This is a pure distortion pedal. You can get overdrive out of it, there are even presets for it. However, I believe this pedal is specifically tailored for hard, heavy, driving distortion. The heavier, the better. It is a digital unit and cannot be edited via computer. It is a floor pedal, so it is not rackable. The unit has one input and two outputs. One output is for going to an amp. The other is a cabinet modeler that allows you to go straight into the mixing board.

Configuration is simple. It has four knobs : level, low, mid and high. As digitech says, they've set the gain on 11 and ripped off the knob ! Thus the lack of a gain knob on this unit. Sounds/effects editing is very easy and the clear, colorful manual makes it even easier. There are not only presets for just this unit, but the manual also shows how you can combine it with other effects to get a solo tone.

This pedal really only serves one purpose....it's a death metal pedal, just like the name says! As such, it sound greats for death, trash, nu-metal, and even heavy metal! I put this thing through a Fender Twin and it was palm muting hell (or heaven depending on your opinion.) It is great for heavy rhythm grind. Unfortunately, because the treble is so harsh, I don't feel this is a great pedal for soloing. The manual has a sample setup that has this pedal chained to a delay and a chorus for a smoother soloing sound. When I mimic this set up, it sounds a little better, but the treble is still too harsh in my opinion, even with the delay and chorus.

This is a straightforward overdrive/distortion pedal. It actually has a mode for both overdrive and distortion. I believe it is digital. It cannot be edit via computer. It has input and output, as well as connector for 9v/dc power supply. It is a floor pedal, so it is not rackable. It has volume, gain, treble, mid, bass, and frequency in stacked knobs.

General configuration is simple. Even though certain knobs are stacked on top of each other, it's not really hard to figure this unit out. This pedal can get a large range of sound or effects and editing is easy. I bought this used, so I don't have a manual. However, if you go on the Marshall website, it has some pretty cool presets that you can set up.

You can get some tones that are fairly close to several Marshall amp models with this unit. For distorted sounds, I have as much as put this through a Fender Twin, and it sounds huge and amazing. It's like having a Marshall amp with the purity and thumping low end of the Fender clean. The distortion mode on this pedal has a ton of bass to it, which I like for solos. However, in order to switch back to rhythm sounds, you would have to bend down and switch the mode to the overdrive mode, which is not very practical in a live setting. The same goes for switching from rhythm in the overdrive mode to playing a solo in the distortion mode. So basically, you need to have another distortion pedal or a dirty amp for playing rhythm, then kick on this pedal in the distortion mode. Or you have to use this pedal on the overdrive mode for rhythm, then have another pedal as a gain booster, such as a DOD YJM 368 when you go into a solo. So it's pretty impractical, when ideally, you should only need this pedal to switch between rhythm and soloing, and back. Since I have a multi-effects pedal as well as my DOD preamp/gain booster, this pedal only gets used for specific applications.

This is a straightforward preamp overdrive. It can be used by itself as an overdrive pedal. (I don't like the sound that much when used in this way.) It can also be used as a gain/preamp booster, i.e. in front of a dirty amp or in front of a distortion/overdrive pedal. I believe it is digital. To my knowledge, it cannot be edited via computer. There is an input and output, as well as an input for 9v/dc power supply. This is a floor pedal, so it is not rackable.

Configuration is very simple, with just two knobs: level and gain. Getting the intended effects is really easy. Turn the gain all the way up, then adjust the level to your liking, and you're done with presets. I think I have the manual, but I don't think it was very useful. Luckily, you don't really need it.

As I said earlier, as an overdrive by itself, I am not so impressed by this pedal. However, when I put it after my noise suppressor and before any distortion pedals, it makes a wonderful, screaming preamp booster. I stomp on this baby primarily for solos, either with a distortion/overdrive pedal already engaged, or when the amp I'm using has it's drive/distortion pedal kicked in. It gives you days and days of endless sustain. I can also do fast,long solos without wasting all of my hard earned energy trying to press the strings so hard to get great tone and sustain. The only things I don't like about this pedal, I fixed by buying additional specialized pedals. It is very noisy, especially with the gain turned up. A noise suppressor fixes that. I also wish that it would boost volume when engaged, precisely because I use it for solos, but this unit does not give much of a volume boost when engaged. So I bought an equalizer that I can engage along side of it when it's time to solo.

This is a straight noise suppressor with really only one purpose: and that's to suppress noise ! I believe it is digital. It cannot be edited via computer. This is a floor pedal, so it is not rackable. This unit has an input and an output for going from the guitar to the rest of your guitar pedal chain then to the amp. However, it also has additional send and return inputs and outputs, which essentially turns your pedal rig into an effects loop. This unit is definitely most effective when utilized in this way.

The general configuration/setup is simple. Sound/effects editing is easy. It's got two modes: one to mute your signal and the other is the actual noise reduction mode. It's got two knobs, threshold and decay. You need to tweak these two knobs to get the maximum, most effective noise reduction possible without compromising your tone and sustain, which the unit can do if you set the threshold too high. I bought this used, so I don't have a manual. However, I don't think it's necessary.

As said, this effect is for one thing and one thing alone. It is for noise suppression. It does what it does very well. It reduces hum, feedback, and other noise very well. I own a DOD Yngwie Malmsteen preamp overdrive pedal, and Yngwie himself will tell you that that little unit is noisy. When you put this pedal before the DOD in your chain, utilize the effects loop function. You can hear the wonderful sustain from the DOD without the annoying noise, as long as you don't set the threshold too high, thanks to the Boss Noise Suppressor.

- What are the effects, or types of effects available?
Compression

- What technology is used? (analog, digital, tube...)
Analogue, tube.

- Can they be edited? through a Mac/PC editor utility program?
Nope

- What connection types are there? (Audio/MIDI)
In & out.

- Is the general configuration/setup simple?
Yes, very.

- Is the sound or effects editing easy?
Yes, but settings are powerful so u need to be careful and use them with subtlety. Too much can really kill the sound.

- Is the manual clear and sufficient?...
Yes, very clear, with preset examples.

- Are the effects good, usable and sufficiently realistic?
This is fine for electric guitar during a gig but be careful when recording cos you can add hiss easily. You might want to dehiss the track afterwards, actually.
This is no Neve gear...

- With what instruments do you use them?
Useless on bass unless you're looking for a special effect.

- What are the effects, or types of effects available?
Tube distortion and EQ.
Noise reduction knob on the back.

- What technology is used? (analog, digital, tube...)
100% analogue

- Can they be edited? through a Mac/PC editor utility program?
Nope

- What connection types are there? (Audio/MIDI)
In & out, like any simple pedal.

- Is it rackable?
Errm, it's a pedal.

- Is the general configuration/setup simple?
Hard to beat this level of simplicity ;-)

- Is the sound or effects editing easy?
Yes, you can very easily get something u like.
The EQ is very powerful and sounds good.
You can get a bit of noise/hiss but, well, this not a Mesa/Boogie rack, it's a pedal.

- Is the manual clear and sufficient?...
I think it has examples of settings but who needs a manual?? It's a pedal!!

- Are the effects good, usable and sufficiently realistic?
Oh yes!

- With what instruments do you use them?
Don't think the bandwidth would suit a bass or anything else than an electric guitar.

Less hiss would have been good but the noise reduction thingy works ok.

This is a stereo preamp (with adjustable input gain on the front) with all the main guitar effects except a proper distortion. The flangers & phasers are lovely and the delays & reverbs are wonderful.

It's digital, of course, with 8 processors, 1 per effects module. So, unlike with other gear, you don't have quality loss when piling up effects, the quality remains optimal throughout.

2 high impedance asymmetric 6.35mm jacks, 2 line level TRS outs on similar jacks.
SPDIF in & out on coax.

24 bit 44.1 khz conversion, but not sure the digital I/O's can convey 24 bit signals...someone told be that they were 20 bit...(check that, i'm not sure).

There's MIDI in & out i believe, and you can easily set up a MIDI pedal board such as the Roland FC-200...the G-Force has a ready made template for it all set up.

For the price, i think they could have made this a 96 khz machine and/or have AES/EBU I/O's in addition to the SPDIF coax...it's just not a pro machine without AES/EBU!

Extremely easy to use, all is very very intuitive. You can see it wasn't designed like a TR-505 or an MC-303! :-D

Editing & saving presets is real easy.

Great manual, that is even nicely made...not just some cheap photocopy look-alike, this is nicely bound & all...a high-class manual for a high-class piece of gear. ;-)

The effects are nice but you can be tempted to overdo it...because they are so nice!
Then again, you'll have that problem with any effects processor...it's just that the others don't sound so good! ;p

The reverbs are amazing, of course, and you can use this for vocals or anything you like if you come in digital.
This is a very good effects processor.

The dynamics are good but not perfect: i still prefer going direct into a good amp, but if you accept that the sound is just different then you can enjoy it for what it is. It's still good, it's just not 100% the same...maybe only 95%? Anyway, incomparable with any Boss or Roland or Digitech effects i've tried...and i have tried a lot of those. True, the price isn't comaparable either! ;-p

The IObanez FL9 Flanger is an analog flanger. Flange is a type of phase effect that produces a wide range of "swooshing" effects on your guitar tone.
It has your standard 1/4" inputs and outputs, AC adapter input, and red led, all in a sturdy duck yellow metal box.

Flange is a complicated effect. If you've never used one, understanding what the 4 knobs control takes a bit of experimenting. The FL9 has knobs for "delay time", "regeneration", "speed", and "width", and can be a bit daunting to master. Sometimes I create a cool sound, and then forget how to achieve it again, the tange of sounds possible and level of control is probably unmatched by any other stompbox flanger on the market. But for a devoted knob twiddler, you will be in heaven. This box is not capable of making a "bad" sound, only strange ones you may find unusable at the furthest extremes of its spectrum.

The FL9 is classic analog flange sound all the way. There is no harshness, nor thin-ness. It is a thick and warm flange, that will make your guitar warble and whoosh for days. Add in an analog delay in your signal chain, and you'll be in space cadet heaven.
I especially like the ability to dial in some Andy Summer's Police sounds, which are on the more mild side, all the way to extreme whoosh effects that make the room feel like its spinning and are unusable except just to sound wicked.