Stereo effects - what do they do?

[BigMike]

Hi,

With a stereo effect, what gets put through on each channel?

For example, with a chorus, is the uneffected signal put through on one side and the effected signal put through on the other? Or, are there two chorus circuits with one being put to left and the other right?

Is there even a standard? Do cheaper pedals do it differently to more expensive pedals?

Thanks,

Mike

[Mark Hammer]

There is, sadly, NO standard for what gets to call itself "stereo". I have an old MXR Commande Series "Stereo Flanger" that has one input and one output jack. I have a Washburn "Stereo Chorus" that does come with 3 jacks, but the extra one is simply another jack hardwired to the input jack (i.e., clean signal...or another input jack if you felt like it), and what comes out the other "output" jack is the chorus effect.

Some two-output pedals have a wet/dry split, and some have complementary signals (dry-plus-wet and dry-minus-wet) coming out each jack (I have a DOD phaser like that) which effectively cancel the "effect" out when mixed.

Some stereo effects are interesting twists. The Line 6 Echo Park has two ins and two outs. Since running it in "pure" stereo would have required more clock cycles, and made battery operation absolutely impossible, even for a little while on a fresh alkaline, the decision was made to run it in quasi-stereo. The dry/clean signal still works in true stereo from in to out, but the two input signals are pooled together prior to processing, processed in sort-of-mono, and distributed differently to the two outputs.

Ping-pong/autopan, and other "travelling" effects operate in true stereo, such that each output is a different "thing" than the other. THe Line 6 Tonecore pedals have some interesting travelling effects. The Liqui-Flange has a travelling flanger output so that as the sweep moves up and down, it appears to move across the two outputs (ultra-cool for those fuzzy Hendrix production tricks), although use of a single output jack still gives traditional flanger tones. The Otto Filter pedal provides a Mu-tron-like autowah in mono, but if you stick it in a stereo dock and use the talking-filter option, you have one filter moving upwards while the other filter sweeps downward, with each coming out a separate jack.

So, what gets called "stereo" can vary widely from stuff where you wonder how they had the chutzpah to stick the word "stereo" anywhere within 20ft of the pedal, to things where the animation across the stereo field is quite deliberate and dramatic.

[BigMike]

Thanks for your comprehensive reply, Mark. The situation is as I suspected - confused.

Regards,

Mike