Strymon's new Compact Stereo Cloudburst Ambient Reverb is the most Extraordinarily Versatile Single Algorithm Reverb

Strymon never go about things lightly - and while this Reverb started off as a compact take on the BigSky’s Cloud Algorithm - this version has been developed to be so much more. As an example - the Decay from 1 o’c to 5 o’c is identical to the Big Sky Cloud - while when you move the dial into the left hemisphere things get much more subtle and lighter. 

For each of these controls - typically to the right of centre / right hemisphere you get more accentuated / textured tones - while dialling things back to the left of centre delivers a whole new dimension of subtle and elegant Reverbs.

Using the dials in combination yields such an incredibly rich pallet of tones, and this is on top of the new supercomputer at the heart of this pedal - which tracks 47 different frequencies dynamically and adds nuanced and partial upper harmonics for a much more subtle and elegant style of ethereal shimmer. The Cloudburst moniker is highly suitable here - as it references how you get an increased burst of details in those upper harmonics as you dial things up.

This means that at lower levels of Decay and Mix you can get really cool natural Room Reverb sounds, tweak the Pre-Delay a Touch and you’re back in Slap-Back territory. The Sweep of different level and degrees of the core Cloud effect are immense - and you can further vary via the Modulation knob - which is essentially Modulation Depth left of centre, but when you elevate it - it starts impacting the Rate of the Modulation too.

So the core Cloud Algorithm with Ensemble set to Off is already supremely versatile and varied - while Ensemble then delivers two different degrees of a Synth-like Ensemble Strings Pad. With the Tone at lower levels those Strings sound more Cello-like, while higher up you get increasingly sharper Violins! The Tone knob really has an extraordinary range.

Married to all this is superior sensitive tracking dynamics - such that playing with different pickup settings or plucking at different intervals along the scale length of your guitar - yields significantly different results.

You could argue that these are 2 algorithms really - Cloud + Ensemble - which and almost infinite range of variety. And then if you connect a Strymon Mini switch - you can use that to trigger a Favourite Preset Setting, or else Freeze (Pad Hold), or Infinite - the last of which ramps up and adds new notes infinitely versus the Freeze function which holds a pad and lets you play over that.

Controls : Decay, (Strings) Ensemble : Off / Moderate (mezzo piano) / Strong (forte), Mix, Pre-Delay, Tone, Modulation.

Power Up Modes [Hold Footswitch on Power-Up and Tweak Controls simultaneously!] - Ensemble Off : True Bypass / Ensemble forte : Buffered Bypass, MIX : Expression / Favourite / Freeze / Infinite / MIDI, TONE : Digital Dry / Analog Dry / Dry Kill, MOD : Spillover On / Off.

Mono / Stereo : Mono / Mono > Stereo / Full Stereo.

Since the Riverside and Sunset all new Strymon pedals come with a JFET input stage which gives you more responsiveness and feel for something that is essentially mostly a digital effect. The touch / feel and dynamics of these pedals are just incredibly and are enabled by that supercomputing power which allows so much detail to be processed and delivered at any given time.

Readers will know that I’m almost entirely a Reverb Workstations kind of guy - while I do have slot #38 specially set aside for these kind of experiments - so there will be a Srymon Cloudburst going in on that slot in place of the current Zelzah incumbent. That slot was always intended for primarily additional Reverbs and Modulations - and is set to be a fairly high-rotation slot!

The Andertons demo totally sold me! And while this is a relatively pricey pedal at $279 / £279 - it has the finesse and variety to make it worthwhile. By all means read up on it further and check out the Manual on the Strymon Website and if based in the UK - get in on one of the many pro-order lists for this pedal. I’ve preordered mine on Andertons - where supposedly some will be in stock on the 20th - while I feel this pedal will be vastly oversubscribed and that Strymon will likely struggle to keep up with demand - so you need to be sharp to snap one up.

I must say I’m rather looking forward to mine!

Any of you Reverb fans tempted?