Stomp Around

So my Arturia Microfreak synthesizer is up and running, which is a story I will recount in a future blog post. I've been enjoying it a lot, but one thing that the Microfreak is lacking is any built-in effects. Usually for almost any instrument you want at least a certain baseline collection of effects, starting with reverb and delay. For a synthesizer in particular, especially a non-stereo synth like the Microfreak, a stereo chorus is really helpful for opening up the sound. From there, other effects are icing on the cake.

Now I could get 3 different effects pedals to chain together to give me my reverb, delay and chorus, but the setup I have with the Microfreak is very compact and I'd like to keep things that way. So, enter the Zoom MS-50G multi-effects pedal.

This unit is basically an entire pedalboard-in-a-box, where you can digitally chain together 6 effects of your choosing from a broad library of built-in effects, or even load it up with custom effects via USB, which is pretty cool. This particular model is mono-in and stereo-out, which is perfect for my Microfreak.

Now I could have gone with a different model that has both stereo in and out, or even the updated version of this model, but from the research I've done, this specific one is, curiously, the most compatible with sideloading homebrew effects... And it's also cheaper because I picked it up used.

However it's only barely used. The seller said that they bought it and never used it, and I'd believe it. There really wasn't a single scratch on it, and only a tiny bit of dirt stuck to the little rubber pad on the underside that keeps the pedal from sliding across the stage when you step on it (like most pedals it's technically designed for guitars rather than keyboards).

Really the only complaint I can come up with is that there's a tiny bit of background noise when I'm running it off USB, but the noise gets drowned out completely once I start playing so I'm not particularly bothered by it.

In all it makes for a delightfully compact and sweet sounding setup.