The Strymon Tier List
This is my attempt to rank every Strymon pedal. Affiliate links are below.
Click here to listen to my album HARD FEELINGS on all platforms, it’s glitchy and hyper just like this video:
https://distrokid.com/hyperfollow/cyberattack/hard-feelings
For a list of the songs I’m covering in this video (and every video on my channel), click here:
https://bit.ly/3vZ0yft
If you would like to take Zoom guitar lessons from me, click here to get started:
https://forms.gle/nFMVSEPoraq2LTPy6
Join my Patreon or become a YouTube channel member to get access to perks:
https://www.patreon.com/cyberattack
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCledLngWDeoZ0rzjIU6Pxzw/join
AFFILIATE LINKS:
You can use this link to get any Strymon pedal you want from Perfect Circuit:
https://bit.ly/3ORTyZf
Or, if you prefer, here are individual links to each Strymon pedal (from Sweetwater):
BigSky MX
sweetwater.sjv.io/m594RX
BlueSky
sweetwater.sjv.io/k0DO7N
Brig
sweetwater.sjv.io/4POaeo
Cloudburst
https://bit.ly/4dc3g3P
Compadre
sweetwater.sjv.io/daNyok
Deco
https://bit.ly/CyberDeco
Dig
sweetwater.sjv.io/anvOBZ
El Capistan
sweetwater.sjv.io/0ZE9kV
Flint
sweetwater.sjv.io/WqWyxM
Iridium
https://bit.ly/3XKhqp0
Lex
sweetwater.sjv.io/Y9EVgj
Mobius
https://bit.ly/3ZqO3cc
NightSky
https://bit.ly/3L5kowy
Ola
sweetwater.sjv.io/GmPKAk
Riverside
sweetwater.sjv.io/eKy1Oj
Sunset
sweetwater.sjv.io/AWxPq1
TimeLine
https://bit.ly/3ZADB1I
Ultraviolet
sweetwater.sjv.io/KjaBe9
Volante
sweetwater.sjv.io/75RXey
Zelzah
sweetwater.sjv.io/MmGKXo
#Strymon #Tier #List
Originally posted by UCledLngWDeoZ0rzjIU6Pxzw at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0kh02cdrEJ0
I just sold my Volante and bought a v1 El Cap. I didn't use a single preset in the Volante through the years I had it and the El Cap just gets way darker and has full wet available without restarting. I miss the reverse on the SOS in the Volante but otherwise El Cap has been way more fun for me.
I agree the iridium changed my life
Sounds like @strymon needs to make their next smaller pedal the tremolo from the mobius.
You forgot Orbit which is probably the best flanger Ive played.
More cow bell
Sounds like you are going to be buying the Brig back
Putting El Cap in low tier pretty much eliminated all credibility of this video
no timeline?
Highly recommend the Sunset! One of most if not the most versatile overdrives I have tried. I use the MIDI functionality and it unlocked a whole other level of versatility. The only other MIDI overdrive I can think of is the Boss OD-200, which I haven't tried but I am not at all left wanting with the Sunset
The Sunset is Ultra Tier. You got to try it!
Once upon a Timeline, the Big Sky was Ultra-tier. But yeah, I agree, it's been bettered by now – the current Ultra-tier reverb being the Meris Mercury X, for me. Or Death By Audio Rooms, depending what you are looking for. For touring/live rigs, working with real amps, I'd nudge Flint up to Ultra. It's an absolute staple and just sounds so right, for studio session work too. Putting the fact it's digital aside, I think Strymon Riverside sounds really damn good. And in certain contexts could be the centre-piece of a board. So I'd put it at Mid-tier. Timeline, idk, I loved it at the time, but these days I'd take an Empress Echosystem, for compact, or a Meris LVX for power, or a Boss DM-101 for tone. And, especially given the price and the lo-fi settings, Walrus MAKO M1 for size/price/flexibility and UAD Astra for tone bump Mobius down a tier, for me.
Hey man, a question irrelevant to this video. In your old video about using the ehx rtg to control the frequency of the moogerfooger ring modulator, did you use a ts or trs cable? Thanks
Ozzy says: “No more tiers!” ????
@CyberattackWorld did you try the sos repeat fade? so you get 4 head delays plus a master repeat delay of the sos loop. 5 delays. if you startup in wet only (dry through or whatever it is) you can use the master repeat as a send & feed back into the line in. the reverb signal will be fed back into the volatile & with planning produce a stereo reverb
I sold the Iridium in favor of UAFX, it was ok. I took the Timeline off my board in favor of V2 versions of the El Cap and DIG. And I love the BigSky. Crazy how much our preferences differ. Great vid though.
OMG… a CP-30. My favorite analog electronic piano. Props.
I trust you.
“Danger gleams in your eyes” ????
It’s lines like this that originally hooked me on your channel and then I realized I love everything else about it. Thx, man!
Nice overview! I hope your Iridium lasts so you can keep doing your life. ????
Oh man, surely you'll make or have made a teir list for Boss pedals. Boss is my favorite!
2:39 the cloudburst is quite good for its size and price. It’s simplicity is its strong suit
Out of Topic Random Question: Why do I want to eat something sweet after a meal?
i think you are too old to sound like a spoilt teenager now 🙁
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NPjyrpO2JKo
It's really interesting to me that you landed on Deco for stereo field creation. Not that it's a good or bad choice, but because I'm literally working on a bucket brigade comb filter circuit for creating a stereo field as I watch this video. Strymon tends to do everything via DSP, which is above my pay grade… but I'm intrigued to see pedals like Surfy Industries Stereomaker landing. I wonder if that's something you'd check out?
I've been really tempted by El Cap because there's a part of me that wants to explore recreating that dank 70s dub sound. Search for the [not 70s] track "Just Landed" by Burnt Friedman for a quick vibe check. Does Timeline fw that kind of broken tape machine sound?
I have wanted to try a zelzah for a while. Sad you never made a video on it. I want the zelzah simply for the stereo phaser controls and it sweeping left and right with the phaser sweep. If the mobius does that maybe I gotta look into the mobius
I always wondered about what Strymon pedal would rule over others. This is a crucial video.
what a dumb list
Fool, the BRIG has an amazing SOUND
I missed the Brigadier. I have 5 Strymon pedals and 3 of them are (almost) always on. Those three are the Deco (only the right side and barely audible. I use it as a doubler), the Flint for the reverb (just because it sounds good) and the Brigadier which is also almost always on and again set to thicken up the sound. I don’t play hardrock, but if you have ever heard the first Van Halen album, listen to it again and pay attention to the subtle delay on songs like “On Fire” and “Ain’t Talkin’ ‘bout Love”. Especially “On Fire”…., you never really notice the delay as you would on lots of other songs, but if you play Eddie’s guitar parts and you don’t use that subtle delay, it just doesn’t sound right. Of course Eddie used an old tape delay, so something like the El Capastan or the Volante may seem more appropriate for this stuff, but I don’t know…, I think the Brigadier just sounds more genuine and especially more pleasing to me.
The other two Strymon pedals I use are (1) the DIG (all of them are the latest versions of these pedals), but I actually don’t use it that much. Sounds good, but I just don’t need it as often as I thought I would.
And (2) the Cloudburst. When this pedal came out and I heard the orchestral sounds it can create, I knew it would completely change the way I wanted to record the songs I wrote. It blew me away. In demo videos I’ve only heard people exploring this pedal and when they come to the interesting part they hardly ever show the potential of that sound. But if you can get one guitar to sound like an orchestra, without making it too sterile (which is what I like so much about it – it doesn’t sound like a synth pad, it sounds like you’re playing with living entities with brains and hearts), imagine dubbing multiple lines with a bass guitar to ‘mimic’ a section of contra bass, cello and low brass, orchestral like chords, another guitar playing counter melodies and high up there a velvety violin like sound played with an E-Bow, all mixed and balanced well. This sounds a hundred times better to me than anything you could play using synths with real orchestral sounds. I could find amazingly good alternatives for every Strymon pedal on the market, but I haven’t heard anything (yet) that can do that Cloudburst thing.
If there’s one pedal I would absolutely LOVE to have, it would be the NightSky. I haven’t heard a lot of it yet, but WHAT I heard was absolutely amazing, so that one’s high up my list.
The one pedal that was good when it came out, especially for the things that both you and I use it for, but lost its position against its competitors drastically in my opinion, is the Iridium. I’ve always played and loved AC30’s, but I never heard anything that sounded even close to an old AC30. I was just about to purchase the Iridium, although there were some good competitors (I particularly liked the more ‘organic’ sound of the Simplifier) when all of a sudden UAFX brought out the Ruby (AC30), the Dream (‘65 Deluxe Reverb) and the Woodrow (‘55 Fender Tweed amp). I didn’t hesitate and bought the Ruby. Purely coincidental I bought the Dream last week, 2nd hand for €250. The level of detail is mind boggling. Especially the Dream. I never regretted this decision. They recently added a Dumble style amp to this line. I believe they have six amp types now. Of course only a handful of people have actually played a real Dumble amp and the ones who have don’t need a pedal-amp like this. So nobody knows for sure if it truly sounds, plays and reacts like a Dumble. But it sounds absolutely gorgeous. And specifically for this one they added the possibility to tweak its sound fully to your liking.
Anyway, I think you made it perfectly clear that you’re happy with what you have. Still, if you can find a way to try the Dream for a week, then do it. I think you will like it a lot.
Thanks for the video. I had a fun time watching it. ????????
ULTRA tier video.
Mobius is in my ultra tier. I need to go back and watch your video on that.
Whats the deal with running the sd1 volume maxed out?
Can you please do an Iridium video? I love that pedal. I’d love to see how you work the software too.
TALK ABOUT THE POWER SUPPLIES! (Awesome video)
My bad. I thought it said ‘pranked’ and not ‘ranked’. I’m out.
Can you run 2 modulations at the same time on the Mobius?????
I don't own a strymon. Im the #1 Digitech Superfan. But those Strymon Reverbs sound so good in Demos. This video is amazingly helpful.
The Devo V2 has been a terrific pedal. I can do rotary sounds that are not obnoxious. I like the Riverside a lot as well.
9:27 your old pal Aevan?! Dwarfcraft Devices flashbacks
Had you played the SUNSET, it’d be up there at the top.
I watch all your vids even if I’m not gonna buy the gear. Your playing is phenomenal and your approach to guitar and music in general is fresh. Great to see your take on all these pedals. Thanks for always being truthful, it shows in all of your content.
What about the optical compressor?
????????
When you said there's only one pedal in the ultra tier, i just knew what that is.
Man, you 100% had me up until the Iridium haha. I just don't think it's as realistic as things like the UAFX pedals, kemper player, or tonex. Everything else on the list was pretty spot on (I would probably put my bigsky higher though). Great video!
Empress >>>>>>>>>>> Strymon