This was always a no-brainer for TC Electronic - really just a matter of when they decided to pull the trigger, and this is truly a fantastic proposition - coming with Bluetooth App Control by default for just  a $179 / €189 / £179 outlay. You get the creme-de-la-creme of TC Electronic Flagship pedals all in one unit! If you have any passing knowledge of TC Electronic Effects then this is a must-have acquisition.

So this doesn’t cover off the various recent Ampworx pedals, in fact none of ...

It’s 4 years ago now since I did my mockup of a possible new version of Specular Tempus - based on the Synesthesia format. While GFI has gone even more expansive here and delivered a fully workstation format pedal.

It’s in the same territory as the Source Audio Collider and Wampler Catacombs - but with much more onboard - and in a significantly larger enclosure. Which will suit some, but not all. It’s actually probably more likely completing with the Mooer Ocean Machine and Line 6 DL4 (...

So in the wake of my ’9 Notable Brazilian Guitar Pedal Brands’ article I had a lot of people contacting me (as intended!) to tell me I’d overlooked this and that brand. The first mentioned was obviously Cachalote Audio which I liked so much that I did a separate article on that.

While altogether we had another 9 notable brands suggested - to include in this separate feature. In fact there are even more - including StarDust Electronic Art - where I’m waiting until I get enough suggestions to...

So it made sense that the 3rd in Brian’s workstation pedal series would be a Reverb type - having already had a Multi-Modulator and Multi-Delay units in the respective Terraform and Metaverse pedals - which are both excellent of course. While this is Brian’s sort of competitor to the Source Audio Collider - both those units have inherent similarities in being a combination of Delays and Reverbs - an ’EchoVerb pedal’ of sorts therefor.

The emphasis is markedly different though, with the ...

So Fractal Audio Systems has thrown its hat in the ring with its first non-modelling device / unit - the VP4 Virtual Pedalboard Multi-FX Processor - which is quite a departure for the brand.

It’s obviously gunning for Line 6 and Eventide in particular, but also looking to knock out Boss and Strymon Workstation pedals. It has several of its own advantages, but with a number of caveats too. Overall it’s well priced for what it delivers - but for my own preferences it’s still somewhat over-...

So I said I would expand the scope of the 10 Pedal Challenge to Mini and Large Enclosure variants if the original was well received. And in indeed that seems to be the case - with several readers encouraging me in particular to do the Large Pedals Edition.

So of course I’ve done the 2 remaining categories - Mini and Large! The Large Pedals were pretty much all obvious choices really and that board largely suggested itself. It was the Mini Pedals version that took the most cogitation!

It...

So a follower on instagram challenged me to shrink my elaborate pedal-chain down to just 10 pedals. My original plan was just to fill a Pedaltrain Nano Max board with 10 compact pedals. But I then decided I should do a Mid-Size variation too, using the Pedaltrain Classic 2 board or thereabouts. I may do further Mini and Large Format editions as a follow-up - depending on how well this article is received!

This was a trickier exercise than you would imagine - as I needed to shuffle through ...

I have always liked the look of the Walrus Audio Mako Series of MI Multi-Modulator, D1 Delay, R1 Reverb and ASC1 Amp Cab and Sim. And feel that these latest changes have really propelled some of these to the top of their respective categories - particularly in terms of Compact Enclosure Editions!

The new control interface is actually remarkably simple and intuitive - the knobs above each of the 3 screen segments allow you to click through different ’pages’ or screen of options - where you ...

Devin Townsend’s signature Ocean Machine Ambience Workstation first materialised back in 2017. It was packed with features even then - with much the same format and layout as the new one - while the black knobs onto royal blue enclosure made it look a little congested and complicated and somewhat dark and confusing in appearance. The updated look has improved the pedal 100% - helping you to separate out and easily navigate the different sections of the device. The new look and feel really looks...