Strymon Deco

Keep in mind many people using this for things other than guitar forget (or are unaware) to adjust the default filter settings to the full range options. I keep a Deco on the output of my DT and MPC for glue and overdrive with the option of throwing a very playable chorus/flanger/delay on when I want.

This replaced an Analog Heat for me with no ragerts. No brainer pedal for me.

2 Likes

Ah interesting. Some opinions from the other side :slight_smile:

  1. used MK1 Heat :cowboy_hat_face:

  2. VST plugins :robot:

1 Like

Yep, when I first got it I loved it, and thought it sounded kinda fucked up.
Once I adjusted the filter to taste itā€™s become a staple of my sound and performance.
Wicked fun twisting knobs on the deco, sounds amazing on vocals/vocoders.
Just smidgen of Saturation gives it just enough character that Iā€™d hate to not have one anymore.

1 Like

I forgot that the USB port on the Syntakt canā€™t act as host so Iā€™d need to use a computer as well to send midi from the Syntakt to Deco. Thatā€™s a bummer. I guess Iā€™ll have to use my Squarp Hapax instead when it finally arrives.

This just arrived today. I first tried hooking it up to the Micromonsta 2 and thought it sounded good. But then, I tried it on the master out of the Syntakt with the cassette algorithm and became overly excited. I absolutely LOVE this algorithm on the whole mix.

It reminds me of a mixture between the SP303 vinyl sim comp and the OP1 limiter. Iā€™m going to end up parking it on the master with the cassette algorithm and not doing much else with it lol. Iā€™m ok with that.

10 Likes

I certainly was ok with it for a loooong time.
I have the older Deco though, they sound amazing.
Iā€™ve got it on a send these days though.
Itā€™s definitely become a staple of the sound I am going for.
That set up looks NiCE!

feedback mixer saturation, field recorder compressionā€¦ wut Do po ppl use 4 ā€˜heatā€™??

edie: poor mans deco is a mid fi tape fuzz

Well that is exciting. Can wait for mine to arrive!

Any other v1 to v2 users pick one up yet? I love my crusty beer stained v1 (got it used at a GC for $120 about 3 years ago in itā€™s current condition. Itā€™s ugly but the innards are all fine :slight_smile: ). Iā€™m very curious how the cassette algo sounds on synths/drum machines etc.

Hereā€™s a demo of the Strymon Deco V2 with some Dub Techno and Ambient patches. Synths used: Twisted Electrons MEGAfm and SH-01a. Maybe you find it useful.

2 Likes

Iā€™ve had a Deco for years that I got from a friend and always used it quite subtly. I found myself looking at some lofi pedals lately (like the Shallow Water), and decided to see what I could do with the Deco. I have really been missing out by not messing with the hidden high and low cuts. There is some magic in there if you want those really nostalgic tones.

The settings I dig for this are: high and low cuts all the way to the right (maxed), middle position on the toggle, the blend knob all the way to the right, modulation all the way up, and the time knob somewhere between 11:00 and 2:00.

I also found a strange pedal order that worked out well.

UAD Dream -> Deco -> Volante (Reverb up quite a bit on on the Dream and off on the Volante as strange as that sounds)

Sounds like a weird order, but surprisingly super nice having the spring reverb going into the modulation on the Deco, and having the whole thing with a bit of tape delay.

Iā€™ve always found the Deco quite tough to fully wrap my head around because it can do so much, so I thought Iā€™d share.

Strymon kind of gets viewed as pretty vanilla these days since there are so many boutique things out now, but I find their stuff is actually really classy. The Deco was so ahead of its time.

2 Likes