The merc-7 is a super solid pedal even with the shimmer disabled (and the shimmer can be really nice when dialed in subtlety, especially when set to 5ths).
Is it as great as the CXM? No. They sound near-identical, but the CXM is a monster at dialing in sweet spots — a task where the merc-7 really falls down, IMHO, with all its jumping back and forth between its normal and “hidden” parameters.
But here’s a thought: the Merc-7 has really fantastic support for expression pedals. Basically, you put the toe down and dial in some settings. Then put the heal down and dial in settings. Now the Merc-7 will smoothly interpolate between the two as you move the pedal. In a way this gets you closer to the CXM sweet-spot-finding adventure.
And the Merc-7 pretty reliably holds its price. I’ve never seen it go for below $200. You could get it and a really nice expression pedal (even the Chase Bliss one) used and still spend just a fraction of the CXM. Later, if you decide you love the sound and just need more, sell them off and you’ve got a down-payment on the full CXM.
I don’t want to hear it. I’m happy with my Volante-Golden combo, dreamy enough for my needs and also draining enough on my spatial (pun intended and unintended at the same time ) tolerance.
If CBA ever release anything similar in a smaller form factor, then … well, until then I prefer not to think about it Luckily, for now, I am far less obsessed with reverb than with delay.
BTW that Chase Bliss exp is a decent pedal, notably with its polarity switches and two outputs. also still passive.
I have been thinking along these lines.
Also have wondered if I stacked the Polymoon and Mercury 7, whether this would get even closer to the CXM, especially using Polymoon’s dimension blurring settings.
Those two pedals are well below the CXM in price.
Still having a tough time leaving the CXM behind.
I am to cheap to flip gear and lose money, so I just ponder until I make a decision I will stick with.
I’d start with just the merc-7. No polymoon needed (though the polymoon is cool in its own right). Having compared the M7 and CXM head-to-head a fair bit, they sound the same to me.
Now, this doesn’t count the places where they just don’t overlap. The CXM doesn’t have a shimmer and the M7 doesn’t have a Room setting or the clock-limiting lofi mode. But otherwise they are pretty spot-on for each other.
Though there are people who insist there’s some Chase Bliss “dust” or “grain” that’s a part of the character of all their pedals. I don’t hear it, but also who am I to argue? And if you’re someone who subscribes to that, then your decision is made for you: get the CXM. Otherwise you’ll always feel like you’re missing and unidentifiable something.
Being one of those who like an evangelist proclaims without any sign of rhyme or reason the gospel of the Chase Bliss character, I must say, the CXM doesn’t sound as bliss-y as their smaller boxes. I love it for all that it is, but it’s not like the Mood or the Dark World. They’re haunting and alien in a way the CXM can’t be. Also, they’re mono
Does not have a “proper” shimmer, but gets very, very close . . . Would have to dig in to see which parameter(s) got me there, but it was good enough to warrant selling my Eventide Space (for which I previously relied on the shimmer algorithm)
Do you already know what precisely you will need it for?
Another angle: if you can afford it, then you should probably follow your gut feeling. If you can’t afford it, buying nothing now and saving up for later is the more reasonable option.
Massive epic airy reverb is my need! I have a pedalboard with two stereo pathways. The Golden Reverberator is in one path and the M7 or CXM will be in the second. I will run two different signals through the pedalboard.
I think it’s either the CXM or the Merc 7 + Polymoon + Meris MIDI box.
The second option is still over $200 cheaper!
I’ll still want the CXM, but once I choose, I’m staying firm and moving on.
I’d never buy it if I wanted just a great reverb.
Get it for the things it does beyond just class act room effect. Otherwise, Meris is the more sensible option
I’m a reverb junky and it’s definitely going to be used for creating sounds and samples. Even still,
I’m starting to lean to the stacked Meris pedals to craft my sounds.
The CXM is awesome and I love the interface, but the price just seems to be a mountain my mind won’t summit. Try as I might.
I should also add that I will be running a Gen Loss MKII in front of whatever I choose. Probably going to allow my more budget minded self win this!
The Mercury 7 sound wise is great and probably close enough, but a big part of the CXM is the form factor. Knob (or slider) per function (not the secondary function for every knob that the M7 has), and even when you recall a preset the slider and button positions reflect the settings exactly.
I would think the motorized faders is also a big part of the insane cost.
If the form factor and workflow of M7 looks fine to you, I think it’s a good option. If not, you have to decide if the improved workflow (and maybe a few corners sound wise the M7 doesn’t go) is worth the extra money.
Send something of yours over to me. A clip, a track you’ve made, a whatnot.
I’ll run it through my CXM. Do some experimenting, just toy with it as it comes, even if it’s a full stereo track. Record it into my TX-6 in glorious 32 bit resolution.
Send it back to you.
And then we’ll see if you’ll thank me or kill me maybe both?
Them YouTube demos just don’t do this kind of quality justice anyway.
During Covid, I was reading Adam Holzman’s excellent book “Creative Synthesizer Technique”, which states that, if you only have space for a single effect, it should be a delay of some sort. According to him, reverb is relevant for sounds for which delay is difficult when it is not time-synched: percussive sounds, piano and brass.
I was shocked by this statement after almost 30 years of music making and extensive use of reverb. The truth is that until then it appears that I had never really understood delay or reverb because piano technique and songwriting were my real focus. After having given it a try with the Volante, I fully agree with him. I’m a delay junky after all
I’m finally back after being away a while and I took the plunge on the CXM.
It arrived today and I spent some time testing it. I really like it a lot
and was super happy until I started noticing a right leaning stereo field.
This became very apparent when using the “delay” mode in the Lofi setting.
I have run it into my mixer as a send, direct from sampler to mixer and run into the Digitakt external input. The right leaning stereo field remains persistent. Has anyone else experienced this issue?
So I’m not the only one experiencing this.
Yeah, absolutely.
The higher you set Diffusion, the more it goes out of balance.
It also seems to depend on the algorithm, it’s worse with Plate and Hall.
The algorithms are incredible, but balancing wet and dry inside the pedal is problematic, unfortunately. For now I’m using it as 100% wet send and re-balance the return if needed. But this limits the options quite a bit, for such a useful sound design tool.
) tolerance.
Luckily, for now, I am far less obsessed with reverb than with delay.
maybe both?