Xploration • Curation • Recommendation
Klowra's Sprout Modulator / Modulation Workstation has you covered for most of the essential Modulation flavours
The third in the Bloom Infinity Series - the Sprout 9-Mode Modulation - delivers all the essential modulations (+ Ring Mod!), featuring most of the usual suspects - 2 styles of Chorus, Vibe (Uni-), Flanger, Envelope Filter, Phaser, Rotary and Tremolo - with the somewhat acquired-taste Ring Mod appropriately at the end.
2 of my favourite Modulation types are the Roland / Boss Dimension, and the Harmonic Tremolo (esp. JAM Pedals Harmonious Monk) - neither of which appears here. You do have a Multi-Chorus Mode though - so I can concede that is a useful option to have - and makes the Dimension therefore a little less of miss. I would 100% have preferred to have Harmonic Tremolo in place of the Ring Mod - as that is a flavour I very rarely use if ever!
I’m generally very highly active with Chorus, Flanger, Phaser, Tremolo, Rotary, and Uni-Vibe - those are my chief modulations - so I’m largely very well covered already. Envelope Filter is less important for me - although Auto-Wah is often handy, while since I permanently placed the Plutoneium Chi-Wah-Wah on the board - I’m not really using those Auto-Wah style of filter pedal much. I do of course have the king of the filter pedals - the Subdecay Prometheus 3 - which is immense. And there I like the more unusual filter effects.
So unlike Delay and Reverb - where I typically have one or two default flavours - that’s not really the case with Modulations. I mostly have Delay and Reverb always-on, while Modulations are always individual and incidental - usually very much for specific playing / phrases.
I have a number of dedicated superior fuller flavour stand-alone mostly analogue modulation pedals - which your typical Modulation Workstation can’t always compete with. While the Sprout has a few extra tricks up its sleeve - like Texture - and where the Tap Tempo and Ramping elements really come into their own.
My 3-Tier take on the Sprout is as follows :
- A Tier - Chorus, Multi-Chorus, Phaser
- B Tier - Vibe, Rotary
- C Tier - Flanger, Filter, Tremolo, Ring.
A Tier is pretty decent, B Tier is OK I suppose, while the C Tier flavours are not quite up to scratch for me.
I’ve done a lot of work with Modulations recently, and have identified my favourites and benchmarks within each category. As mentioned the 2 Choruses and Phaser are pretty up there and really quite decent - not on par with my own stand-alone favourites - but good in their own right. I own so many great Uni-Vibes and Rotary Speaker pedals now - and in fact my favourite all-time Rotary effect - the brand new Boss RT-2 firmly puts the Sprout Rotary flavour in the shade - while its Vibe and Rotary flavours are still mostly OK.
For the remainder - The Flanger, Filter and Tremolo are just semi-anaemic and a little bit off the pace for me - and I’ve already confessed to not liking Ring Modulation.
My 4 favourite multi-modulators / workstations in ascending order of size - are the Walrus Mako M1 MK2, Wampler Terraform, Kernom Elipse, and Eventide H90 - and the Sprout doesn’t really reach the heights of any of those across all the different modes.
I’ve always particularly liked the mix of algorithms on the Wampler Terraform - those are pretty much the perfect categories for me : Auto-Wah / Envelope Filter / Flanger / Phaser / Uni-Vibe / Rotary / Swell / Amplitude Tremolo / Harmonic Tremolo / Chorus / Dimension Chorus.
While some of those are of course better than others - and generally I still prefer my key stand-alone mostly analog modulations versus any of those workstation favours. If Wample can leave out Ring-Mod - then so can Klowra!
I feel that the Limbo Reverb and Everlast Delay are pretty much top tier across their Categories / Modes / Algorithms - while the Sprout is somewhat off the pace. If you favour Choruses and Phasers in particular - you’e in luck - while the Sprout does not reach the heights of its two aforementioned siblings. The Sprout is distinctly a mixed bag therefore.
For me the Everlast and Limbo are pretty much Must-haves, not so much the Sprout!
SPROUT HIGHLIGHTS
- Bloom Infinity Series - Original artist hand-painted silkscreen artwork, with individual model stories and concepts, all strung together into a cohesive product line.
- 9 Studio-Quality Modulation Types - From studio-quality modulation to warm synthesizer sounds, Sprout unlocks dreamy effects for crafting genre-defying effects.
- Tap Tempo - Three rhythm modes are available. Tap Tempo is a real-time setting RATE synchronized with the BPM. Rhythmic subdivisions of modulation speed include quarter note, dotted eighth note, or eighth-note triplet.
- Ramp - The Ramp function provides linear parameter variation, controlling the fading back and forth between settings to create a dynamic, evolving effect.
- External Control - You can use an external TS/TRS footswitch and expression pedal for multifunctional continuous control.
- Analog Dry Through - Keeps the dry signal analog, never converting it to digital, while mixing with the wet signal.
- Multiple Stereo Outputs - Dry/Wet Separation and True Stereo Outputs.
- Bypass Modes - Switchable True Bypass and Buffered Bypass, with Analog Dry Through.
- WildSeed Engine - Class-leading sound quality with 24-bit AD/DA and 32-bit DSP floating-point processing.
- Material - Made from sturdy aluminium alloy, this pedal is designed to withstand the rigours of daily use.
Controls - RATE [rhythm : quarter / dotted eight / triplet eighth], DEPTH [ramp attack time], MIX [ramp release time], MODE : Vibe / Chorus / Multi-Chorus / Flanger / Filter / Phaser / Rotary / Tremolo / Ring Mod, TEXTURE, TONE, LED Button for ALT / [secondary modes], Press-Hold Footswitch for Tap Tempo and Ramping.
TEXTURE : Adjusts the texture of the LFO reflections. Turning the control to the right softens
the early reflections and produces a smooth onset of the modulation.
Ports - Left In, Right In, CTRL / EXP, Left Out, Right Out, USB-C on top edge
THE 9 MODULATION MODES / ALGORITHMS
VIBE : Uni-Vibe, Texture increases feedback and intensity
CHORUS : Bases on analog BBD Chorus, Texture increases delay time and stereo width
MULTI-CHORUS : Triple-voice more textured Chorus, Texture expands delay time and stereo width
FLANGER : Based on analog BBD Fanger, Texture increases feedback for more warbles and more intense sweeps
FILTER : Ladder-style analog synth VCF, Texture increases intensity of filtering
PHASER : Based on 6-stage JFET Phaser, Texture adjusts feedback intensity
ROTARY : Leslie Rotary Speaker Emulator
TREMOLO : Smooth Triangle Wave Amplitude Tremolo
RING : Fast oscillating Ring Modulator
ADVANCED FEATURES
FOOTSWITCH
- Control ON/OFF. Press&Hold to trigger Tap Tempo or Ramp
LED BUTTON
- Lit when active, pressed or in combination with other knobs to adjust various functions and Hidden Parameters.
WHAT THE LED COLOURS MEAN
- White : Tap Tempo function active
- Blue : Tap Tempo is actively being triggered
- Orange : Ramp function active
- Violet : Ramp is actively being triggered
WHAT THE BUTTONS CAN ADJUST
- Toggle Tap Tempo or Ramp - press once to switch between Tap Tempo and Ramp.
SAVE SNAP-SET
- Press & Hold to save the current parameter settings as Snap-Set - save operation is indicated by the LED blinking violet.
ADJUSTMENT OF HIIDDEN PARAMETERS
- Press & Hold while rotating the knob above the hidden parameters. Successful adjustment is indicated by the LED blinking yellow
TAP TEMPO
- Press and hold the footswitch while the LED is white. When the LED turns blue, you’ve entered Tap Tempo
RAMP
- Press and hold the footswitch while the LED is orange. When the LED turns violet, you’ve entered Ramp.
POWER-UP MODES INTRO
- Set different operational modes when starting up your Sprout pedal
HOW TO ENTER POWER-UP MODES
- Press & hold the footswitch while powering on the pedal. A flashing LED indicates successful entry.Once your settings are configured, press the footswitch again to exit
POWER-UP MODES x 3
BYPASS & TRAILS MODE
- Switch between modes by short-press of the LED button - Green is True Bypass, Red for Trails / Buffered Bypass
RAMP LOCK
- Select by rotating the DEPTH knob - rotate Left for Momentary (3 x Yellow flashes), rotate Right for Latching (3 x Blue flashes).
MIX MODES
- Select by rotating the MIX knob - rotate Left for Constant Power Mixer (3 x Yellow flashes), or rotate Right for the Linear Superposition Mixer (3 x Blue flashes).
- Constant Power Mixer means that the Wet Signal is constantly kept in balance with the Dry Input
- Linear Superposition Mixer balances Wet and Dry along a linear scale - without adjusting for perceived loudness
LED BRIGHTNESS
- Adjust by rotating TONE knob - Left for Dimmer / Right for Brighter
EXTERNAL CONTROL - CTR / EXP
- Use either Remote footswitch or Expression pedal to target Ramping parameters - Attack / Release.
Specs
- Inputs : 2 x 1/4"TS Instrument
- Outputs : 2 x 1/4"TS Instrument
- Input Impedance : 500k Ohm
- Output Impedance : 100 Ohm
- External Control
- TS/TRS Momentary footswitch or TRS expression pedal
- Bypass Mode
- Switchable : True Bypass, Buffered Bypass(Analog Dry-Through)
- Power Source - 9V DC [-] power supply required. Current 250mA
- Hardware Interface : USB-C
- Sample Rate : 44.1K Hz
- Sampling Accuracy : 24 Bit
- Dimensions : 54.7mm H x 124.8mm D x 69.2mm W (2.0"H x 4.9"D x 2.7"W)
- Weight : 445 grams
- Made in China
- MAP / RRP : $129
- Available on Amazon.com
Read up more on the Klowra Website.
Final Thoughts
The Sprout has been an interesting journey for me. It's impossible for me to review it outside the context of what other modulation effects and multi-modulators / modulation workstations are available in the market - and I have found it to be wanting in some areas.
I love the extended feature set - the various Secondary and Tertiary Functions and Features while I have some challenges with some of the algorithms. That might very well be idiosyncratic to my own preferences - as I do prefer more flavourful and more richly textured outputs - so I tested with the Depth pretty much maxed out, and the Mix at Noon as a minimal - often significantly in the right hemisphere of that control. Where Texture covered Feedback - I tried to max that out also, while I largely found the Texture control to be somewhat subtle overall, and frequently just best left in the middle / at Noon.
For all the effects I experimented with different Speed settings and generally tried to extract maximum flavour from those algorithms!
I found the 2 Choruses and Phaser voicings to be genuinely excellent, well balanced and textured - and all-round very much top tier quality! Then the Vibe and Rotary voicing were pretty decent, and mostly delivered into my preferences - but not quite to the same degree as the choruses and phaser.
And then we had the less impressive flanger, filter, tremolo and ring-modulation voicings. All 4 of those sounded distinctly off the pace as such compared to my favourite takes on those voicing - both stand-alone analog varieties, and digital modulation workstation algorithms - all my favourites easily put those voicings in the shade. I just recently bought in second editions of the Spaceman Detal II Harmonic Tremolo, and Explorer Optical Phaser - and both those significantly put the Sprout voicings in he shade - the Tremolo in particular.
The Ladder style VCF Filter, and Flanger are just way off the pace of my other favourites. Quite at odds with the Limbo and Everlast algorithms - which can compete with the best. The Sprout's Flanger was so far away from my favourite Krozz Airborn - that you would think they were two totally different effects, the Tremolo doesn't have that shimmery 3D dynamic quality like it needs to, the Filter just did nothing for me (nothing good that is), and generally I have a distaste for Ring Mods as I've reiterated several times here - that's very much a minority flavour. Just compare the Sprout - with the admittedly more price Walrus Audo Mako Series M1 MK2, or the Wampler Terraform - which are 2 of the best multi-modulators for me. The sprout can only really compete with those in terms of a decent featured set, while purely on the sonic and algorithms side of things - the M1 and Terraform wholly blow the Sprout out of the water.
The Klowra Limbo and Everlast are every way superb, while I can only say that the Sprout is a very mixed bag for me - and indeed somewhat underwhelming when compared to its 2 aforementioned stellar siblings and any number of modulation pedals and workstations.
Like the Limbo and Everlast - the Sprout Modulation is also priced @ $129 via the Klowra Website - while it doesn't feel quite as good a value proposition as those two. It's still a bargain price - but while I was blown away by the Limbo and Everlast, I was rather somewhat underwhelmed by the Sprout. For sure it has its moments, and in several ways performs totally adequately - with a wholly superior feature and functionality set, while these 9 algorithms don't have the appeal of the equivalent Limbo and Everlast ones - which are every way top tier candidates!
Demos
![First-hand Impressions of the Walrus Audio Mako Series II [M1] High-Fidelity Modulation Machine](https://d6a2e7ghqts3o.cloudfront.net/AcuCustom/Sitename/DAM/556/2024-GPX-Walrus-Audio-Mako-II-M1-Y-7001.jpg "First-hand Impressions of the Walrus Audio Mako Series II [M1] High-Fidelity Modulation Machine")
