WH1 vs WH4 Comparison
EVER WONDERED WHICH SOUNDED BETTER? THE ORIGINAL WH-1 OR THE WH-4 REISSUE?
THEN THIS IS THE PAGE FOR YOU!
THE ANSWER TO THE BLIND COMPARISON:
A = REISSUE WH-4
B = ORIGINAL WH-1
My humble opinion of the comparison.
For single note stuff, the WH1 seems the nicest. Very smooth sweep, and good timbre. For chords, I prefer the WH4. Both add ‘artifacts’ when letting a chord sustain. The WH4 has a ‘retriggery’ glitch, where the WH1 has a more ‘warbly’ glitch. You’ll see it in the video.
For low octave stuff they sound the same. But when octave is mixed (dry + 1oct down) it’s hard to say. The WH1 sounds chunkier when listening to the low octave, but adds an almost chorusy ‘feel’ to stuff, as I think the lower octave being delayed a few ms gives it that sound. The WH4, although not as chunky (very small degree difference here) feels ‘tighter’.
The treadle is interesting too. The WH1 has a smoother feeling sweep, but is tiny, so that can feel weird under the foot. The WH4’s sweep feels more ‘jumpy’, or rather, it’s hard to get a perfectly smooth gliss going. BUT the size of the WH4 is more comfortable under the foot. Particularly since I have gigantic feet. It is notable that even though the WH1 is smaller, it has the longer ‘sweeps’ from heel to toe.
The detune modes are a landslide. The WH1 by a longshot. It doesn’t even sound like the same effect. On the WH1 it sounds like nice analog chorus. The WH4 sounds like an RP-50 or something equally terrible.
(CLICK HERE TO SEE A GUIDE ON MODIFYING YOUR WH-4 TO BE TRUE BYPASS!!)
.WAV version of the comparison
.MP3 version of the comparison
Great comparison video!! I’ve been waiting for one that I can relate to the songs.
Would be nice to have a ‘triple comparison’ now with the brand new Whammy V!