tc electronic Plethora X1

The sound is truly beautiful, as you'd expect from TC Electronics. But the user-friendliness leaves much to be desired. The USB connection to the computer is often not recognized, and Bluetooth is truly useless, more often than not failing to connect. There's also no synchronization between various apps on your phone, desktop, or iPad, for example. It's handy as a backup, but it hasn't become a permanent part of my setup, and unless the user interface and user-friendliness are updated, it probably won't be.

I was one of the first lucky ones to receive it, I ordered it as soon as it was available on the site. As soon as I tried it, the impression was not very good: the pedal had an annoying high-pitched noise in the background. It was powered via daisy chain: as soon as I connected it apart with a Boss PSA the problem stopped, so consider that this pedal is very picky with power supply and daisy chain. Another problem was connecting it to the app: it was not possible to connect it via bluetooth, no problem instead via USB C (but only with the penultimate 2024 version of the software, not with the latest 2025 release). The pedal seems to be still in beta (I once had also a bug and I was forced to restart it) and so are the app and the software (for example, from the PC the artist's toneprints are not available, only via the app; even via app the Petrucci's toneprints – only that! – are not available, who knows why!). Furthermore, there are some atypical choices such as the possibility of switching between A and B (the only way to have 14 slots instead of 7). But let's move on to the sound. With the right power supply and true bypass the pedal is very quiet when it is off (tested with a loop box, it is really a true bypass), when you press the switch to turn it on you can hear the action of the relay, just a hint of hum added but tha'ts true for almost every digital effect. The sounds are typical TC Electronic. I was able to directly compare it with a Flashback 2 that I already own: the 2290 delay is identical (also , the "analog" delay unfortunately is not (in the Flashback it is warmer and darker) and the other models also change a bit: they sound good but they do not sound identical to those of the original Flashback. Maybe I should download the corresponding toneprint and adjust it to match, but it is a lot of work! (I remember that each of the seven slots has six sound variations of the effect plus a toneprint chosen by the user: unfortunately in the delay there is no looper option). The reverb sounds are very nice and the modulations are not bad either, maybe generally a bit cold (the preloaded models all seems to have very modern sounds, no chorus like the CE1 to be clear), but in my opinion the pitch shifter sounds very fake (someone might like it). Ultimately: it is an excellent all-purpose pedal, a Swiss army knife of sound, suitable for tinkerers or for a light setup, but probably the dedicated pedals are better and more practical. However, for a price slightly higher than that of a Flashback or a Hall of Fame you get both of these pedals plus the choruses and flangers and phasers and several others... For this alone it's worth the purchase!