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New multi FX unit from Harley Benton


The Saint
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The first multi FX unit from Harley Benton, available from Thomann....

https://www.thomann.de/gb/harley_benton_dnafx_git.htm

It seems to be their take on the Mooer GE150.

It appears to have all the usual stuff we have come to expect from these type of pedals that have become so popular in recent years. This one also comes at a very attractive price.  We all know how the HB brand operates and this unit seems to follow the trend

It's only just been announced, so I can't find much info about it on the web, not even an owners manual.

I've been eying up the Line 6 Pod GO, but this might change my thinking.

Anyone have any further info to share...?

 

Edited by The Saint
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I bought a HOTONE AMPERO ONE a month or so ago , it's a similar sort of unit but has a fantastic touch screen, really enjoying the tones from it, sounds great with guitar and bass guitar, I bought it so I could play silently through the headphone out so as to not annoy the wife !!

Just bought a HEADRUSH FRFR 108 speaker to use with it and the combination sounds fantastic, the bass sounds make the windows and the glass in our display unit rattle !! 😛;) 

https://www.thomann.de/gb/hotone_mp_80_ampero_one.htm

https://www.thomann.de/gb/headrush_frfr_108_active_monitor.htm

 

John 😎 

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3 hours ago, stewblack said:

Wow, that's a very light, very reasonably priced unit. 

Amazon UK are selling them at £191 at the moment which is cheaper than other sites selling them though last week I got it for £182 from them !!, noticed the prices on Amazon can vary day to day, week to week ;) 

John 😎 

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Downloaded the manual and one of the geq 's is aimed at bass guitar so guessing this us a general purpose pedal 

In which case shame one of the billion amp sims isn't a bass one! 

Oh and for those who didn't realise the unicycle comment was entirely innocent. Julia is fabulous on the bass and famous for her ability to ride a unicycle and play bass at the same time. Check out Thomann's YouTube channel. 

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6 hours ago, ped said:

Guys seriously 😐 not really the place

Excuse me, I was complimenting her on her bass playing ability, presentational skills and ability to ride a unicycle whilst doing those two things rather than making smutty innuendo like some, 

 

thanks @stewblack there 

Edited by Geek99
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OK, response from Thomann :

At the moment, it's really mainly designed for guitar. It has some functions for bass integrated (like an EQ for bass), but no amp or cabinet models. You can load your own IRs though, so it is possible to extend that functionality a bit. 

Which raises a question. For me at least. What is this IR of which they speak? 

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4 hours ago, stewblack said:

OK, response from Thomann :

At the moment, it's really mainly designed for guitar. It has some functions for bass integrated (like an EQ for bass), but no amp or cabinet models. You can load your own IRs though, so it is possible to extend that functionality a bit. 

Which raises a question. For me at least. What is this IR of which they speak? 

An impulse response is essentially a measured model of an amp or cab that's portable (modeller agnostic, if you like).

Edited by Jack
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First impressions. Very nice design, metal base, plastic top. 

Clunky great wall wart to adapt the European style plug, but it's 9v centre neg so actually not an issue. 

I'm used to Zoom's multi F✖ so that's my comparison benchmark. The screen and controls are much classier than the Zoom, whose simple animations are cute but dated.

I dove in without the manual (as any self respecting bloke of a certain age will do) and it is pleasantly intuitive to alter the parameters of individual effects and rename patches. 

All became a lot easier once I found the download link for the proprietary software. Thomann have hidden this with great and unnecessary cunning but I won in the end!

 The thing I always found with my zoom pedals was an inordinate great heap of reverb and delay options. Which I have little or no use for. One or two maybe, but there seems to be hundreds. Well this shiny little silver thing is like that but with guitar amps and cabs. 

No surprise really, it's aimed at the guitarist market. There are empty slots for 'third party IRs' which I now know how to both make and buy. A few dedicated bass speaker options and the balance shifts. They do have a bass bin, head and mic option. But d'you know what? If you forget the labels and treat everything on the pedal simply as a sound effect, and one you can alter and fine tune and just let your ears be the judge its absolutely fine. 

I did spend a while reducing high frequency distortion (and distortion in general in fact) from presets and produced very usable noises both through headphones and cab. 

The Zoom pedals allow any number of configurations - heck you can just pile up a bunch of overdrives or five different chorus pedals if that tickles your fancy. 

Unless I'm missing something (remember I haven't studied the manual) this is organised very differently.

Each patch can feature up to 9 different programmable 'noises', they come under headings FX/COMP, DS/OD, AMP, CAB, NS GATE, EQ, MOD, DELAY, REVERB.  Each of these has their own list of choices. So all the amp choices are under AMP, reverbs under REVERB etc. 

So far so good. However, for reasons of palpable insanity all but one of the wah effects are in the same sub section as the compressors (under FX/Comp) . This means you can choose either a compressor or a wah. But not both. Go figure. If there's one effect in need of good compression it's an auto wah, right? 

The rest makes sense, fuzz boxes all under one roof, as are eqs and cabs and other modulation effects, such as flangers, choruses, phasers and such. 

Anything missing? Synth sounds I guess. Not an issue for me but a win for the Zoom. 

I have much more to learn but I will never need another overdrive or valve sim if I keep this! In case you're wondering why I bought something so clearly biased towards the guitar, I thought it would sit nicely in the fx loop of the high frequency side of my Bi-amp rig. And it's Harley Benton so had to be tried. When Thomann's house brand hits the mark the quality /price equation is just plain nuts. Well worth the gamble of the odd turkey. 

More on this as I get to grips with it. 

15980410833391563518288122104756.jpg

Edited by stewblack
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Awesome, Thanks for the rundown Stew, I think its worth giving Thomann an email with some feedback regarding the Wah and compression issue... seems very restrictive and I think it could well put some people o off buying this pedal, having to choose one or the other.

Have you had a go at loading in an IR yet, purchased or created? Does the proprietary software allow you create your own IR's or do you need a 3rd party application for that? I have seen the Kemper Profiler IR process but without such a device i'm not sure how you would drive the necessary frequency sweeps etc, that form the IR. 

 

Thanks again for taking the time to write up what you have discovered so far. 

Cheers

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Hi @Bobo_08, I have seen enough YouTube videos to know that creating an IR is feasible, achievable, but not something I'm going to attempt yet.

The software provided is just designed to edit the parameters of the effects and to rename patches. I haven't worked out how to reorder the patches but it must be doable. 

I will feedback to Thomann as you suggest. Thanks for your comments. 

 

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I've had the chance to set up my Bi-amp rig. Main effects board covers both rigs, this went into the loop of the 'treble' amp. 

It's spectacular! Really good hearing it at volume. I like being able to hear distortion, chorus, envelope filters and so on, working on the higher end of my sound while my big bottom remains solid. 

I then tried this as a stand alone through a straightforward amp/cab set up. And it's absolutely fine for bass. 

If you want distortion then this has every conceivable option. I'm even warming to the idea of reverb on a bass! 

Considering the price point this is an excellent option for recording and live work. It ain't a Helix, but it doesn't claim to be. It's not as flexible as a Zoom but the simple way the menu is organised makes it incredibly easy to use and to understand. 

The only weakness I've found so far is a small delay when switching between patches. A real issue if you want to bring a different patch in and out during a song. 

Definitely needs ironing out. 

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56 minutes ago, Bobo_08 said:

Nice one Stew, would love to see some photos of you Bi-amp setup. I believe the bassists from Royal Blood gets his tone from Bi-amping. Oh btw did you get any response from Thomann regarding the wah and compressor not being able to be used in parallel?

Not yet, not contacted them yet, still learning the ins and outs. 

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  • 4 months later...

Finally got around to spending quality time with this little box of tricks. 

I emailed HB HQ and received a prompt response. I asked if they'd consider more bass effects and sims, told them their pitch shift is out of tune and they promised to pass my concerns and ideas to the development team. So that's done. 

I also found a rich resource of cab sims (IRs) free to download. The Ampeg cab I used is simply wonderful. A game changer. 

I found a way to work with the pedal consisting of a series of 'base' sounds onto which I craft other effects. Copying and pasting with the desktop software is a doddle and I have many great sounds as a result. Being a 'guitar' effect is no handicap. The custom equaliser allows you to choose any frequency and boost or cut same. 

I'll record some and pop them up here to illustrate my point. 

All in all I am glad it didn't sell when I listed it. I feel it is a worthy successor to, and serious upgrade on, my Zoom B3. 

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