Empress Reverb - Multi Reverb Machine

Product Information

More recently, it’s used its modeling expertise and hardware knowhow to develop half a dozen stompboxes that cover all the essential bases from classic amp simulations to indispensable FX. As you’ve probably guessed, the Golden Reverberator handles the vintage reverb side of things, including ’50s-inspired studio plates, ’60s springs and ’70s digital. Analog Dry Path - Dry signal is left untouched, and blended with the wet signal using VCA. (no zipper noise, hooray!) My Review: The MXR M300 pedal produces six individual reverb styles ranging from classic spring to room and hall, each meticulously designed and crafted by renowned MXR designers. Despite its extensive range of sonic options, the M300 is housed in a compact, standard-sized pedal that is laid out in an easy-to-navigate style. I appreciate how easy this pedal is to use. I’ve been using it pretty regularly for a few months now, and it’s held up well despite my tendency to be a bit rough with my gear. I’m always impressed by the build and sound quality of Electro Harmonix guitar pedals, and the Oceans 11 reinforces this notion for me. This is a highly detailed pedal that produces a seemingly infinite number of spacey reverbs and is guaranteed to interact well with the other pedals on your board.

My Review: The Strymon BigSky reverb pedal is a fan favorite. I’ve owned this pedal for a couple of years now and started using it, for a period of time, in place of my HOF2 as a pedal that can deliver the excellent analog vibe of the more classic settings while still allowing me to save and carry some more washed ambient tones to my gigs. For most of my personal playing needs, I tend to use the more traditional Spring, Plate, and Hall setting for the bulk of my playing. However, for certain applications, such as a wedding service, I like to use more atmospheric washy reverbs. I’ll be the first to admit that I don’t make use of anywhere near all of the BigSkys preset channels. It has more banks and versatility than I will likely ever need. With 100 preset channels and three presets per channel, giving the guitarists 300 total presets, this reverb machine is highly customizable and delivers breathtaking tones.This pedal rivals my Strymon BigSky in every way. What the reverb pedals in this high-end category really offer that the majority of Reverb pedals can’t compete with is a ridiculously wide array of algorithms, controls, and presets to experiment and create unique washed ambient soundscapes. Interestingly enough, though, I gave a slight edge to the Empress Reverb and ranked it one spot above my Stryman BigSky because I personally find myself slightly preferring the feel of the more classic settings, particularly hall and spring, of the Empress compared to the BigSky. I found the two fairly equally capable of crafting unique atmospheric textures, and although the Strymon has more preset channels, both pedals had more than enough preset channels for my needs. What Source Audio has termed ‘True Spillover’ also ensures that moving from one preset to another is completely seamless, with no nasty cut-offs spoiling the sound of outgoing trails. The need for separate midi box, is a little negative, but as long as it works, i have no problem with it. One little remark on the features: an USB port for connection with the PC (that many other pedals do have) would enlarge the tweakability. Especially some more adjustable parameters for the delay function would make the pedal really complete for me. Look at its top panel and the Empress Reverb appears to have 12 reverb machines, including a handful of traditional engines plus more exotic sounding names such as ‘Ghost’ and ‘Sparkle’. What’s not immediately obvious is that it can be updated via an SD card with the latest algorithms from Empress, to provide multiple variations of the base 12. Currently, with firmware v6, the Empress Reverb features 32 reverb types and sub-types, and the company plans to keep releasing more.

For example, if you’re adding a touch of ambience with a Room reverb, it’s likely the tails will be very short, barely detectable. In contrast, ambient reverbs used for creative effect, such as Shimmer, will typically have very long tails – the sound just sustains and sustains. We’ve already covered chamber reverb and how it was initially produced, so I won’t repeat myself here. It’s worth noting, however, that chamber reverb is a staple of guitar pedals because the original form was used on so many iconic recordings that many guitarists strive to replicate this natural effect. Thankfully, reverb pedals allow us to do that without having to hire out Abbey Road Studios for the day! Learn more about the types of reverb here. Common Controls on Reverb PedalsNonetheless this is a tremendous far-ranging and extended proper Dual-Channel Reverb Workstation with actually no less that 29 Reverb Modes across 12 Engine Types (2-3 Modes per Engine). It's one of only 3 parallel Dual Channel Reverbs - alongside the Boss RV-500 and Source Audio Ventris - as far as I'm aware.

In this format though - which is well priced - you get the most variability from that single algorithm - courtesy of 6 controls knobs plus alt button and secondary parameters and 5 onboard presets. There are many online calculators and apps that will work this out for you so that you don’t need to spend time figuring the settings out for each individual song. Positioning a Reverb Pedal In The Signal Chain What makes the EchoSystem and Reverb such superb propositions is that for all the core functions and parameters there is no menu-diving or sub-routines - all the parameters are immediately accessible courtesy of 8 handy knobs. Where you have the added benefit of saving those to no less than 35 Presets. Is the perfect reverb tone no more than the twist of a knob away? Boss thinks so, which is why it’s kept things real simple with its chunky RV-6. So many modern reverbs are complex to program, and so expensive that we hesitate to stomp on them with purpose. Not so this offering from Boss. There are seven reverb types to play with – Spring, Plate, Hall, Room, Modulate, Shimmer and Dynamic – together with a +Delay option that combines reverb with a simple delay. The Dynamic option is interesting because, as the name suggests, it introduces more reverb depth the harder you dig in, which can be used to great effect.The Empress’ cornucopia of features and presets could make heads spin. But the control set is very thoughtfully and sensibly laid out and easy to navigate, which minimizes a potentially formidable learning curve. That said, keeping the manual at your side for first experiments is a very good idea. Also discussed previously, this is another pedal with higher current demands from a power supply. Although Strymon will provide a power supply, if you want to use your pedal board supply, you will need to allocate space for a 300mA plus output. In terms of cons, really, the only other thing to talk about is price. This high-end reverb pedal can best be compared with the Empress Reverb and Evident Space, which will be similarly priced. In common with its two esteemed rivals, it can do classic reverb styles – hall, plate, spring and so on – exceptionally well. So, if you’re looking to play a spot of ‘60s surf guitar or need to add a touch of airiness to a dry tone then it’s got you covered. However, its true vocation is experimental sonic exploration of the most ambitious kind. Tone, Hi, Lo, Filter. These controls enable you to EQ your reverberated signal. A simple tone knob will help you go darker or brighter, whereas separate high and low controls, with perhaps a filter switch too, provide more sound shaping possibilities. My day-to-day reverbs tend to be the 'Classics' with my current mainstay the Room / L.A. Studio - which works brilliantly for my needs - I also shuffle it around with Hall, Plate and Spring Reverbs on occasion.