Read the review: http://www.premierguitar.com/articles/24266-chase-bliss-audio-spectre-analog-tz-flanger-review
I confess: I plugged in Chase Bliss Audio’s new flanger before reading about it. I assumed it was digital. All those controls! There are six knobs, four toggles, four jacks, and 16 tiny DIP switches—more sonic options than you’re likely to find on a flanger of any type—let alone a compact analog unit.
Then I cracked it open. Holy cannoli—that’s one densely packed circuit board! Especially since it’s hand-wired using old-school through-hole components. With all those new-production analog BBD chips and the trimpots needed to calibrate them, it’s no surprise that there’s no battery compartment. (Spectre runs on a standard 9V power supply.)
Yes, Spectre is a true through-zero analog flanger, which means it employs two analog delay lines. Through-zero is a particularly dramatic flanging sound, wherein the wet signal drops to near silence at the sweep point where the delay signals are directly out of phase. (You can hear the effect on Jimi Hendrix’s “House Burning Down.”)
Spectre is monophonic, with just one input and one output jack, yet it offers extraordinary sonic options. This jibes with Chase Bliss Audio’s signature approach of digitally controlling analog circuits. Now, that may sound like one of the silly circumlocutions some effect manufacturers use to sidestep the off-putting word “digital.” (“Your dry sound remains 100 percent analog!”) But here, it’s true.
But before we explore Spectre’s special skills, know this: This pedal is really, really noisy. Your tolerance for analog hiss may be the factor that determines whether Spectre is right for you.
Click to continue to read the review: http://www.premierguitar.com/articles/24266-chase-bliss-audio-spectre-analog-tz-flanger-review