Re: Pedals Vs. Rack Effects
Assuming we're not talking budget equipment, rack effects are generally higher quality than stomps.... particularly the delays and reverbs. They also have much deeper editing abilities allowing you to really tweek something to suit your tastes.
That said, rack units usually aren't that great for on the fly editing, unless you pre-thought out your on the fly edits by patching a parameter to an expression pedal or tap tempo switch.
The nice thing about pedals is that they're pretty easy to edit on the fly. I think they're better for your average dude who really doesn't need to delve into whether his delay has three equal volume repeats or three decending volume repeats.
Personally, I think racks are great if have your sound nailed down and you want quick and easy changes via midi. The settings are saved, so you don't have to worry about the knobs getting bumped, and with a midi footswitch you could have all your different clean, rhythm and lead tones at the tap of single buttons.
If, on the other hand you're like me and you're constantly f*cking with things they're probably not the right choice. From my experience, rack units were an excersize in frustration as I'm too indecisive to have that many options presented to me.... which is why I love the single dial concept of the Phase 90 so much as the speed either works or it doesn't.
