven't used it but seriously considered it.
I went with the ironically named "Simplifier DLX" and I gotta say, It is kick ass.
jhaneyzz
Well-known member
I went with the Humboldt Simplifier primarily because of the headphone amp which kicks the living shit out of the Katana's headphone out.
I couldn't be happier with the choice based on that. and everything else about it i really like.
Except it is the most complicated bit of gear imaginable to plug in. the controls are simple enough but the absurd array of possible connection configurations allow you do just about anything you can imagine and many things you would never imagine.
Oh I’ve looked at the Simplifier for a while now but never tried it. They just came out with the mk2 version. Another thing to consider I guess!
jhaneyzz
Well-known member
I will say that the tube type selectors don't seem to have any audible affect to the sound.
I MOSTLY play into headphones for what it's worth.
But you can do some amazing bi-amp effects, the built in reverb is really good and the stereo spread switch is remarkably useful.
And the individual amp models are excellent.
Joben Magooch
Well-known member
I’ve had both an Iridium and ACS1 (and just about every other modeler out there, tbh). I like the ACS1 okay, but not my favorite.
I think it’s a little more compressed than a lot of modelers. They did lower the compression with a firmware update a while back but it’s still noticeable. Having two different amps L/R in the pedal is nice in theory but not that noticeable in practice (or at least not any “better” than iridium allowing different CABS only, for instance).
I believe the same firmware update that tweaked the compression added a bit extra gain across the board. Still I found the ACS1 to be much cleaner overall than comparable modelers. Not necessarily a bad thing but something to be aware of. To get a good edge of breakup sound that I wanted i found myself having to have the built-in boost on 100% of the time. It is more of a “pedal platform” amp than one you’d really want to get much of its own gain from.
Generally speaking I preferred the iridium to the ACS1. I found it to be a bit more natural sounding/feeling (it’s one of the best at emulating a real amp “feel” IMO), more “clear” or “defined” and a better stereo spread.
That being said I’ve since moved on to Tonex now and it blows both of them away. I don’t think it’s close. I moved to iridium/acs1 as I was tired of all the menu diving and tweaking on Helix. No, Tonex isn’t as simple as Iridium/ACS1 but it’s still relatively straightforward overall and nowhere near as complicated and/or convoluted as the “big” modelers. Grab a preset of an amp you like and load it up, make a couple small tweaks right there on the hardware knobs and that’s it. Beyond loading your presets it’s not any more complicated really than tweaking an actual amp to your taste. I really can’t recommend enough. I’d consider it a good deal at twice the price; at ~$400 new and ~$350 used I think it’s a total no-brainer compared to Iridium/ACS1/UA at ~$300ish used.
I think it’s a little more compressed than a lot of modelers. They did lower the compression with a firmware update a while back but it’s still noticeable. Having two different amps L/R in the pedal is nice in theory but not that noticeable in practice (or at least not any “better” than iridium allowing different CABS only, for instance).
I believe the same firmware update that tweaked the compression added a bit extra gain across the board. Still I found the ACS1 to be much cleaner overall than comparable modelers. Not necessarily a bad thing but something to be aware of. To get a good edge of breakup sound that I wanted i found myself having to have the built-in boost on 100% of the time. It is more of a “pedal platform” amp than one you’d really want to get much of its own gain from.
Generally speaking I preferred the iridium to the ACS1. I found it to be a bit more natural sounding/feeling (it’s one of the best at emulating a real amp “feel” IMO), more “clear” or “defined” and a better stereo spread.
That being said I’ve since moved on to Tonex now and it blows both of them away. I don’t think it’s close. I moved to iridium/acs1 as I was tired of all the menu diving and tweaking on Helix. No, Tonex isn’t as simple as Iridium/ACS1 but it’s still relatively straightforward overall and nowhere near as complicated and/or convoluted as the “big” modelers. Grab a preset of an amp you like and load it up, make a couple small tweaks right there on the hardware knobs and that’s it. Beyond loading your presets it’s not any more complicated really than tweaking an actual amp to your taste. I really can’t recommend enough. I’d consider it a good deal at twice the price; at ~$400 new and ~$350 used I think it’s a total no-brainer compared to Iridium/ACS1/UA at ~$300ish used.
As @Joben Magooch mentioned the Tonex is focusing mainly on amp models. They have pedal models but the strongest focus is on amps. Effects are also very limited because that’s again not their focus. So dialing it in is simple as it’s mainly selecting an amp model (and a cab/IR for DI), tweaking the EQ, which is great, storing the preset and sending it to the pedal. The application is great to quickly dial in your sound when recording in your DAW.
I started capturing for Tonex because of the quality of the captures, it’s on par with Quad Cortex or even above that. Capturing an amp (and pedals in front of it) is done using the Tonex application which is a time consuming process (about 30 min per capture in my situation).
I’ve captured free Dream’65 tone models which are on my website xogmusic.net if you become a member. These are so good that I sold the Dream’65 pedal.
I’ve captured my Bogner Ecstasy and rented Fender Silverface Bassman, Vibrolux and Mesa Lonestar amps and captured them with and without pedals. These are available on my website.
There’s a learning process on how to use the input trim on the pedal and in the application. The gain control is behaving similarly to the input trim so you have to find the ideal global input trim setting that works for your pedals up front, the output of the guitar you use, and the headroom you like. You then dial in the gain to compensate the drive required. I noticed that the headroom of the Dream’65 is very high so I must dial in the input trim of the Tonex pedal to -3 or something lower to get a similar headroom. I like to push the input with Broadcast AP and Deep Blue delay clones I build to get that raw and typical overdrive into delay before the amp sound that Ariel Posen uses (Oz Noy and others too).
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Hey man thank you for the detailed write up. I’ll have to strongly consider the tonex I think. You hit my main concerns with the walrus. I love the sound and feel of the dream 65 but the tonex offers a lot more. UA really is ridiculous not offering midi or more than one preset.
Alright between you and @Joben Magooch i think you’ve convinced me.. time to go search reverb. Especially since you captured the Dream! I heard something about people doing that.
At one point I was miffed about mono IN and no effects loop but I’ve slowly realized I run my wet effects after the amp for a studio like sound anyways and don’t typically run stereo in either so I think those road blocks are gone
Joben Magooch
Well-known member
I had some of the same qualms as I have typically preferred wet effects before the amp AND stereo wet effects so I had compromise on one of those… for the time being I’ve went with stereo effects post-amp and like it quite okay. I have still considered just picking up a second Tonex to run stereo wet effects before amp… but for the time being I’m fairly content. Still, two Tonex is going to be cheaper than the “big” modelers and about the same as dual Iridium’s, UA, etc.
But yeah. There are a few really good captures of the UA Dream for Tonex, along with Ruby too. Best of both worlds!
Started messing around with the Tonex tonight and it’s incredible. The sensitivity and sound are so good. I just scoured tone net for a bunch of models and found some really great stuff. I’ll check out your website too. I’m figuring out the input trim and how I’d all works with other pedals but right now I’m not having many issues. I use the LA2A comp and some drives from the HX FX mostly a Timmy.
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