The Rocktron Celestial Delay is straight from the old school of delays. A solid-feeling, simple set of 3-knobs and 3-buttons control an analog delay circuit contained within a laser-etched, cast aluminum enclosure. The control set is pretty standard. “VOLUME” regulates the output of the delay line, while dry signal is passed through the circuit at unity. “REGENERATE” controls the level of the delay output fed back into the input of the delay line, governing the number of repeats produced. Together with the “MULTIPLIER” and “DELAY LENGTH” switches, “TIME” sets the time of the delay line, approximately from about 30ms to a little over a second of delay time.
One of the things I really like about the Celestial Delay (and analog delays in general) is shorter delays with low feedback come across as very clean and natural sounding, but as delay times and feedback settings increase, the repeats of the delay start sounding lower- fidelity as they get further away from the original signal. This allows the dry signal and early repeats to sound distinct from later reflections, increasing clarity of notes being played. – Read Ron Guensche’s full review here.
The iStomp is the second offering from DigiTech to offer iOS interaction next to the iPB-10 I reviewed last year. This time with support for the iPod Touch, iPhone, and iPad running iOS 4 or better. This is a much smaller device, a single stomp box enclosure with an AudioDNA™ 2 DSP chip at the heart. You’ve got 4 knobs, true stereo I/O, a DigiTech logo-shaped LED fixture and a single stomp switch. The bottom is lined with rubber so it would work well on a slippery surface. No battery slot in favor of a 9V power supply jack but does include the AC Adaptor (nice). The only other things left in the box are the 30-pin cable for connecting your iOS device and a set of die-cut stickers so that you know what each of the knobs do, depending on what stomp you have loaded. The pedal comes preloaded with the modern Redline Overdrive stomp so that you can get playing right away. – Read the rest of Gus Green’s review here.
Our friends at Vertigo Venus shot this video review of the Gig-FX VOD (3 stage variable overdrive), which was also showcased at our very own Stomp Box Exhibit at CMJ in Manhattan last October. Enjoy!
The Stage One is Blue’s most accessible Class A discrete solid state mic with a foundation for interchangeable capsules. Compared to similar microphones, the Stage One has a very low self noise specification (< 7.5 dB) and a very high output level (+12dBV), making it the perfect choice for today’s high sample rate/deep word length digital platforms. Instead of integrated circuits (chips), the Stage One employs a transformless Class A discrete amplifier circuit to ensure the most accurate and noise-free signal possible, with minimal distortion and coloration.
This is an ideal microphone for recording virtually any sound source. In addition to the microphone, the Stage One also includes custom spider shockmount.
The mic received flattering reviews on many pro audio magazines, including Electronic Musician and EQ Magazine.
For years Death By Audio have built their reputation on providing some of the gnarliest heavy distortion pedals. It’s a distinct sound you can hear on albums by bands like A Place to Bury Strangers, Sisters or Grooms, who are part of the Brooklyn based collective/venue/pedal company. After numerous variations, DBA has created a sort of “best of” pedal, the Apocalypse, which combines 5 of their unique fuzz circuits into a single stomp box.
It’s rare to find an all-analog pedal which possesses versatility bordering on what you’d expect from a digital pedal. The 5 circuits cover everything sonically, from mid-scooped thrash metal, to sustained big muff-influenced tones, to squelching blown speaker overdrive (think Neil Young at his heaviest). To be sure, every setting retains a few similar characteristics – big, broken, aggressive. Its massive sounds are perfect for filling up space in a single guitar or no bass rock band setting. If you’re looking for a buttery classic rock overdrive or shimmery lead tone, the Apocalypse will clearly not be your cup of tea. However, for those looking to conjure a wall of sound in the shoegaze, metal or grunge mold will find in the Apocalypse a swiss army knife.
The controls are straight foward. There’s a notched switch to toggle between the 5 fuzz circuits, trim pots for drive and volume, and huge EQ knob for fine tuning the settings (it’s big enough to adjust with your foot during a live set). It’s about the size of two compact boss pedals, housed in a sturdy sea foam metal casing. The only feature I miss is a foot-switch to move between the distortion settings on the fly.
As the name suggests, the Apocalypse is an attempt at a being an all end all boutique fuzz box. Approaching $300, it aims to preach to the converted fuzz fanatic. Still, if you’re going to get one pedal in this vein, this is is easily one of the most cohesive collections of heavy tones available from a single pedal. – Ezra Tenenbaum
The Electro Harmonix Stereo Memory Man with Hazarai is a stereo looper/delay pedal bursting with exciting features – in fact “Hazarai” is a Yiddish word that roughly translates as ‘everything but the kitchen sink’.
To put into perspective just how much you’re getting for you’re money, the Electro Harmonix stereo memory man is divided up into 8 separate modes which are categorised into 3 sections: Multi-Tap, Echo and Déjà vu.
Multi-Tap: This mode offers 3 kinds of multi-tap delays, and it allows you to choose precisely how many repeats you want to hear, it takes a bit of getting used to get full potential out of it, but when you get it you can tailor the effect to almost any delay you want. Within the multi-tap settings, you get a few little surprises; while a chord or note is being played, by pressing the “tap” footswitch you can “capture” and save it in reverse delay, which is looped until you release the “tap” switch. Another pleasant surprise is the “fading in repeats” feature: to fade in, just turn the decay dial to the maximum setting and adjust the repeats to the number that works for you.
Echo: This setting offers 3 types of delay, ‘300mS’, ‘1 Second’ and ‘3 Second’ control. You can adjust the delay depending on what effect you want, to a hardly noticeable instant slap or delay chaos. On the third setting the modulation allows you to control depth of delay via the decay dial so you can alter it from shallow rippling to warping effect.
Déjà vu: This mode gives you features such as Reverse Echo which is pretty self explanatory and adds a spacious effect. It also gives you the looping functions, which allows up to 30 seconds of loop time and unlimited amount of overdubs – which you can speed up, slow down or play backwards. With the preset feature you are able to save your sounds and with eight slots available (1 per mode) you can be ready in advance.
It must be mentioned that this pedal has a fully stereo signal path that works perfectly fine in mono also, with an added ping-pong delay if you go mono in, stereo out.
In terms of build quality, it’s compact and solid, and for the amount of features you’re getting for its size and price it really is great value for money. We only had space to scratch the surface of what this little box is capable of, and it wouldn’t surprise me if we see a lot more guitar players experimenting with the Electro Harmonix Memory Man with Hazarai to create new and exciting sounds. - Steven Williams
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