https://guitarnoise.forum/live-sound/im-a-little-confused/ Guitar Noise Discussion Board en-US Thu, 04 Jun 2026 21:13:52 +0000 wpForo 60 https://guitarnoise.forum/live-sound/im-a-little-confused/#post-48659 Tue, 16 Dec 2003 12:24:06 +0000 Let's say that you have 4 pedals (what they are doesn't matter).  You have 4 housings, 4 switches, 4 power supplies and 4 circuits on 4 discrete circuit boards. They are not programmable and each can be turned on and off by pressing on the switch.
A multi fx unit puts everything into one housing with one power supply - we already have a major cost saving here. The multi fx unit makes use of integrated circuitry and programmable chips. There is another cost saving here - it is cheaper to produce one board with ICs than 4 discrete circuit boards (each one needs it's own production line).
However this is where the lack of sound quality also comes in - you can use high quality components on a high quality PCB and put different types of component in to change the sound (changing from a standard diode to a quality germanium diode wil change the end output).  The multi fx unit uses effectively a computer program to generate the sound - think analogue against digital. If you are a hifi buff you will know that analogue produces far more "realistic" sounds than digital.
]]> Live Sound greybeard https://guitarnoise.forum/live-sound/im-a-little-confused/#post-48659 https://guitarnoise.forum/live-sound/im-a-little-confused/#post-48658 Tue, 16 Dec 2003 10:09:55 +0000
]]> Live Sound KerbDoG https://guitarnoise.forum/live-sound/im-a-little-confused/#post-48658 https://guitarnoise.forum/live-sound/im-a-little-confused/#post-48657 Mon, 15 Dec 2003 02:02:54 +0000 Thanks for the help ;)]]> Live Sound Anonymous https://guitarnoise.forum/live-sound/im-a-little-confused/#post-48657 https://guitarnoise.forum/live-sound/im-a-little-confused/#post-48656 Mon, 15 Dec 2003 01:42:21 +0000
You get a lot, but it is of lower quality. That is more or less what its about. Ofcourse, when you buy a 600$ multi-effect the quality if pretty high :D]]> Live Sound Ignar Hillström https://guitarnoise.forum/live-sound/im-a-little-confused/#post-48656 https://guitarnoise.forum/live-sound/im-a-little-confused/#post-163 Mon, 15 Dec 2003 01:17:37 +0000 ...So can someone clear this up for me? What exactly do you get with a multi-fx pedal?
  Thanks ;D]]> Live Sound Anonymous https://guitarnoise.forum/live-sound/im-a-little-confused/#post-163