So here is a little bit of background. I already own the TC Electronic G-Major and I have done for about 8 years now, so I knew what I was expecting effect's wise, pure effects awesomeness from TC Electronic. For pure simplicity, the Nova system is just fantastic! I am using it in simplified set up for gigging, where I am not using my rack system. It works really well and most importantly means I can do away with a massive pedalboard, and could just simply have the Nova System and a wah and I am away! Having said that...I am using a few additional pedals in the pedalboard. One is the Electro-Harmonix Micro Q-Tron as the Nova System doesn't have an envelope filter sadly and the other is the Suhr Riot which is just pure distortion heaven and I don't want to not have it as I love it so much!! It is the perfect partner for the Nova System as the distortions on the NS are really great but range from TubeScreamer like overdrive to classic rock distortions, the Riot pedal really is the 'turn it up to 11' pedal.How easy is it to use?On the whole the unit it very simple to use. There are two main ways of using it, one being in preset mode, where the bottom three pedals on the left (Drive, Comp, Rev) enable you to switch between presets. In this mode you still have access to be able to turn on and off the Pitch, Delay, Mod and Boost functions (and tap tempo). By holding your foot on either the Pitch or Mod control you can scroll up and down banks of presets. You can also connect the G-Minor footswitch to enable you to switch between presets, and you can then use the Nova System in pedal board mode.Pedal mode provides you with access to all the pedals as it would on a standard pedal board (i.e. you get 7 different effects). By holding the pedal down for a couple of seconds you can switch presets (this happens on the release of the pedal!). I know that this annoys a lot of users, but it makes total sense to me, you have multi functioning switches and the easiest way to be able to not only switch an effect on an off and use it to switch preset is the way TC have implemented. If you want instant preset switching (but loosing access to turn the Drive, Comp and Rev on and off) just switch the unit to preset mode. I think it is a really clever idea and it makes sense to me.In a sense you could see it that you could potentially have a different pedal board setup for each song for example and then switch between them between songs. If you content the G-Minor or use a midi controller, such as the FCB 1010 or the Tech 21 Midi-Moose, then you have instantaneous access to the different presets. So it is actually quite powerful.There has been a lot said about the patch changing method that is implemented in the unit, I understand that they switches are multi-functional and the patch change works on the release and there is a lag time in the loading. It is fine for the way I use the system, but I can understand that it isn't for everyone. Potentially adding a G-Minor pedal or Midi Footswitch is the way forward, it is something I am considering!I currently only have 3 different patches (read that as pedal boards) set up. Primarily to switch between the overdrive and distortion pedals. One preset has the overdrive and tremlo effect and the other to have the distortion effect and flanger. The rest stay the same.So most importantly what does it SOUND like?The effects are pristine in quality, and I know that is not for everyone, but it certainly works for me. I think the analogue drives are really good, whilst not out and out metal distortion, you can get some great rock and blues tones from the OD, and classic rock, metal from the distortion. But if you use it to drive a tube amp I think it would work well! The user interface is dead simple, I like the patch system where you can use different patches like different pedal boards, that is fantastic!I personally really like the compressor, octave and boost functions. The boost is really really useful and can add a considerable boost say when you are switching to a lead tone. It is also fantastic into a tube amp as you can get the amp to break up nicely and cleanly with the boost. I think all the effects are pretty awesome, but I am not too impressed with some of the modulation options, but I should add I am not a modulation fan. As usual too their is a perceived drop in volume when using modulation effects, I make up by this by running with the compressor or the boost to increase the perceived level.You can also create a whammy effect by adding and additional expression pedal (sadly this uses the same input as the G-minor footswitch, so it is one or the other!).Programming the sounds is dead simple, plus for each effect you can store up to 4 favourites (i.e. configurations you like), whilst you can't access these without having to bend down and press the button (and in a sense in a gig why would you?) it is a really nice feature. The unit also has a speaker emulated output (although you loose the use of the EQ block...which by the way isn't footswitchable, which is a shame!). As the Nova System is not an amp modeller taking this approach might not be the best course of action, but in a totally emergency it is there, plus you could get something like the Tech 21 character pedals to provide you with an 'amp' and then run that either after or before the Nova System.Are there any nice touches?The unit is really solid, the brushed metal looks fantastic, the orange lights illuminating the pedals are also really great under stage lighting, as well as the display LCD. It runs from an IEC plug which is also fantastic, so no wall wart power supplies, I mean ideally it would run from my *** distribution box, but I it makes like really easy. The size is just right too, it can be thrown in a backpack, or on a small pedal board. I have actually managed to downsize to using an Electro-Harmonix Pedal Board Bag
