First Impressions : The Dreamscape
Suppose for a moment that you prefer stompboxes to rack effects, but your board is getting a bit large and you would be ok combining Chorus, Flanger and Vibrato into a single pedal because you would not be using those effects together. Suppose also that you would like the idea of being able to store a couple of defined sets of settings per effect and also be able to create your own setups, or use the setups of other artists.
If any of this makes sense, you may find The Dreamscape by TC Electronic to your liking. The Dreamscape is a signature pedal approved or designated or whatever by John Petrucci of Dream Theater. Whether one is a fan or not may be of less import. Credit to Mr. Petrucci for understanding the power of his brand and leveraging it wherever he can, including with excellent products from Ernie Ball Music Man and Mesa Engineering.
I bought The Dreamscape, not because it was endorsed by Mr. Petrucci but because the idea of a simple stompbox that had the functionality described in the first paragraph made sense for me, and because I needed to replace the Corona Chorus in my AC30 board because I had moved it to my bass board. I could have bought another Corona, which I like very much, but I thought that I would try something different.
I have not been a big flanger user since the 80s when they were the next hot thing, but as I tend to play more older stuff than newer, the benefits were there. I also like a gentle chorus without high speed or massive sweeps from time to time, and find that it works well for ambient work alongside an excellent reverb. The reverbs in my Vox AC30 Top Boost and Koch Multitone (no longer made) are particularly nice and complement a rich yet subtle chorus very well. I use finger powered vibrato a lot but have not (yet) been a big consumer of it as a consistent effect. It's in my old Eventide Mod Factor, but I never really glommed onto it as a pedal effect. The Dreamscape gives me two presets for each of the three effects and the factory defaults are decently usable. I appreciate this as a I often find factory presets significantly overdone and annoying. I have an old G Major 2 in the effects loop on a Marshall 2550 and find most of the factory defaults completely unusable. The Dreamscape proves the exception.
Like many TC pedals, The Dreamscape has the Toneprint function. This allows you to download existing Toneprint files, or to create your own based on your own experimentation in the Toneprint Editor which is available for macOS and for Windows. There is a companion smartphone app that allows you to store multiple Toneprint files and "beam" the one you want to use to the appropriate pedal by bringing the phone speaker up to the pickup in your guitar and sending the file to the device without needing cables or the like. For a live performer, this flexibility is wonderful. If you are playing for your own enjoyment only, it still is a real benefit because it encourages creativity because you can Toneprint settings that you really like and not lose them when you start to twiddle effects. Learning to use Toneprint is not hard, and it really adds to the potential return on value of the so equipped TC Electronic products. A side benefit for me is that all my Corona Chorus toneprints can be used on The Dreamscape.
There is also a bright/normal/dark switch that changes the voicing of the effects accordingly. I use my Dreamscape mostly in the Normal position because those sounds please me most, but again, having some variety is a good thing.
The knobs turn smoothly but are not overly loose. There is no binding. The footswitch is click free and is smooth to engage. The pedal is the same height as my other pedals on the AC30 board so I don't hit or miss the switch as I move back and forth. I use it with a pedal board power supply unit but it will run on a 9v battery if you wish. The pedal defaults to True Bypass but is switchable to buffered if you prefer. There is also a Kill Dry option if you use it in a Parallel Effects loop. The only amp that I have that has this is the Koch and I have not tried the pedal in that loop as yet.
I do run The Dreamscape in the effects send/return loop on the AC30. I just prefer time and modulation effects there. You should do what you prefer.
TC says that the pedal is analog-dry through so your unaffected signal is truly unaffected. Turning the effect mix to zero results in no colouration as expected.
The Dreamscape supports mono and stereo in as well as mono and stereo out. The only real downside is that the owner's manual is just a one page startup guide. TC make great products but I have never found their documentation to be all that good, even for complex things like the G System or G Major. On this subject, they could stand to take a lesson from Eventide.
You can update the firmware and connect the pedal to your computer for use with the Toneprint Editor via USB2 and a cable comes in the box with the unit.
Whether you get The Dreamscape because you aspire to Petrucci status or just want some of his signature tones or because you like the idea of having three useful effects in a single easy to use pedal is entirely up to you. I own a number of TC pedals and have only returned one because I did not like the sound (HyperGravity Compressor). Calling this one Recommended.