Xploration • Curation • Recommendation
My OBNE x Emily Hopkins x B's Music Purr-ting is finally purring on all cylinders!
I first featured the Old Blood Noise x Emily Hopkings Parting back on January 21st. All the demos were great, but I was massively put off by the overly cluttered nature of the artwork. Even in the early monochrome edition - that ultra busy design made it really hard to even look in the direction of the pedal - I imagine anyone on the spectrum would not have reacted well to that design. It kind of drowned out the functional ability of the pedal - and made it look far tricker to deploy than it ...
As per expectations Strymon has very predictably released an upgraded Timeline MX Stereo Dual Algorithm Multi Delay Workstation - to match the prowess of its recent BigSky MX Evolution
We pretty much know the score by now - the same exercise of innovations and improvements that was applied to the BigSky MX - has now been applied to its Delay sibling. We get all the goodness of the original - with vastly enhanced abilities - including 2 simultaneous Stereo Algorithms - much like the Empress EchoSystem has done for a quite some years now.
The number of core surface Models / Algorithms is still 12, and some of the older ones are concealed within options of those 12 updated ...
2026 May Pedal-Chain Update - Episode V - Giga-Hoard Modulated Fuzz'n'Drive Board
May has been a little bit of strange month - lots of delays really, and waiting for pedals to land.
As inevitably happens most months - much was delayed this month, and I was unable to complete some of the larger articles - they will need to wait until next month, there’s certainly lots of projects in progress. Where new and imminent arrivals kind of scuppered several intended projects - hopefully they can be completed in June.
The first event I’m attending this month is tomorrow - as a micropub ...
Red Panda's RD-1 Pitch Delay is a cool versatile 3-Mode Mono Frequency-shifting, Detuning and Chromatic Transposing Delay
Red Panda’s RD-1 Pitch Delay is a significant departure in delivering a simpler and more affordable device - extracting a few elements from the Raster, and providing a much streamlined mono variant of that pedal.
Controls - Blend, Feedback, Delay, Shift, Once button, RVRS button, MODE : Frequency-shifting / Detuning / Chromatic Transpose.
Ports - CTRL / Tap Tempo, TS In, USB-C, TS-Out, 9V DC [-] 150mA.
This is a relatively simple mono pedal - with a clean and clear control topology ...
10 x Black & White Custom Montreal Assembly Count to 5's are now available at Pedal Jungle in the UK
Pedal Jungle brings you a unique colourway edition of the legendary Montreal Assembly Count to 5 : 3-Mode Digital Sampler Delay. I picked up a classic original blue edition of this pedal back in 2018. Its tiny size conceals a fairly substantial feature set, and this was one of the very original glitchy delays.
I’m not aware of these ever being for sale in the uk previously - where we get the further bonus here of a unique custom black enclosure with white knobs colourway.
The Count to 5...
Beetronics follows up its Analog Bee Bee Dee Delay with a smart 8 Mode Pollinator Hazee Modulated Digital Delay
What we have here is a much simpler digital modulated delay - with a central Mode rotary selector - which selects one of 8 Filter or Tremolo Modulated Repeats.
The control topology could not be simpler - and we have the perfect complement of controls for maximum impact.
Controls - Time, Feedback, Mix, Modulation, MODES 1-8.
MODES
- 1] Filter + Forward Repeats
- 2] Filter + Forward Octave Up
- 3] Filter + Reverse Repeats
- 4] Filter + Reverse Octave Up
- 5] Trem + Reverse Octave Up
- 6]
2025 Best New Delay and Reverb Pedals of the Year
In many ways this is the most straightforward category with singular award nominees - GOLD, SILVER and BRONZE.
It’s the second smallest category after Distortions - and the one where I own the least number of pedals in proportion to the whole - just 10 out of these 26.
The order pretty much set itself - with the Cornerstone Nucleo being the clear winner from the start. I’m so impressed with every aspect of that pedal - it’s a perfect Trifecta of Design, Feaures and Playability - pretty ...
Mentha.Works evolves highly stylised and unique Monk Echo + Reverb pedal with Celestial Human Formant Voices, Presets, and smart Macro control and LED display
Set up by 2 former Gamechanger Audio alumni - Toms Lazdovskis and Matiss Tazans - with a Team steeped in Darkglass Electronics / Neural DSP and Marshall.
The pedigree and provenance is pretty clear here, and Menha.Works have understandably come up with an ulra modern killer aesthetic for heir very unique new Monk Echo + Reverb. The Monk Echo is inspired by Baltic Choirs and Mystical Spiritual Spaces.
Apart from the gorgeous design here, the Monk Echo has a unique Human Formant Voicing ...
AC Noices' Ricorda Stereo Granular Reverb + Freeze / Loop has some amazing hidden depths and truly unique playback possibilities
I do like my Reverbs, and have always been intrigued by the more sci-fi sounding variants. The Ricorda was originally down on my ’nice-to-have’ list, until I lucked out with my Chase Bliss Mystery Box - and got one as a bonus pedal!
Essentially you have a huge spatial ambient reverb with a smart granular delay, and then Freeze and Loop functions via the left Footswitch.
I had not fully appreciated the scope of capabilities when I did my original write-up. While this is every way a ...
2024 Best of the Best New Pedals of the Year
So this is the big one - all the top performers from the year in one selection.
We’ve already covered :
- 35 Boost & Overdrive Pedal Finalists
- 34 Distortion Pedal Finalists
- 32 Fuzz Pedal Finalists
- 38 Modutility Pedal Finalists
- 25 Delay and Reverb Pedal Finalists
Total Overall Finalist Selection of 164 Pedals!
Distilled down to the final favourites selection, where I own 27 of them, and will try to secure the final missing ones next year :
- Coffee Shop Pedals London Fog Tape Delay -
