Xploration • Curation • Recommendation
AD Hauser further levels up his Colortone Imprint with his newest superior evolved Stereo VibroVerb Multi-Modulator and ZeroSum Dual-Head Delay - which both sound every bit as good as they look!
Every couple of years AD Hauser massively evolves and levels up his pedal creations - now in their 5th or 6th iteration overall from when the brand started. Where the symbol on the ZeroSum is slight reminiscent of that on the former Preacher 58 Mic Link pedal, while the artwork here is much further evolved, and a step away from the geometric patterns of its forebears.
I can imagine these in Brass - looking slightly Steam-Punk-ish in this new format! There is a degree of retro-futurism here - while overall these pedals have quite a modern aesthetic - particularly with those Cog Series Knobs. There’s a great deal of classicism to these pedals too - they’re incredibly elegant looking now in entirely custom enclosures. These are archetypical of ’Art Pedals’ and fully embody the philosophy of Elevated Pedal Design. I feel AD Hauser and Emilio Massari of Cornerstone have really driven forward pedal design innovation of late - and both are representative of the very best of pedal design - both circuit engineering and aestetics. These pedals really have an extra level of quality about them - which you can see in how elegantly the rear panel is arranged too - and with that super handy Input/Output Audio Matrix Mode switch top-left!
Every couple of years or so AD amazes me with his latest iteration of his pedals - so much attention to detail has gone into these - and it really shows from every angle.
These pedals are still built upon the superb high-fidelity Custom Electrosmith DSP Chip - based on the Daisy platform. And we now finally have full stereo - which I’ve been asking AD to do from the first time he released his Multi-Modulator and Delay pedals. The VibroVerb can be seen as the latest iteration of the Roundhouse, and while there is some degree of overlap between the Lo-Fi Delay and ZeroSum - that pedal can be mostly seen to be an original here - as it’s overall quite significantly different to its delay forebear. While there are a lot more similarities between the VibroVerb and Roundhouse.
When the Roundhouse first materialised I told AD that I would have preferred it in a more vertical orientation and with full Stereo Ins and Outs - which is exactly what we get with the VibroVerb. Both of these go straight in onto the board - replacing the Walrus Audio Mako II [M1], and Klowra Everlast Delay - I expect both of these to be in significant rotation on the board for months to come.
It seems like every other Colortone releases is a major event - and that’s certainly the case here - with two of the very best looking and executed pedals released in a while.
The purpose of this article is really just to introduce the two and provide a basic overview of their capabilities - which will be followed up by deep-dive individual reviews with quite a bit more detail!
It’s likely that the demos won’t be fully ready for this article - while they will certainly feature prominently in the forthcoming individual reviews - I may need to call upon earlier Roundhouse and Lo-Fi Delay sound examples - just to give you a kind of flavour of what you can expect here - of course much enhanced and evolved since those former editions!
Props to AD Hauser once more for consistently elevating his game - these two are really fabulous gems of the Art of the Guitar Effects Pedal - very few are delivering at this elevated level of production.
Colortone has further underlined its credentials as one of the most progressive and innovative pedal makers currently active!
These pedals are superb value for the quality you are getting here - just $249 and equivalent on the Colortone Webstore, and soon at select high quality International dealers!
The visual is kind of ’a Study in Duotone Stereophony’!
Further details on each of the VibroVerb and ZeroSum Delay here below! :
3-Preset Stereo VibroVerb Optical Tremolo, Harmonic Tremolo and RotoVibe Multi-Modulator - $249 / £189
Layer 1 Controls - Speed (Rate), Mode : Optical Trem / Harmonic Trem / RotoVibe, Waveforms : Square / Triangle / Sine, Blend, Phase, Saturation, Reverb, Left Tap Tempo Footswitch, Right Bypass Footswich, Press-Hold for Layer 2 Green LED.
Layer 2 Controls - Sine 'Q' (additional Sine Wave shaping), Presets : P1, P2, P3 [Waveforms switch], Boost, Stereo Spread, Drive, Drive EQ, Left Tap Tempo Footswitch - Long press is Preset Save, Right Footswitch is Bypass - Long Press for Layer 1 Red LED.
Rear Ports - Audio Matrix : MM (Mono) / MS (MISO) / SS (Stereo), MIDI In, MIDI Out, TRS In, TRS Out, 9V DC [-] 145mA, Expression : Modulation Speed.
As mentioned, this is really a massive evolution of the fairly similar Roundhouse Tremolo / Multi-Modulator - highly evolved and enhanced since that model in a more pedalboard-friendly custom enclosure with elevated aesthetics and feature set across 2-Layers of operation - indicated by Red (Layer 1) and Green (Layer 2) LEDs!
This obviously carries across all the flavour and fidelity of the Roundhouse - with the 3rd Mode renamed to RotoVibe and further elevated and evolved (and in full stereo of course!). AD is really getting the most superb flavours out of his custom Electrosmith Chips - his pedals have always sounded incredible - while they're augmented here by the full stereo field - for more depth and immersion.
As mentioned - I will be doing a full deep-dive of this one in around a week or so, with a deep-dive of the ZeroSum around a week after that. Both of those are somewhat dependent on the Demos being live by then - which should be the case - but as you all know - there is always potential for some slight degree of slippage.
Just looking at the visual alone should go a long way to convincing you that you're onto something very special here. These two are so striking and distinct - they will look and sound wholly amazing on any pedalboard - and particularly for stereo rigs - where a lot of the work has gone for these iterations and reinventions!
I'm very much looking forward to sharing further details on these real soon!
And I'm wholly delighted to have them in the reference collection. I have always set out to round-up and showcase the very best of pedal innovation and art - and that is exactly what we have here - every way top-tier pedals!
3-Preset Stereo ZeroSum Single Head, Dual Head, and Echo Ping-Pong Rhythmic Delay - $249 / £189
Layer 1 Controls - Rate, Delay Mode : Single Head / Dual Head / Echo Pong, Delay Style : Mode A / Mode B / Mode C [Patterns], Delay Mix, Tone (Brightness), Repeats, Spread / Stereo Width, Left Tap Tempo Footswitch, Right Bypass Footswich, Press-Hold for Layer 2 (Green LED).
Layer 2 Controls - TT Rate Multiplier : x1 / x2 / x3 / x4 (Tap Tempo), Presets : P1, P2, P3 [ABC switch], Boost, Tape Age [Lo-Fi], Drive, Feedback Q, LEFT LED Indicates Presets - Amber P1, Red P2, Green P3, Left Tap Tempo Footswitch - Long press is Preset Save, Right Footswitch is Bypass - Long Press for Layer 1 (Red LED).
Rear Ports - Audio Matrix : MM (Mono) / MS (MISO) / SS (Stereo), MIDI In, MIDI Out, TRS In, TRS Out, 9V DC [-] 145mA, Expression : Rate Multiplier - x1 / x2 / x3.
So where there's some significant crossover between the Roundhouse and VibroVerb - that's not really mostly the case for the Lo-Fi Delay and this ZeroSum - which is really more about the full stereo field and more about Single or Dual Head Rhythmic Delay - with a smart Echo Ping-Pong mode too - which is likely to be my favourite. I love Ping-Pong Delays across the stereo field. (actually so far it's the Dual Head Mode - C that's turning out to be my favourite - perfectly rhythmic - with a unique flourish later in the repeats tail!).
The Layer 2 options add in the Lo-Fi flavours - via the Tape Age control - which is something of a carry-over from the Lo-Fi Delay. While most everything else here is pretty new and innovative. We also have some slightly unconventional Tap-Tempo Divisions - actually rather a Rate Multiplier : x1 / x2 / x3 / x4 - which I will further clarify along with the ABC Delay Style Patterns - in the deep-dive review which for the ZeroSum should materialises in and around a week after the VibroVerb review - both are somewhat dependent on when the demos are ready to go live!
These pedals have literally just arrived - where it's important for me to allow them to full embed into my core sound for an extended period before I start forming any definitive views! I have dialled in some favourite settings already - where there is of course something of a learning curve in how best to combine that extended feature set.
I must say that so far I've been incredibly impressed. AD has been working on these in the backgourn for the best part of a couple of years now - and his superb attention to detail is evident in every facet of these pedals. This is the high art of Stereo DSP circuit engineering!
I'm very much looking forward to sharing the full review with you in around a couple of weeks!
There are so many neat touches to these 2 pedals - I'm rarely this excited by a new release - while these are very much next-level devices!
As mentioned - the demos aren't quite ready yet - so I will rely on some old favourites of the previous Roundhouse and Lo-Fi Delay Pedals! :
Sound Samples from previous Roundhouse and Lo-Fi Delay Devices!
