Haha good point! I haven't had the chance to check out the Uzi yet. I'll have to get that in to see what it's all about. Thank you so much for watching, and also the recommendation 😁
I have all three of them, too. And the Uzi. The Rigel is clearly the best in the effects-loop return (MT15). The chopper-z, the dark flame and the uzi are sounding better in front of the clean channel, i.m.h.o.. But they all are sounding even a lot better boosted with the Joyo Argos-Overdrive. The Argos makes even the loosest and bassiest preamp or distortion pedal tight as hell. It`s an absolute bargain for 50 bucks. Even shitty preamps are sounding good, when boosted with it. It`s aclone of the precision drive.
Hello! Thank you so much for the kind words! I'm always working hard to get my stuff out to new viewers. Hopefully here soon I'll hit my stride in it all. But I really appreciate you enjoying my videos. It mean the world to me! 😁
Great comparison video! I preferred the smoothness of the Chopper Z! I don't tend to play a lot of high gain stuff but feel like any of these pedals would get me to a happy place 😁
i just recently got the dark flame and found it is much better with a boost in front. but still not in love and was looking to get one of the other two you had here and I definitely appreciate it! I'm going rigel and I had a lot of people throwing hate at it with nothing to reference as a reason.thanks brother. curious about the preamp house also!
I just got a Dark Flame and I was a little disappointed. There is a weird high end clackiness in the tone that I had a hard time dialing out. Especially on the 6th string, which I had dropped to D. I thought there was something wrong with the string at first so I changed it, but the noise is still there. Are you hearing that too? I have a Rigel coming later this week and I’m hoping that one is a little better. 🤞🏼
@@Supernautiloid absolutely! i have found the level (volume) dial can't get above about one o clock before it gets pronounced. however, I have found that when playing at much louder volumes this seems to completely disappear. crazy, right?..... lol i believe it depends on what you are pushing it with. I'm currently running it straight into a 2500 watt pa from alto
Hey dude thank you so much for watching! I think any of these preamps can get a good high gain tone, but man the Rigel is tight, it's aggressive and just does it for me haha 😄 if you get one I hope you enjoy it!
@@dougulman6700 Hey bro, just wanted to let you know I got my Rigel in today and it sounds awesome. So much better than the Dark Flame. I’m running the Rigel into an IR loader with a Mesa cab sim and it CHUGS. I think you will be happy with it. Good luck. 👍🏼
I play Classis Rock and Southern Rock. I enjoy your reviews because I learn more. Even though I am 72 and have been playing guitar for over 60 years. Great review. Yup, Rigel wins. Just subscribed, too.
Hey thank you so much for enjoying my review, and also for subscribing! 😁 Even though I obviously specialize in heavy metal I try to make videos where even non metal heads can enjoy! Keep rocking!
@HighImpaktAudio I'm glad you took my suggestion into account, I thank you very much. *Now looking at this comparison, I can safely say that the Rigel is definitely going to be my next purchase. - It has a more pleasant saturation "Valve Amp Like", with a good level of detail, even with the gain at a high settings, it does not lose clarity or sound boomy. The dark flame, on the other hand, being a distortion pedal, does not work well as a preamp, in the clean channel of an amp it would give a best result, eliminating that muffled sound, and gaining more mids and clarity. * You are the best, thank you very much for taking the time to make this video. cheers 🤟
Not a problem my friend! I'm happy to take any suggestions from my viewers. I really appreciate you taking the time to enjoy my videos! 😁 and really glad that I was able to help you decide
I got the Uzi for heavy tones but I felt I needed to push it more (adding argos in front). With the Darkflame I have my gain just at 4/10 to keep some dynamics in (with passive pickups even) and it already kicks. For guitarists who want to push when chugging but need enough gain to solo with ease, this one's a winner. I'll get the G3 when I have money to burn but for weekend rockers like me, this one really does the job. I use it in front of the amp if the amp I'll be using has a great preamp as it plays well with those. For crappy, burnt out or overcomplicated ones, effects loop. Hope this helps.
Oh yeah! These are all really great options, and wow the Argos does so great on the Joyo Pedals (as I'd hope haha) but man it's awesome 😄 and Joyo are such nice people. Good people and good pedals it's a win win
I have the Rigel and it’s based off the KSR Ceres…the toggles aren’t neutral in the middle positions either. The feel is fat/tight/thick and middle toggle is based off of 3 of their modes crunch/hi gain/lead of certain amps of theirs. Ive had the Ceres twice snd it’s awesome but lacks lows big time even with the bass maxed. Its an awesome 3 channel preamp and can get endless amounts if tones from it. In a mix it’s great but just jamming it lacks low end. The Rigel seems to be the less channel of the Ceres snd sound similar but not exact. It definitely has the low end the other is missing and can get an awesome hi gain tone from it. Personally and I hate to say this but i enjoy the Rigel better than the Ceres. I love KSR stuff and the Vesta and Hera going into their pa50 tube power amp is one of the best tones I’ve ever had. It’s the ultimate and best sounding power amp on the market and I’ve had about 10 different ones. They also just released a new rack mount version that’s either 50w or 100w with more features. Anyways got a lil off subject but hope this helps anyone that’s deciding to get the Rigel or not besides his awesome demo of it.
Hey! No worries, this is not a silly question haha. So I use the power stage mostly because I like to have a balanced XLR signal going into my interface and DAW. Though you should be able to plug the pedals straight into your interface with no problem. There is some talk about matching the impedance that way you don't hurt your equipment, but I honestly haven't had any issues using the pedal straight into my interface. Also it's nice to have the power stage because it has a built in amp sim, and EQ incase you want to do some adjustments pre mixer. The powerstage is definitely something I like to have for me, but it is not necessary, thank you for watching! 😄
The Argos Overdrive sounds great on the Joyo stuff! I had the same reaction as you to it haha though at least for my playing style the rigel seems to have enough. But it never hurts to boost 😁
Hey Chris, another great vid, I'm glad you included the Chopper-Z as I purchased one for my heavy blues pedal board, after your review of it. All great pedals but the Rigel gets the sweet tone! Does this now mean another purchase 🤣Great to here you riffing some Heretics 😁 I love that tune, cheers Will 😎
Excellent ! All are rad! But how could You forget the uzi! It’s brutal and knocked three pedals off My board
Haha good point! I haven't had the chance to check out the Uzi yet. I'll have to get that in to see what it's all about.
Thank you so much for watching, and also the recommendation 😁
@@HighImpaktAudio We hear you. I’ll ask you to make a UZI video next time: D
Boosted UZI into a clean channel gets the mosh pit going!!!! 🤸♂️
I have all three of them, too. And the Uzi. The Rigel is clearly the best in the effects-loop return (MT15). The chopper-z, the dark flame and the uzi are sounding better in front of the clean channel, i.m.h.o.. But they all are sounding even a lot better boosted with the Joyo Argos-Overdrive. The Argos makes even the loosest and bassiest preamp or distortion pedal tight as hell. It`s an absolute bargain for 50 bucks. Even shitty preamps are sounding good, when boosted with it. It`s aclone of the precision drive.
that's the comment that just sold me the argos!! thanks bro
I own the chopper and the argos.Love the chopper but the argos is not bad but I prefer the Vintage overdrive. My opinion.
i cannot believe that you don’t have more subscribers, amazing video quality and production and you are always consistent
Hello! Thank you so much for the kind words! I'm always working hard to get my stuff out to new viewers. Hopefully here soon I'll hit my stride in it all. But I really appreciate you enjoying my videos. It mean the world to me! 😁
Great comparison video!
I preferred the smoothness of the Chopper Z! I don't tend to play a lot of high gain stuff but feel like any of these pedals would get me to a happy place 😁
i just recently got the dark flame and found it is much better with a boost in front. but still not in love and was looking to get one of the other two you had here and I definitely appreciate it! I'm going rigel and I had a lot of people throwing hate at it with nothing to reference as a reason.thanks brother. curious about the preamp house also!
I just got a Dark Flame and I was a little disappointed. There is a weird high end clackiness in the tone that I had a hard time dialing out. Especially on the 6th string, which I had dropped to D. I thought there was something wrong with the string at first so I changed it, but the noise is still there. Are you hearing that too?
I have a Rigel coming later this week and I’m hoping that one is a little better. 🤞🏼
@@Supernautiloid absolutely! i have found the level (volume) dial can't get above about one o clock before it gets pronounced. however, I have found that when playing at much louder volumes this seems to completely disappear. crazy, right?..... lol i believe it depends on what you are pushing it with. I'm currently running it straight into a 2500 watt pa from alto
Hey dude thank you so much for watching! I think any of these preamps can get a good high gain tone, but man the Rigel is tight, it's aggressive and just does it for me haha 😄 if you get one I hope you enjoy it!
@@dougulman6700 Hey bro, just wanted to let you know I got my Rigel in today and it sounds awesome. So much better than the Dark Flame. I’m running the Rigel into an IR loader with a Mesa cab sim and it CHUGS. I think you will be happy with it. Good luck. 👍🏼
I play Classis Rock and Southern Rock.
I enjoy your reviews because I learn more. Even though I am 72 and have been playing guitar for over 60 years.
Great review. Yup, Rigel wins.
Just subscribed, too.
Hey thank you so much for enjoying my review, and also for subscribing! 😁
Even though I obviously specialize in heavy metal I try to make videos where even non metal heads can enjoy!
Keep rocking!
@HighImpaktAudio I'm glad you took my suggestion into account, I thank you very much.
*Now looking at this comparison, I can safely say that the Rigel is definitely going to be my next purchase.
- It has a more pleasant saturation "Valve Amp Like", with a good level of detail, even with the gain at a high settings, it does not lose clarity or sound boomy.
The dark flame, on the other hand, being a distortion pedal, does not work well as a preamp, in the clean channel of an amp it would give a best result, eliminating that muffled sound, and gaining more mids and clarity.
* You are the best, thank you very much for taking the time to make this video. cheers 🤟
Not a problem my friend! I'm happy to take any suggestions from my viewers.
I really appreciate you taking the time to enjoy my videos! 😁 and really glad that I was able to help you decide
I got the Uzi for heavy tones but I felt I needed to push it more (adding argos in front). With the Darkflame I have my gain just at 4/10 to keep some dynamics in (with passive pickups even) and it already kicks.
For guitarists who want to push when chugging but need enough gain to solo with ease, this one's a winner.
I'll get the G3 when I have money to burn but for weekend rockers like me, this one really does the job.
I use it in front of the amp if the amp I'll be using has a great preamp as it plays well with those. For crappy, burnt out or overcomplicated ones, effects loop. Hope this helps.
Oh yeah! These are all really great options, and wow the Argos does so great on the Joyo Pedals (as I'd hope haha) but man it's awesome 😄 and Joyo are such nice people. Good people and good pedals it's a win win
I have the Rigel and it’s based off the KSR Ceres…the toggles aren’t neutral in the middle positions either. The feel is fat/tight/thick and middle toggle is based off of 3 of their modes crunch/hi gain/lead of certain amps of theirs.
Ive had the Ceres twice snd it’s awesome but lacks lows big time even with the bass maxed. Its an awesome 3 channel preamp and can get endless amounts if tones from it. In a mix it’s great but just jamming it lacks low end.
The Rigel seems to be the less channel of the Ceres snd sound similar but not exact. It definitely has the low end the other is missing and can get an awesome hi gain tone from it. Personally and I hate to say this but i enjoy the Rigel better than the Ceres. I love KSR stuff and the Vesta and Hera going into their pa50 tube power amp is one of the best tones I’ve ever had. It’s the ultimate and best sounding power amp on the market and I’ve had about 10 different ones. They also just released a new rack mount version that’s either 50w or 100w with more features.
Anyways got a lil off subject but hope this helps anyone that’s deciding to get the Rigel or not besides his awesome demo of it.
Great sound for the price, thanks for the review, i love all of them, greetings from Malaysia
Hello! Yes these joyo preamp are awesome for the price! Thank you so much for watching, and enjoying my video 😁
@@HighImpaktAudio
Yes, I've seen this video several times, until I forgot I commented, lol🤩
a quick question, why do you use a Seymour Duncan power stage into your PC? is it working as an audio interface? sorry for the silly question..
Hey! No worries, this is not a silly question haha.
So I use the power stage mostly because I like to have a balanced XLR signal going into my interface and DAW. Though you should be able to plug the pedals straight into your interface with no problem. There is some talk about matching the impedance that way you don't hurt your equipment, but I honestly haven't had any issues using the pedal straight into my interface.
Also it's nice to have the power stage because it has a built in amp sim, and EQ incase you want to do some adjustments pre mixer.
The powerstage is definitely something I like to have for me, but it is not necessary, thank you for watching! 😄
@@HighImpaktAudio thank you so much for all explanation cheers from Brazil!
I have the Rigel and it lack some gain in my opinion. However, when it's boosted with the Argos Overdrive... Holi Shyt, sounds AWESOME!
The Argos Overdrive sounds great on the Joyo stuff! I had the same reaction as you to it haha though at least for my playing style the rigel seems to have enough. But it never hurts to boost 😁
Thanks for the review
Hey Chris, another great vid, I'm glad you included the Chopper-Z as I purchased one for my heavy blues pedal board, after your review of it. All great pedals but the Rigel gets the sweet tone! Does this now mean another purchase 🤣Great to here you riffing some Heretics 😁 I love that tune, cheers Will 😎
I agree will! The Rigel is definitely my favorite so far. Thank you so much for watching as always!
All three are great, it’s hard to choose :D
Yes it is! 😁 each has their own characteristics being great for some different flavors
Newbie here from Philippines, i have the dark flame. Is it a preamp? Can i use it directly to my audio interface?
Bro try to review the TANK G by M-Vave
I'll definitely have to get my hands on one! I'll see what I can do. Thank you so much for watching! 😁
Haha, I have all three