Aphazing's core sounds are terrific: rich, detailed, and convincingly analog-sounding. Both input and output are mono, yet tones feel wide and immersive. Your ear can really get lost in these complex swirls and swooshes. Aphazing's other star feature is its wide-ranging control set. For starters, you can select from four phase-stage options. At one extreme, 2-stage phasing provides a straightforward, tape-like sound, while the 12-stage setting is thick and complex. The 4- and 8-stage options split the difference. Fine vintage-style phasing. Countless cool and musical variations.
Even more remarkable are the four phaser-mode settings.
Mode A is what most of us think of as a “regular” phase sound, generated by
combining your dry signal with a slightly offset and pitch-modulated wet
signal. Mode B blends the signals subtractively for hollow-sounding tones with
greater phase cancellation—a cool option for contexts where standard phasing is
a bit too “cakey.” Mode C introduces asymmetric modulation with a “fishhook”
twist reminiscent of a Uni-Vibe, while mode D is a thinner-sounding subtractive
version of Mode C. Between the stage and mode options, Aphazing provides a
jumbo-sized crayon box of modulation colors.
In addition to the usual rate, depth, and
feedback/resonance controls, there’s another cool tone shaper: a set of
high-pass and low-pass filters that narrow the frequency range of the wet
signal, enabling subtler modulation effects. Trim lows, and only the upper
frequencies get phased. Trim highs, and you emphasize low frequency phase
sounds. I love how Aphazing lets you dial up extravagant effects and then shape
the wet frequency range for subtler results.
Aphazing sounds awesome on everything from simple
’60s-style phasing to weird, wild wobbles. The multiple modes (including
relatively transparent-sounding negative phasing) can help you dial in tones to
suit a band arrangement or a mix, as do the high- and low-pass filters.
"Aphazing is one badass bargain."- Joe Gore - Premier
Guitar
Sometimes you don’t know you’re
missing something until someone gives it to you. Such is the case with
Experimental Noize’s Aphazing.
The top two knobs allow you to
decide if you want to use a 2-, 4-, 6- or 12-stage phaser, and at what rate the
LFO is cycling. Next up is the mode control, which offers four different
settings: Additive (A), subtractive (B), alternate additive (C) and alternative
subtractive (D)—bear with me, and I’ll describe these in layman’s terms.
There’s a high-pass filter (Low Limit) and a low-pass filter (High Limit).
Finally, there’s Resonance—which adjusts the feedback in the signal—and Depth,
which determines the amount of the effect applied to the signal (or, as the
manual says, the peaks and troughs of the notches in the phaser’s filter).
Broadly speaking, the more
stages in a phaser, the more complex the effect, so four different phase stages
alone make the Aphazing pretty versatile. Throw in the various controls and the
detailed sweep of the Aphazing’s knobs and you can dial find a huge range in
the different controls, which is what makes them so effective. For example, in
practical terms, the Resonance control affects the intensity of the phaser’s
sweep. Using the Low Limit and High Limit controls enabled me to dial in some
extreme effects while dialing out distracting overtones with the high end, and
dial in a firm, present low-end by rolling out excess bass.
But once you throw in the
various phaser voices, you’re really dealing with an incredibly useful tool.
For example, I found Voice A to be the best choice for a “Classic” phaser. I
loved the 12-stage setting to be great for ‘70s soul with Rate, Bass, Treble
and Res all at approximately 10 o’clock, and Depth at 2 o’clock, while the
2-stage settings with Res at noon and Depth at 3 o’clock proved to be great for
funk.
Moving to Voice B, I was able
to get a great Rotary sound with the 12-stage setting; I liked Res set around 8
o’clock, with Depth between 2 and 3 o’clock. Here, the Low Limit did a great
job of helping me dial in the right amount of throb, and the High Limit helped
to keep the top end chirp sounding “organic.”
Voice C provided a great
vibrato effect that could easily be pushed into ring modulation depending on
where the Res, Depth and Rate are set. Voice D, when married with the 4-stage
setting, sounded like a really deep, watery Tremolo when I set Depth and Res to
approximately 3 o’clock; moving to the 6-stage setting, the Aphazing felt like
it was veering into envelope filter territory, but with the more regimented
response of a tremolo. Also exciting was the fact that the rich sound quality
makes the Aphazing that rarest of beasts: a phaser that, in my view, doesn’t
need an output boost. Pretty darn amazing, if you ask me.
Great sound married to great
flexibility for a really reasonable price. - Eric Tischler - Tone Report