Has anyone tried either? I've got this wild hair to try these out, even though I have no need for any additional dirt pedals. Not to mention, the price of entry is steep.
Still... I'm intrigued. I'd love to hear people's real world opinions.
I haven't tried either but I have the DECO and the overdrive on that is brilliant. I would love to have the Riverside, I like the fact that you can connect it to the DECO and use the Favorites switch for both.
I was intrigued by photos of the Sunset. It looks like it could cover a lot of territory. I don't really need another overdrive (and that wouldn't stop me), but maybe it could replace a few OD's on a board.
For the Sunset, I've basically got all the original circuits the options are based on. That's still a lot of money to simply emulate 6 pedals when you've already got the real thing. Of course, the Elektron Analog Drive allows you to access all of them and with different settings via MIDI or the from panel stomps. Sunset limits you to 4 with an external favorite switch. (Which may be enough...)
Riverside is an interesting animal. I've been listening to a lot of demos, the dynamic nature of how the tone stack changes as the gain range increases is fascinating. I think using the JFET stage for low gain makes for a much more natural sound than purely digital pedals can do. I'm using a few "amp in a box" pedals (which are just drives voiced similar to a specific amp) and the Riverside could probably do a decent job replacing most of them.
I wonder what the inevitable "big box" drive pedal is going to be like...
I was hoping your post would say that. I am dying to know your impressions because I really want one! Right now I use the DECO as my overdrive at rehearsals. It sounds amazing into a Marshall half stack; like the best recorded Les Paul. Hard to explain, but sounds great.
As I prefer Strymons as digital processor for delays and reverbs overdrives seem weak to me. Too much sounds are "chocking" when bending strings.
Go for Brothers.
Brothers looks like an incredibly cool pedal as well. I'm not really sure why it's lumped into the same category as Sunset, because it's an expensive Dual Overdrive with switchable options? The MIDI implementation is nice and the tones are definitely forward looking. Interesting fuzz tones and Overdrive, usable boost.
Surprisingly the demos for Riverside (that I've watched exhaustively as I waited for it to arrive ) range from not so good (Andertons) to decent (TPS) to pretty darn good (Joe King, Vintage King). The biggest concern to most is the digital nature... In my short time demoing it, the part that makes you think it's digital is how every gain setting seems to work and sound good, and as you push the gain it doesn't get to the point of falling apart. Still have a lot of playing to do to see if it stays or goes, especially against my fleet of Wamplers (Plexi-Drive Deluxe, Pinnacle, Triple Wreck). Definitely interesting and fun so far.
I am dying to know your impressions because I really want one! Right now I use the DECO as my overdrive at rehearsals. It sounds amazing into a Marshall half stack; like the best recorded Les Paul. Hard to explain, but sounds great.
