We have a successor to the RP-80 pedal. The drastic price drop on that multi-effects unit is what triggered our impatience to see what Digitech had been researching in the lab all this time. The result: the RP-90. But that's not all, because we also have a main course that will take quite a bit longer to digest: the GSP 1101. A digital modeling preamp/multi-effects processor in rack format that's going to get people talking. We'll squeeze every last possibility out of these new products, created by one of the giants of modeling technology, hoping to be as surprised after trying them as we've been eager waiting for them.

Digitech R RP-90 Processor

UNBOXING
The look of the pedal is very similar to the RP-80's: a synthetic-material surface, with two footswitches for stepping through presets sequentially, the control panel with its activation LEDs and a two-digit display for editing amps, cabinets, etc. And, of course, the expression pedal (for varying volume or the parameters of some effects, like the wah-wah). All this comes with a somewhat sinister black finish that suggests the pedal is going to bring the noise. And something that's always appreciated: it includes a PS200R power supply whose voltage range matches the mains of the country it's sold in.

There's one thing that, far from displeasing me, didn't quite win me over: the use of synthetic materials for the pedal surface. While its construction is very rigid, I've always favored pedals built from metals like steel or aluminum. In any case, it's shockproof.

As expected, it has bypass and includes a tuner and a drum machine with forty drum patterns (ten more than the RP-80). It may seem expendable, but when we miss a rhythmic backing, or our drummer is on vacation, it's a much-appreciated feature, especially when we want to find out how the preset we've created works with this or that groove.

As for outputs, we have mono and stereo, and a switch to select mixer or amp mode. Its purpose is to optimize the outputs depending on whether we're connecting them, respectively, to a mixing device (console) or recorder, or using the headphone output, or else going straight into an amplifier. In short, it changes the output impedance.

MODELING FEATURES AND PERFORMANCE
This is a pedal aimed at the studio musician and the semi-professional user. It features a DSP whose chip is the AudioDNA 2, an improved version of the original AudioDNA. The A/D and D/A converters are 24-bit, with a 44.1 kHz sampling rate. The number of effects we can run simultaneously is nine, and as an example of these possibilities, we have 50 factory presets, with another 50 free slots to store our own (the RP-80 offered 40 and 40, respectively). The only way to power the pedal is from the mains, with no option for batteries or other power sources.

As for amps, effects and cabinets, the models the pedal offers are based in part on some of the most widely used, including the classics created by Digitech:

a) AMPS
-1957 Fender Tweed Deluxe.
-1965 Fender Blackface Twin Reverb.
-1968 Marshall Super Lead (the classic Plexi).
-1977 Marshall Master Volume.
-1963 Vox AC30 Top Boost.
-2001 Mesa/Boogie Dual Rectifier.
-1983 Marshall JCM800.
-1996 Matchless DC-30.
-Digitech Solo.
-Digitech Metal.
-Digitech Bright Clean.
-Digitech Clean Tube.

b) EFFECTS
-Pickup type simulator (single-coil or humbucker emulation, regardless of what your guitar has installed).
-Dunlop Cry Baby Wah.
-Vox Clyde McCoy Wah.
-Full-range Wah.
-Compressor.
-Three-band EQ.
-Noise gate.
-Auto-swell gate.
-Chorus based on the Boss CE-2.
-Dual chorus.
-Flanger.
-Phaser.
-Tremolo.
-Panner (stereo pan modulator).
-Vibrato.
-Leslie rotary speaker emulator.
-Ya Ya (wah + flanger).
-Auto Ya.
-Envelope Filter.
-High-pass/low-pass filter.
-Detuner.
-Pitch Shifter.
-Digitech Whammy.
-Analog delay.
-Digital delay.
-Ping-pong delay, bouncing between speakers.
-Tape delay, an emulator of the old magnetic-tape delay.
-Fender spring reverb.
-Room reverb.
-Hall reverb.
-Volume pedal.

c) Cabinets
-Marshall Celestino G12-T70, 4x12”.
-Johnson Celestino Vintage 30, 4x12”.
-AC30 TB Jensen Blue Back, 2x12”.
-Digitech Bright Clean, 2x12”.
-Fender Tweed Deluxe, 1x12”.
-Fender Twin Reverb, 2x12”.
-Digitech Solo, 4x12”.
-Digitech Metal, 4x12”.

Now comes a surprise that will especially please those of you who go crazy for distortion: nothing less than a package of six overdrive effects, based on the following pedals:
-Ibanez TS-9 Tube Screammer.
-DOD 250 Preamp/Overdrive.
-Electro-Harmonix Big Muff (fuzz distortion).
-Boss DS-1 Distortion.
-Digitech Grunge.
-Digitech Death Metal.

As you can imagine, we could do practically whatever we fancied with this little guy. All that's missing is creativity and songwriting ability.

SOUND
Now we're getting somewhere. We know the processor's features, but will it sound the way it promises to? Without delay, let's plug in the power supply and the pedal, first to a Peavey ValveKing 112, and then to an interface that we'll connect to the computer.

In front of us is the control panel. When I review a device like this, the first thing I do is try to operate it without reading the instructions first, to see how far my intuition lets me work the pedal properly.

The truth is that half an hour was enough for me to get absolute control of the RP-90, so it's not at all complicated to use. What's more, among pedals of this type, it's one of the simplest I've handled, thanks to its well-organized controls: the effects and the amps are in separate “libraries,” as are the overall volume and the effects level. There are also up/down selectors to vary the parameters and values of the chosen amp/effect/cabinet, to save to memory, and the sequential preset selectors.

The clean sounds, especially the Fender emulations, are really convincing (bearing the price firmly in mind, naturally), and the effects are frankly well done (especially the Digitech Whammy, the Boss CE-2 chorus, the flanger, the phaser and the spring reverb).

But when we switch to the aggressive sounds... Wow! I had even more fun here. Mixing amp models suited to these effects (Mesa Boogie and Marshall) with the distortion pedals and powerful cabs gives us the most varied raucous cocktails, from a bluesy crunch to the most savage metal distortion. Try, for example, the Dual Rectifier with the Digitech Death Metal at full saturation and a Digitech Metal 4x12 cabinet, and the destruction of the room or stage is guaranteed. Or we can pick the Fender Tweed Deluxe and combine it with a Vox wah or the Whammy, and get sweet, psychedelic sounds... As you can see, we can go from one extreme to the other, and everything in between. And you can certainly hear the improvements we owe to the DSP chip, the AudioDNA2.

CONCLUSION
For about 100 €, a processor designed and made in the USA, with 12 amp models, 50 factory presets, 50 user presets, libraries of 20 tones and 20 effects, eight cabinets, six distortions, 32 effects, 40 drum patterns, separate mono/stereo outputs with an amp/mixer output selector, built-in tuner, expression pedal and a power supply included? That's what we call incredible value for the money. On top of that, it's even more versatile than earlier versions in this series, since it adapts to contemporary music, especially when it comes to overdrive.

We have a rugged, versatile and reliable unit, with the sound quality Digitech has accustomed us to, for use both in the studio (very convenient for home recording) and live (I tried it in a venue at high volumes with satisfactory results). It will undoubtedly be quite a while before anything better of this type is developed at the semi-professional level for this price.