Support
Looper's Delight
|
Support |
|
|
Some time ago, when I asked here about odd kind of stompboxes, Andy
Butler pointed me toward the Jomox T-Resonator. Now that I finally had
time to test drive it some, here's a first review.
OT notice: the thing isn't a looper, but you can of course use it in
conjunction with a looper. How does that work? Read on!
The German Jomox company had been founded during the high tide of rave
and techno and other elektro styles in the mid-nineties and had their
focus on the genre-typical analogue retro synths, where names like
xbase999 and xbase888 roughly tell where it's at. Of course, it's only
logical to follow suit with the ancestry of Moog and offer effects
boxes as well, and the M-Resonator (released in 2005) and the
T-Resonator (released in 2008, German street price of €279) are, as
you might have expected, mainly filters.
WHAT IS IT:
A black table-top-style box with wallwart power supply, a lot of
dials, a few LEDs and one pushbutton. As for the signal path, the
stereo device offers two identical paths consisting of a simple
digital effect, followed by a 24dB lowpass filter.
Now that alone wouldn't get anyone interested, so Jomox added feedback
and modulation capabilities. As for feedback, there is a total of
three feedback chains, each available with positive and negative
phase. One is just round the filter, the second goes back to the input
of the digital effect, and the third one is a cross feedback leading
to the input of the other channel's filter.
As for modulation, there's one envelope follower (not adjustable in
any way), which can control filter cutoff (and some parameters with
the digital effects, see below), and there's an LFO (0.15-22Hz sine)
which can control filter cutoff. Note that if you use both envelope
and LFO as modulation source, both signals are multiplied, and the LFO
is retriggered each time the envelope restarts.
For additional fun, the output of each filter can control the cutoff
of the other filter - note that this is not an envelope follower,
rather it follows the actual waveform.
About the digital effect: there's a total of eight effects available,
all of them delay-like (and from now on all called "delay"): chorus,
flanger, two "waveguide" algorithms (4-6 short (<30ms) delay lines for
phase cancellation-like effects), two delays (500ms+500ms vs. 1s+30ms)
and two reverbs.
For each effect, there are two parameters adjustable with knobs, and
two more controlled by the envelope follower (not controllable in any
way).
The delay lines take any kind of length change with the genre typical
bend and without any artifacts.
Another sidenote: the thing doesn't appear to be overtly sturdy. Its
only pushbutton (bypass) already feels like it will see the end of
times approaching.
USED ALL ALONE:
Lots of feedback loops - this should also make noise on its own -
great for those "no input feedback network" people.
And getting this thing to make noises is quite simple. Turn up
negative feedback for ugly queaks, turn up positive feedback for
low-frequency woofer smashing. Of course, it gets more interesting
than that when you put a flanger in the feedback chain (instead of or
parallel to the normal filter feedback) or cross-feedback both
filters.
The use of the LFO is, well, as boring as you'd expect, taking that it
only offers sine waves and barely reaches into the usable audible
frequency range. Of course, having one filter on low-frequency-rumble
modulate the other's cutoff can help here.
ON A GUITAR:
Of the digital effects, the waveguide effect is big fun, also based on
the fact that the delay lines are modulated by the input envelope. Put
that together with some feedback around the delay, and you get some
bowed-glass-like sounds. Use a quick LFO on filter cutoff, and you get
filteresque gating effects. It's not something that is entirely new or
novel, but some interesting additions to the repertoire.
It gets tricky with a clean to slightly distorted guitar sound,
playing short, slow melody segments and adjusting the thing in the
intervals in between. Tricky adjustment of the filters and delays
allows for tape-delay-style noise buildup (and actually, the feedback
gain over the delay loop can be set to >100%), so there is that
territory to use it as a normal effect (meaning one that doesn't mash
up your guitar beyond recognition) with some personal attitude.
ON SOME ELEKTRO STUF:
Now time for some pattern sequencer TB303-like lines. First thing I
notice is that even with the filter cutoff fully open, the filter is
obviously already far below the signal's frequency top - bad. What is
new (in relation to the common repertoire) is positive filter feedback
for some aggressive growling. But you don't get those screaming
filters we're used to. Of course you don't get them - there's no
distortion.
Quickly put a Boss OD-2 into the chain - more specifically synth into
M-Resonator channel 1 into OD-2 into M-Resonator channel 2. Now that's
more like it! Both filters, its internal feedback paths and the
overdrive pedal interact in a really nice, non-linear and sometimes
really unexpected way. Add some frequency modulation for odd chirping,
let the filters sing together with the distortion - that's exactly
what filter freaks like. And as it turns out, the addition of a
distortion box also makes it much more interesting in the no-input
configuration.
ON LOOPS:
If your loop is a sparse guitar (or other melody) line, it works fine
- see "on a guitar". If it's more dense, then forget it. The result is
either boring or some big wash.
SUMMARY:
With the tons of feedback options, the integrated delay and the filter
frequency modulation, Jomox have obviously tried to tread on new
grounds in the analogue filter world. And that is a wise choice for
someone releasing a thing that does, basically, only filter in 2008.
It's a little hard to understand which target group they're aiming at,
however: the form factor of the tabletop case makes it impractical
both for guitarists' floorboards and for rackmounted studios, the only
remaining choice being tabletop setups of DJs (which I can't envision
using this) or the noise music crowd. The more analogue-gear-inclined
people no doubt would've liked more control (CV) jacks, while for the
non-modular crowd might have liked a more powerful LFO instead.
I do see the lack of a more powerful LFO (with a bigger choice of
waveforms and a bigger frequency range) and the missing distortion
feature as the two biggest drawbacks. If it had that, an otherwise
very specialized self-oscillation generator which can also be used on
melody instruments with some very careful adjustments would be turned
into a really unique effect useful for guitarists (and other
instrumentalists) and elektro synth people alike.
I'm currently reflecting whether I'm going to return it. It's
just...not really great, but not completely normal, either. And it's
relatively small.
Rainer
ps: perhaps I'll do a short video shortly if I'm in the mood.