Empress Reverb - Multi Reverb Machine

Product Information

Reverse is another reverb type you may find. It takes the reverb tail and quite literally reverses it, usually resulting in a gorgeous ambient drone effect.

Presets was over the top (to much effect) for my setup, but it's easy to make your own. I allways make my own, so no problem. The output knob can boost or retract, which is a plus. When i get the midi setup, i actually don't need a clean boost for my lead tone. There is more than enough boost available in this box. Output Transformer - Get hum-free operation when operating in stereo with two amps. Output 2 is isolated with a transformer to eliminate nasty ground loops Some reverb pedals allow you to adjust the pre-delay to be a certain note value, for example, 16th notes. The decay time could be adjusted to whole notes or half notes, depending on the tempo of the song. This is a simple way to tighten up the tempo of your reverb pedal, but it’s not the most accurate.

Does this Empress rule?

I actually own 3 of these pedals - the Cooper FX Arcades (Reverb Card), EHX Oceans 12 Dual Channel Reverb, and of course the Strymon NightSky, which is currently my favourite and on active duty in my chain. My Review: I have had the pleasure of trying out nearly every reverb pedal on the market. I have to say; the Empress Effects Reverb Pedal truly rivals any reverb pedal available. This pedal really shines with its plethora of modern, unique, and highly customizable reverb effects, but I also cannot understate just how much I love the more classic Spring, Plate, Hall, and Room settings as well. Each classic setting is rich and lush, warm and natural, and the decay is smooth and gradual, giving your music a sense of space and dimension. Another thing to consider is the power supply needs of this pedal. A power supply is not provided, and the Empress Reverb requires a minimum of 300mA from a 9VDC source. While there are plenty of technological design advantages one can expect from this pedal in exchange for this minor inconvenience, it is worth noting to buyers that you will need to consider the ability of your power supply to accommodate this pedal or others like it, such as the Strymon BigSky which also requires 300mA from a 9VDC source. Nonetheless 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.

The three modes can be alternated using the toggle switch. There’s the “dark” mode which is best suited to lower octaves, and the “rise” mode which creates ambient swells of reverb. There is also the “dream” mode, which resembles a latching pad. The secondary functions of the switch give you access to various wave shapes so you can modulate the tone and characteristics of your chosen reverb setting. The next development after echo chambers was plate reverb. Due to the cost of building a room, especially for reverberation, the invention of plate reverbs like the EMT 140 revolutionized the process for producers.The M300 has MXR’s innovative Constant Headroom Technology. With 20 volts of headroom, I love how this pedal performs with clarity at a wide dynamic range. Whether I’m using the classic spring reverb or the more modern plate reverb, I always feel like I’m always getting a reverb that is rich and warm, and it never feels artificial or over-the-top. I especially enjoyed using this reverb with my overdrive pedals, as it really adds a nice depth to my tone. One of my favorite modes was MOD mode, which has a subtle chorus effect that gives the reverb a warm and organic feel. The only downside to this feature is the LED light intensity, which is only a rough indicator of how much reverb level you are adding. It can be tough to know exactly where you are in the range if it’s 4/10, 5/10, or 6/10. So I’ve found it’s not necessarily the easiest way to dial in a precise level. But in a live scenario, it’s still very useful to have the ability to vary the level of reverb you need with simple foot control. Is the EchoSystem for you? Well, that depends how deep you want to get into delay. If you just want a simple bit of echo now and again to spice things up then probably not. One of the biggest upgraded features of the Hall of Fame 2 from the original version of this pedal is the addition of the innovative MASH feature, which basically turns the footswitch of the pedal into an expression controller that reacts to the pressure that you apply.

Another feature I find useful is the sustain switch which can be used to capture a section of your guitar’s input, freeze it, and create a pad-like reverb from the original audio. I’m a huge fan of using your own sounds to create effects, and it’s quite rare for this to be possible using a standard stompbox-style pedal without connecting to a DAW. You can also let the reverb taper off gradually by tweaking the position of the decay knob. Shimmer is a bright-sounding reverb that gets its tone from being processed by pitch shifters. The actual reverb itself can be from any setting, but it sounds unique after being shifted up an octave to emphasize the higher frequencies.As I slowly engage the pedal footswitch, the “MASH” LED indicator will dim brighter the harder I press down. The lighter I press, the dimmer the MASH indicator LED, and the more subtle touch of reverb I’m adding to my signal. The harder I press the pedal, the brighter the MASH indicator LED, and the more reverb I’m adding to my signal. So essentially, if I press down hard enough that the light goes to max brightness, I have maximized the level of reverb effectively as if I turned the “Level” pot all the way up. Shimmer is probably the most ubiquitous modern reverb type. Every brand and every pedal that features a Shimmer setting will have a different take on the effect, but all are inspired by a heavily processed technique that Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois developed in the late-‘70s and early-‘80s. Advanced Configuration Menu - The Advanced configuration menu lets you configure how your reverb works Is it a bit long in the tooth? Not at all. The Space's tones are up there with the best from Strymon, Source Audio and Neunaber, and its comprehensive I/O provides robust futureproofing. If you're a multi-instrumentalist or producer you'll be pleased to learn that it offers line-level inputs and outputs too, so it's not limited to just making guitars sound awesome. Note that the Empress Reverb is engineered to sound already amazing with all dials set to their mid-position / noon. So you're best off starting from that basis and then tweak the knobs in either direct as appropriate!

For each preset you can edit the decay, mix and total output as well as fine-tune the EQ. It also has a 'thing 1' and 'thing 2' knob to alter different parameters depending on the preset. The Reverb by Empress is an absolute beast of a Reverb pedal with the option to get every Reverb sound under the sun. With incredible sound quality and the option to really tweak your reverb sound.

The current mix of Empress Reverb Algorithms is just perfect for me - as if those had been created / crafted specially for me. And while I still quite like using the Amplitube X-Space for its various Sci-Fi tones - the Empress Reverb still has my overall favourite algorithms onboard. While pedals such as the Empress Reverb, Strymon BigSky, and Evident Space have carved out a niche market category of their own, one thing to consider for many guitarists is that there is often a bit of a learning curve that may be suited for a more expert-level player to really utilize all it has to offer. The kind of player who has the time to experiment and fine-tune unique soundscape effects and take advantage of the plethora of preset channels will get the most out of this pedal. That being said, for a more intermediate or beginner-level player, the Empress Effects Reverb Pedal is sure to have some high-quality reverbs for you to easily dial in and save a few presets and enjoy the high quality of this pedal as well. have carved out a niche market category of their own, one minor downside for many guitarists is that they also sometimes have a learning curve that may be suited for a more expert-level player to really utilize all it has to offer. The kind of player who has the time to experiment and fine-tune unique soundscape effects and take advantage of the plethora of preset channels will get the most out of this pedal. That being said, for a more intermediate or beginner-level player, the Empress Effects Reverb Pedal is sure to have some high-quality reverbs for you to easily dial in and save a few presets and enjoy the high quality of this pedal as well. Then you have the more off-the-wall types liked chopped and stuttering repeats and Whisky mode with its pitched delays. Fans of huge spacey sounds may gravitate to the four specified ambient modes or those that feature reverb and delay in combination. Empress’ own reverb creations are a ton of fun—particularly the ghost, lo-fi, and beer modes. The ghost mode is very vocal sounding and excellent for dark and spooky ambient textures. Lo-fi, with its subtle-to-swervy pitch modulation, sounds a bit like a broken spring reverb or a really crusty Binson Echorec. Beer mode, meanwhile, is an awesome gated-glitch-filter reverb that can make your guitar sound like an aggressive synth pad.