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Strymon Cloudburst

Digital Reverb Pedal By Paul White
Published April 2023

There are many reverb pedals around, but this box has a few tricks up its sleeve.

Strymon CloudburstWhile the Cloudburst may be one of Strymon’s smallest pedals, it delivers one of the biggest sounds around! As you might imagine, given that it has been designed to produce ambient reverbs, it’s capable of some impressively long reverb times, yet it still somehow manages to prevent the sound from becoming ‘messy’. It has fewer hidden functions than most Strymon pedals, and it only employs one reverb algorithm — it’s based on a modified version of the Big Sky’s Clouds reverb effect — but don’t let that fool you into thinking that this is a one‑trick pedal, as it does have an extra superpower, which I’ll get around to shortly.

Overview

By way of connectivity, there are only three jacks on the back of the case, but both the in and out jacks are in fact TRS types that can be used for mono or stereo signals. The input can handle signals up to +10dBu in level so, with care, line‑level signals can be accommodated, not just guitars. A recessed toggle switch selects mono, mono‑to‑stereo or stereo modes. The third jack is for connecting an optional TRS expression pedal, a Strymon MiniSwitch or MultiSwitch Plus, or a TRS MIDI connection. The available switch modes are Favourite, Infinite or Freeze; the last of those sustains the current reverb tail indefinitely to create a sort of ‘pad’, over which you can then play without adding to the reverb.

The PSU jack is also on the rear, and a 9V PSU capable of at least 250mA is required (though not included in the price). A Spillover mode, which provides a buffered output, allows the reverb tail of the current preset to fade naturally when bypassing the pedal or when switching to the next preset using a MultiSwitch Plus or MIDI for preset switching (using MIDI there’s access to 300 presets, which are arranged in three banks). With Spillover switched off the pedal has a hard‑wired bypass. A Strymon MultiSwitch Plus can be used to access three presets.

The jacks for the audio input and output are TRS types, and can be configured to receive and send mono or stereo signals.The jacks for the audio input and output are TRS types, and can be configured to receive and send mono or stereo signals.If the control jack is configured for MIDI, using either a Strymon Conduit or MIDI Exp cable, MIDI Program Change messages are supported, while MIDI CC messages can be used to adjust the effect parameters. There’s also a USB‑C port, which can be used for MIDI, but is also used for firmware updates and communication with Strymon’s free Nixie editing software. In expression pedal...

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