I agree, I like every "cheap" delay & reverb I've tried, but never use the distortions on my guitar pedals, I've tried, just don't like the way they sound. I thought I didn't like distortion. Until I heard Analog Heat. & I know I just stated that I don't know how I feel about using a pedal that costs more than the gear I use it with, yet I bought the Analog Heat, but honestly I feel differently about that piece.
I have it set up so I can run everything thru it, sample source's & my master track. It's made a huge difference in the sound quality of my beats.
I know it's marketed as a distortion unit, but it's much more & the self oscillating filter on that thing is insane (I love me some lo-pass plus it has 7 filters that do great at carving out frequencies).
I did a lot of research prior to buying it & even so, I'll admit I had buyers remorse when I first used it. Due to how much I paid for it, I guess I was expecting miracles. But every day I use it, I like it more & more & more. It's just a matter of learning how to use it with certain sounds.
& yeah, there are def some good cheap effect units out there. I only have experience with Zoom & Boss pedals, but again, great value.

I used another "sp effect" in a different way.

Timestretch (on the 404sx, but should work on other sp's)

I like to time stretch my hi hats sometimes (slow them down), so I was messin with the timestretch on the 404sx on a single hi-hat - the more you slow down the speed, the more hits it creates, so you can get triplets with 1 hi hat. IMO it sounds really good, sounds organic in a way. I took a hi hat, slowed it down as far as I could, which turned it into a double hit. Resampled it, then did it again to the resampled hi hat, slowed it down as far as I could & it turned it into a triplet. So it took 2 resamples & you can continue to resample & slow it down for longer trails. I'm gonna try it on other sounds, I think it could make some interesting percussive effects.

To add onto the guitar discussion - Red Panda Particle (grain delay), thought it sounded pretty good, but what really impressed me was the below video. It's $275 new, but damn! I NEED it!!!!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IL4GMg3nlPE

Shit. I want an analog heat now.
https://youtu.be/F02VooILMFs
https://youtu.be/2-nLVPwALKs

Every time I use it....man, it just gets better & better. I watched those vids prior to buying it ) Here's another good one:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xPmBxtN2TJ4

I've done a lot of experimenting & it can get crazy if you want (like above). But I also really like the more subtle distortions...
I'm picky with distortion & "dirty" beats, even tho I mainly make "dirty" beats (boom bap/hip hop). I only use vinyl & hardware synths (some times cassette) & the Heat brings the dirt out in the best possible way (for my ears, your ears might not agree).
Also it makes digital sound.......analog......gave my brother an electribe synth a year or so ago (it's just not my thing), well I ran it thru the Heat & now I want the Electribe back. It makes everything sound better.

I would definitely buy the heat, but $$... ouch. It has that vacuum tube warm sound to it. Most hip hop producers are scared to use distortion. But a little goes a long way. I always liked putting it on anything brass. Horns, hats, bells, cymbals, brass-like synths to make them go crazy. A tiny bit of distortion on a bass line fattens it up nice.

@Sharris - Do you upload your music online anywhere? I'm curious to hear what you've been cooking up with all the techniques you have shared.

I actually don't have any of my stuff online.........I knew joining a forum & sharing my ideas would eventually lead to the question "where's my music". I have thousands of beats & share what I make with family & friends, but the second I think I should put something online my analytical brain goes crazy & all of sudden nothing I've made is good enough. The perfectionist in me comes out. I really do feel I have something... I only doubt myself when I think about sharing my music with the public.
BUT talking on the forum has gotten me a lot more comfortable & I keep telling myself to just put stuff up, it's not a big deal & it's ok if people don't like what I make, nothing is loved by everyone.
I'm really glad you asked tho, I think this will give me the push to do it. So I'm setting a goal for myself, I'm going to put beats up by next week & I'll let you know. I plan on entering some of the beat battles too, I love a challenge & think I could learn a lot from it....plus I'll gain more sp ninja skills. That's 1 thing I love about this, you never stop learning.

I understand this completely. Perfectionist are their worst own critics. It's good if helps you push yourself, but bad if it halts your production all together. Sharing my stuff online has helped me in many ways. Some of the beats I though were great didn't get much applause, then some of them I hated were surprising liked by others. I don't have many friends that are into the type of music I like to make, so most of them don't even know I've been making beats for 20 years. Some of my family think I'm just a DJ because I own turntables, I'd make a horrible DJ because I'd never play what others wanted to hear. Then I always feel like I have to make a disclaimer before showing my friends, that listen to hip hop (mostly commercial rap), my beats because they are different from what they are used to hearing. So, my stuff would probably never get heard if I didn't upload it. Also, you can hide behind user names and profiles online. I could tell you some embarrassing stories about playing live hip hop with a rapper at the same venues and house parties were rock, punk and metal bands were headlining. Kinda hard to do your thing when people are looking at you confused or angry.

But I think the perfectionist part of me died after losing a hard drive with (almost) everything I did from 2003-2011. I choked it up and figured I'm still alive so I have time to make more. But we are all gonna ring the bell one day, it's best not to sit on what you love doing for too long. Who knows, maybe someone will love it more than you do. So, next week then? Jump in tha water!

I would like to hear some beats with the AH involved too. And curious to know where you place it in your set-up too.

Sure the thing is highly appealing, but I wonder if the "wow" effect in some of these youtube videos is not widely due to a simple volume effect (just like in the link you shared).

Otherwise, this forum is the right place to post beats without the feeling the entire internet is watching & judging you

Luckily my perfectionism doesn't mess with my beat making toooo much, I turn my mind off completely & just go by feel, which is another thing I love about it But yeah, the whole disclaimer thing, that's funny, I do the exact same thing before showing someone a beat "this might not be your style & I know it's a little ruff, but I played it out live & some parts I messed up a little, but I only spent 2 hours on it & I can do better". At first it was like where is this comin from, a minute ago I thought it was the best beat ever
I'm a sample & beat hoarder I couldn't imagine losing all that, wow.
You're right tho, when there's nothing you can do about it you just have to move on.... learn something from it...... & make more beats!

Saladolar, yeah, this would be the best place to share my beats with people doing the same thing as me & that love the same style of music. So yes, next week, I'm comin! I'll do some stuff with the Analog Heat as well. I actually run all samples thru it & also have it on my master out when recording beats. I agree, demos are hard to judge, especially with something like this. That video I posted, he had the incoming signal at SUCH a low volume like you said.... probably on purpose for the WOW factor, to make it seem more insane than it is. Honestly like I mentioned earlier I prefer using it more subtly.......I like to add just a little crunch. & I use the EQ to boost bass & the filters are really nice too. Mainly I've been using it more as a mastering tool. I never master my beats, I have a hard time using plugins since I work on a computer, so I knew if I had a hardware box that I could play with I would actually work on improving the sound quality of my beats. PLUS being able to use it to destroy sound or add textures is great & the filters on it are the best I've heard. But it took me a long time to pull the trigger on it & I actually regretted buying it the 1st day I used it (only the 1st day tho). It's expensive. I haven't heard anyone speak badly of it & I personally love it, but, I don't know....... I'm older, I have a good job, no kids, low bills & I put my money into the things I love, the things that bring me happiness. I purposely brought my bills down to a minimum so I could blow my money on what I wanted. Just to put it in perspective, I'm not careful with my money. I spend it on fun.

[quote="Sharris"][/quote]
Awesome! Looking forward to it.

[quote="HUNGRYMAN"]

Most hip hop producers are scared to use distortion. But a little goes a long way. I always liked putting it on anything brass. Horns, hats, bells, cymbals, brass-like synths to make them go crazy. A tiny bit of distortion on a bass line fattens it up nice.

Agreed.

Distortion on horns and especially horn stabs can sound great.

I like combining distortion on horns with the isolator fx to thin out the sound a little..you can get some dope sounding samples that way.

why did this turn into a thread ab guitar pedals lol

instead of using tremolo/pan as a live effect i've resampled it to get a drum panned to one side, for stereo production purposes

I know, haha......I think it's because I mentioned the Analog Heat in the first post......even tho it's not a guitar pedal.......it's funny how quick threads can change course.

That's a good tip, especially since sp's don't have a specific "pan" function.

this topic just make me think " i miss my 404" because it's all in the box and so many effects ( i miss vinyl sim, filter, tape echo, reverb , i can resample easily ,e v e r y t h i n g :'( ...
i think it'll stay the best sampler for me because each time i try an other one, i return on 404. [i know it's a bit " off topic " ]
reverb + phaser / reverb + flanger / delay + reverb on sample ___ pitch + eq or chorus on drums (especialy on hats and snares)___ double vinyl sim on everything___resample on tape___ beatmaking is like cooking ??

Yeah, it's my swiss army knife No matter what I'm doin it's always in the signal chain. Favorite & most used piece of gear I have. & yeah, a lot like cooking