Strymon BigSky Pedal vs Plugin: Which One Wins?

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Bill Vencil - Guitars

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[WildAnalog]

This is the comparison I have been waiting for!

[helisoma]

i came here to see the comparison as i don't have the hardware and was considering the plug-in for my Juno-6 and i found myself forgetting about the comparison and just enjoying your playing 😂...seeing how much you enjoy that Fender made my day 😎👍🏻

[charliebryant]

Great comparison. To my ears the sound is the same (or so close I cannot tell). Of course you are 100% correct in your breakdown of how the pedals would be used, live performance vs recording/home use. Before you mentioned it my first thought was I am sure the plugin is a lot cheaper than the pedal.

[bildjan]

plugin is edgier but very close for sure, great video and great playing too

[palewine]

Thanks for doing the comparison video between the two! 

May I make a suggestion for future comparison videos? I would recommend throwing in variations of sounds between your A/B examples. So for instance, instead of going:  

pedal(dry) -> pedal(delay) -> plugin(dry) -> plugin(delay)

You could go:

pedal(dry) -> plugin(dry), then pedal(delay) -> plugin(delay)

It's much easier as a listener to directly sound timbres this way. Otherwise our ears quickly forget the exact sonic characteristics due to a variation being thrown in between.

But anyway, a big thanks for the video, it was helpful! I love your stuff. :)

[thebreakfastmenu]

I use a free plugin called the Spaceship Delay. It's loosely based on the Space Echo, but it's extremely versatile, with some effects loop options, preamp flavors and filters. I use it on pretty much everything when I mix. For long delays to short slapbacks to just the preamps.

[edenaimusic]

Thanks for taking the time to make this comparison! Helped me make my decision as a former Bluesky pedal owner.

I think they sound identical but on both signals I'm hearing little scratchy artifacts every time you strum. I wonder if this is indicative of the pedals or something with the chain further on... Judging from the waveform in the back (if it's not magnified) this might be digital clipping on your attack transients now that I think of it.

Anybody else hear it?

[cr-qf]

Great comparison! I too have both the plug in and pedal. They both sound wonderful. I’ve seen quite a few complaints about the price of the plug in which is a head scratcher for me. It’s a bargain imo. Stacking multiple reverbs with nothing but the different big sky reverb types is now a possibility… I’m sure the timeline will be coming at some point

[BarryMoquin]

Fantastic review, your incredible playing style sounds amazing going thru this reverb

[FranciscBaculea]

Beautiful Fender, together with the sound! Nice playing!

[fubopnation]

I'm testing the plug in now. The pedal sounds very good in your demo. Since i'm more of a studio guy i'll purchase the plug in after the demo expires. Diffently one of the best reverbs i've heard on the market today. Great demo. Aaron c Brown

[TaggerGT]

Really useful and really great results from both pedal and plugin actually. Thank you. 🙏

[mashhome]

You are one of the first to do the comparison. Love ur videos. Love from Canada

[CraigAllenMusic]

Great demo! I just made a demo of the plugin as I unfortunately don't have the pedal anymore. I was really impressed with how good it was and true to the pedal's sound.

[cmcg]

Thanks for the comparison, Bill. To my ear, the tone seemed cleaner and more full-bodied with the plug-in. It wasn't a huge difference, really. If I had the choice to use one or the other for recording, I'd use the plug-in.

[samseitz]

Love the new set up with the desk. I really like plug-ins from a company called Voxengo. They have several free plugins. I love their reverb called “old skool verb” it’s a relatively small reverb great for vocals or acoustic instruments. I wouldn’t say it’s a high quality plugin but something about the sound really hits me.

[macsarcule]

The plug-in was definitely always louder, but otherwise I couldn’t hear a difference. They both sound great!

For me, I don’t record or gig, I play to relax. I’m also looking at screens all day, so I love the no-screen-ness of pedals. Just personal preference!

Great video, Bill! ✌️😌🎸

[JohnMcGFrance]

Thank you for the comparison. Very useful. I think the plugin might be my choice because of price and I can have it on multiple DAW tracks with different settings. I do have a pedal board for live use but don’t use the big reverbs the Big Sky offers in live sets.

[bobisadrummer]

I've been using Neural DSP's Archtype: Rabea plugin for ambient stuff. Has a reverb "pedal" that has a freeze function and a twin stereo delay. Has a neat mono synth feature as well.

[timbaugh]

An excellent demo Bill - there was no difference in terms of sound between the pedal and plugin so well done Strymon. I have the Big Sky pedal, so I am sorted. I can see the plugin being popular for people recording on a PC or Mac .. but .. you could buy four Vallaha plugins for the same money. The reverb plugin market is very competitive.