Catalinbread Belle Epoch VS Belle Epoch Deluxe VS (Which sounds closer to an Echoplex EP-3?)
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- Опубліковано 22 сер 2024
- Versus EP-3 (3:01) PAF Brown Style (4:08) Self-oscillation (7:08)
All content by BMS except Maestro Demonstration sample
King Of Pain Words & Music By Sting
![АЛАУДИНОВ у Скабеевой: эти их ВСУ нас НЕ ДОГОНЯТ 😁 [Пародия]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/an0anqU4WGQ/mqdefault.jpg)
Man your playing is mad good. Really well shot / awesome variety of visuals + a kitty. I enjoyed the whole thing! I think they all sound great - the deluxe looks really nice.
Thanks so much for saying! :)
Beautiful sounds at the Oscillation section. They all have a very similar vibe and any differences between the 3 are insignificant in the context of good music. Thanks for the great comparison!
Look at all these comments. Look what they say. Hard to add to it.. You’re an artist and a craftsman. Even the cat gets it…..
Ha. The cat is currently asleep on my legs preventing me from getting up and making another video, so I’m not sure he does. Thanks, buddy. Appreciate you.
Finally! Was waiting for a proper comparison long time. Not to mention, that this is a great one! Cheers for taking the time.
Oh, Your cat is a winner as well 🙂🤛
He probably doesn't need the encouragement, but I thoroughly appreciate it. 😊
Great vid. I also love the cat just chilling with you.
Thanks, Craig! He’s the best.
Sounds amazing dude , keep up the content ❤
Thanks so much, Bruce!
It’s good to see you back- you were the reason I got my regular belle epoch in the first place :) have two- one in grey and the other in red.
Oh by the way I’m peterhkchoi on insta- we recently came across each other there. Probably the biggest EJ fan on this side of the planet as you can see from my utube videos haha.
Great tones and playing!
King of Pain was Fantastic. Enjoyed your playing. Nice demo.
Thanks for taking the time to relate that, Michael! 🙏🏻
I have both. The main tonal difference is the Deluxe is designed to self-internalize 9v into 22v, making the repeats and preamp more robust sounding. The OG Belle Epoch is pretty much the same exact thing but it only sees 9v by default unless you double it to 18v. The Deluxe is just an elevation of an already incredible delay pedal. There’s a reason Eric Johnson uses the original gray Belle Epoch on his tours. They work. And the amount of air he pushes with his power amps will make the delay sound huge anyway.
always love your videos man! glad to see new content!
Thanks for watching, Luis! I appreciate the encouragement, my friend.
Thanks Brendan, great playing that shows the various strengths of the Echoplex, BE and BED.
Your cat is a star. ;)
Hey Peter! Good to hear from you! Here's hoping the stardom doesn't go to his head as he's enough of a handful. :)
Bren, we humans exist solely to serve cats - I believe that's the way cats see it.
I still cant decide, but this video made it clear that i need a phaser
This was thatgreat little Phase 95 but the Helix can be found cheap too and was my favourite from the Toneprint series.
Whoa man. Keep them coming! Loved it!
Dude! Killer demo all around!
Thanks, Scott!
To me, the BE sounds closest in the delay section, but with a darker preamp. But the BED sounds better than the EP-3 in the delay section. It almost sounds like it's using a better tape.
That’s a good point. I probably should have changed my tape to something fresher for this comparison but it didn’t occur to me then.
@@BrendanMowatSmith I don't mean it sounded like a newer tape. It had a lot of modulation on it like an older tape. It just sounded richer to me. The modulation felt more like it was designed for the delay than a side effect of the tape like it's supposed to.
🤷🏼♂️
Firstly, nice playing.
Having owned both myself, I'd say they both sound pretty similar. I definitely prefer the additional features and functionality of the Deluxe though.
Thanks, Michael. Very much appreciated. I haven’t used the addition features since I bought it but I love hearing how different gear works for different folks.
@@BrendanMowatSmith I'd highly recommend using a Dunlop Volume X expression pedal with the Deluxe. (as Howard Gee recommended!) Some really cool sounds going on with that. The CB tap switch is also very useful, except the range of tempo is a bit limited unlike other digital delays/echo units. Such a great pedal though. You're lucky to have an EP-3!! Sounds boss.
Great demo as usual :) Keep on echoing buddy.
Thanks, man! [thanks, man... thanks, man... thanks, man]
(bad echo joke)
@@BrendanMowatSmith I hope you get some feedback for that. (feedback...get it?)
That one was worth repeating!
Sounds crazy but still prefer the sound of your cat
Thanks. He’s a tough one to beat.
Outstanding skills and sounds!
Thanks! 🙏🏻
I like the features of the Deluxe but I think the regular sounds better. But either way us viewers win listing to your killer playing.
Agreed. Wish I hadn't have had prematurely sold the first to get the Deluxe. Live and learn. Or just keep living and never learning, in my case. And thanks so much!
@@BrendanMowatSmith I just learned they are different internally recently which took me here. I was considering upgrading to the Deluxe, mainly for tap tempo because I love the Belle Epoch so much but generally the way I use it, I can live without tap. My DD-7 has tap and I use that in ways where tap is more beneficial, so I guess I'm good.
It's such a great sounding delay though, warm but still natural - a lot of warmer analog delays have a sort of rough unnatural sound.
@@shred5 Check out the UA Starlight. It ruthlessly destroys both Belles and sounds closer to an Echoplex than anything I've ever heard. Has tap too!
@@BrendanMowatSmith I'll check one out if I get the chance, thanks. I actually like the sound of the Belle Epoch though, so I'm less concerned with sounding more authentic if you catch my drift.
@shred5 Fair enough. I’m certain the qualities you like will be accentuated in the UA, though. You get the best DMM replica ever, as well.
Deluxe no doubt... standard version sounds fantastic too though.
After listening to the comparison starting around 3:08 through a pair of Dynaudios a number of times the standard and the echoplex sound very, very close while the deluxe also sounds great but it's a touch cleaner but also has a touch more punch. It's very interesting. My issue with Catalinbread is there is a significant variation of sonic performance from pedal to pedal. I've had the deluxe twice, first one was noisy and overloaded quickly, the second was quiet but sounded a bit lifeless and really knocked a lot off the top end. I have a standard currently that sounds great except for the level of noise. Unfortunately there is currently no other pedal manufacturer that makes a echoplex type delay that is as good as these. I would love to dig the Strymon pedals but to me they really sound like a digital emulation.
Hmm. You’re not the first to tell me they’ve detected variances between units as I’ve only ever had one of each. I love the modulation on the El Cap, but it sounded thin next to the Catalinbread so I eventually sold it. Thanks for weighing in, Chris.
what about the echoplex delay+preamp?
Thank you for this!!!
😊
You're a cool cat! I enjoyed listening to your playing. Keep it up! I don't know if I can tell a difference between these 3. All sound great to me... but that maybe your good technique.
Thanks so much. The differences might seem negligible in the vid, but the first Belle is audibly darker when you’re playing them. I appreciate the compliment!
Best pedals demo ever period! ja the standard BE is supply with 18v? I can't tell if the standard BE really has less attack or is just darker. I have the standard BE and the possibility of getting a deluxe came out, I do not know if the differences are justified so much, I think the sandard has its own thing as lo-fi. What do you think about it?
Man, that’s super kind. Wow, thanks. I kinda miss the original now that I sold it for the Deluxe. I *never* use the other modes on it and I kinda preferred the way the original felt. I ran them all at 9v, fwiw.
@@BrendanMowatSmith When you say the original you mean the echoplex real tape or the BE standard? I hope you continue to test this style because the truth is that you make excellent comparisons! in my case I always use the BE in 18v for the headroom, but I did not try it too much with 9v to tell the truth. Greetings from Argentina!
Thanks, dude. I really appreciate that. I have a couple comparison videos planned when I get some time. I was referring to the standard earlier. Apologies.
@@BrendanMowatSmith Cool man!!.. if you came across again with the standard BE try it in 18v, is more articulated and responsive but with the dark lo-fi colour, is not mushy that way. That's why I asked you the voltage, because compared to the other 2 I noticed it more restricted to what I'm used to hearing it in the transients. The 18v bring it closer to the deluxe but with his character
Thanks, dude. Perhaps because it’s closer to the original EP-3 that way. Who knows. I had a voltage doubler cabler and never tried it, frustratingly. On the bright side, another tape delay is on its way in the form of the Del-Verb. I’ll try to include the Deluxe in the comparison video for it.
That’s a very patriotic Dover drive you’ve got there
Not quite; look closer.
Hey man, which looper/switcher is that, with all the blue dipswitches?
It’s from a company called Flex Reaction. I’ve had it for a few years with no issues. 👍🏻
Brendan Mowat-Smith cool thanks!
What phaser are you using for the brown sound section? This just sold me on grabbing a BED!
Full disclosure: I’m kinda over the BED and it doesn’t really sound like my Echoplex. The phaser is the little Jim Dunlop 95. 👍🏼
@@BrendanMowatSmith So are you using the BE instead of the BED? Do you think it is better for a brown sound type of application? What are the reasons? Thanks!
I preferred the original BE to the Deluxe despite it being darker. These days I’m happily using the UAFX Starlight. It just sounds sooo good. The Memory Man model on it is amazing too. I still like and use the Catalinbread Echorec, however.
Nice.
Thanks for saying, Mike!
Killer demo! and killer playing!!! Awesome man. Hey, I notice a very slight (almost imperceptible, but definitely there...) volume drop with the original vs. the deluxe and ep3. I am experiencing the same exact thing with the catalinbread echorec right now. I think I am going to have to get a belle deluxe. To my ears, it's that the input stage on the original doesn't have as much headroom as the delue or ep3.
*I know you can manipulate with the internal trimmer, but when going for unity gain (which many of us want to do) and not wanting to increase saturation- there seems to be no way of escaping the slight drop in volume. I think of it as a tiny dip that rebounds more so than an all out volume loss. Do you or anyone else hear this as well? Or am I just crazy? I can't be...ha. The way I found this out - after gigging with the echorec for several years with no complaints, I started hitting it with a zonk machine by D*A*M. This revealed the amount of headroom...and it did so on all of my pedals really. I found only higher headroom pedals to survive the onslaught....24v eq and kingsley stuff did fine.
In your demo, it is more evident when using the paf and fuzzy tone. But actually, the deluxe sounds just ever so louder in almost all cases during the video.