Today, in our review for Age Of Audio, we're talking about the Soundblox 2 Dimension Reverb, an effect from Source Audio. Compared to traditional rack units, the Soundblox 2 Dimension Reverb is significantly smaller, lighter, and more expensive. However, it offers the user a wealth of sound modulation and performance. A detailed analysis of the product can help us understand whether its cost and compact size compromise the effect's quality.
The pedal
The pedal looks great, with a modern design and a sturdy, lightweight aluminum case. The settings are easily visible thanks to LEDs that show the musician the currently set parameters. The amount of sounds available is truly impressive, well-rounded. 12 sounds are available to the user, and all with a well-recognizable character, also presenting a quality and quantity of operations possible on the individual sounds that is usually found only on professional rack systems. The beating heart of the pedal is the SA601, the digital signal processor (DSP) that performs in an incredibly efficient and accurate way all the processing operations (processing) of the digital signal of the effect, which works at 56-bit, and the high-performance converters TO (analog / digital) a 24-bit. The pedal is powered at 9 volts DC, with a power supply supplied as standard with the pedal, and adopts a system of true bypass consisting of an on / off switch with Relay, to ensure a perfectly intact signal even when the effect is off. The double switchit also allows you to configure two different types of reverb that can be recalled independently. Finally, the “Multi-Function” input allows you to control the effect via MIDI, via an expression pedal or with the proprietary control hot hand.
The controls
The Sundblox 2 Dimension Reverb controls are as follows:
• Effectknobs: by turning it you can select the type of reverb you want to use.
• Time: Used to adjust the length of the reverb.
• Option: adjusts the parameters selected through the OPTION SELECT button.
• Treble: is a control of the high frequencies of the generated reverb.
• Mix: Balances the clean signal (dry) with the effect signal (wet).
• OptionSelect: selects the parameter (pre-delay, diffuse, bass) that will be controlled by the Option knob.
• Control Input: select the type of external control that will be used, if one is connected (eg: Hot Hand).
• Footswitch 1 and 2: activate and deactivate the selected presets, keeping them pressed saves the preset in use.
The inputs
The Dimension Reverb features the following inputs:
• Guitar in: it is the input for the connection of our instrument through a normal mono cable.
• Guitar out: is the signal output, to be connected to another pedal or to the amplifier.
• Multifunction in: This is the input designed for using an external interface, such as an expression pedal, a MIDI controller or a Hot Hand controller.
• Multifunction out: it is the output to connect the pedal to another multifunction input of a subsequent pedal of the Soundblox series.
• 9V DC: it is the power supply input, with BOSS type connector.
The sounds
The first five selectable effects ( room, club, training, arena, is-dome) have been modeled to recreate real spaces within which sound is reflected, from the smallest, such as a room or a small venue, to large stadiums and arenas. The next two effects are reproductions of plate reverb, that is reverberations in which the effect is generated by a generous steel sheet suspended inside a support structure. This foil vibrates thanks to a system similar to that used in amp cones. On the foil there are transducers that convert vibrations into electrical signals. Source Audio recommends playing with the parameter BROADCAST (to be selected among the OPTION SELECT parameters) by turning the potentiometer OPTION to get the best of the wide-ranging sounds typical of plate reverbs.
Going further between the different types of selectable reverbs we find two simulations of spring reverbs, still found in many tube amplifiers and born more than half a century ago in the form of "reverb tank”, Really pleasant to listen to. Amazing how the metallic clink of the vibrating spring was perfectly reproduced in the simulations. A separate chapter deserves the Modverb, where the possibility of regulating theLFO allows you to obtain truly unique, definitely psychedelic modulations on the reverb! Also really original metal box, which simulates the modulation obtainable within a very small space, such as a metal container (!!), with a rather short reverberation time and full of alterations.
The function Echo it moves away from the simple reverb function to become delayLet's remember that both the reverb and the echo and the delay have the same functioning, what changes substantially is the time of the repetitions (delay). The echo integrated in this effect allows a delay that goes from 0 to 2,5 seconds, and is adjustable via the OPTION knob by selecting PRE-DELAY among the OPTION SELECT parameters. The potentiometer Time instead it assigns the desired number of repetitions. Here too it is interesting to play with the DIFFUSE option to create many interesting modulations.
How it sounds
The setup used in these days for the Dimension Reverb test is the one I use most often, and which, knowing by heart, allows me to have a precise idea of the effects tested at the time of pouring out my impressions "black on white" . The setup is as follows: SSS Stratocaster with rosewood fingerboard, amplifier Laney VC15 Limited e Reference cables. There is little to say about the Strat, it is a classic and for this reason I think it is very good for testing, as it is a sound that - for better or for worse - we all have in mind. The amp, on the other hand, is an honest and versatile Laney combo, with two EL 84s in the power amp and 3 12AX7s in the PRE and a Jensen cone, with a decidedly Brit-oriented sound, used during all tests with rigorously flat equalization and integrated reverb ( un Accoutronics) to zero. The pedal works well both by connecting it directly to the amp and using the effects loop, although for reverbs and other ambient effects it is definitely advisable to input them from the send / return rather than direct from input. Finally, I would like to remind you of a good general rule: ambient effects must always be positioned, inside a pedalboard, at the end of the chain, therefore always after overdrive, distortions, fuzzes, boosters and the like, even if this field does not exist an inviolable rule, and interesting sounds can also be produced by upsetting the “generally recognized” order of the pedals. A classic example: try to place a booster before and after an overdrive pedal: if positioned after it will increase the volume, if positioned before it will enlarge the sound and increase the gain of the overdrive, as the booster in this case will increase the signal in entry and not exit.
But let's move on to the actual sound test, carried out at the recording studio. Trail Music Lab from Naples, to expose its strengths and weaknesses, relying on professional equipment that allowed us to fully reveal the potential of the effect. I would define this pedal with just one word: Psychedelic. The modulations are simply incredible, both for variety and for the possibility of action on the individual sounds, and if we are not surprised that the more traditional reverbs are usable even with "extreme" settings (I am thinking of the simulations of closed environments and plate reverbs and spring), surprise instead the most extreme simulations, such as the incredible Modverb, which creates extraterrestrial spaces within which sound refracts endlessly, and the equally extraordinary metal box, which recreates the kaleidoscopic sonic textures typical of a Chorus, if you learn to play with the Diffuse and Rate controls. The Echo mode is really exploitable, which often when integrated with reverb effects does not fully satisfy. Here, instead, both the delay time (up to 2,5 sec.) And the possibilities to act on the sound (by adjusting the RATE and DIFFUSE options) and on the tone (by modifying the bass and treble by adjusting the TREBLE and BASS from the OPTION panel) make this echo really credible and versatile, being able to use it both to obtain just hinted effects and to color the sound in an incisive way.
The "historic" reverbs, or the section dedicated to plate and spring reverbs, are perhaps the least "realistic," even if they sound absolutely great, and the reason is simple: what's missing in these simulations, however well done, is the lack of that metallic attack generated by the plate or spring being stressed, which, to date, I haven't found in any emulation pedal. A small aside, these sounds are also very pleasant, and it's easy to achieve "short" reverbs like "slapback" for a distinctly vintage sound.
And, again, what about the Modverb? A reverb with the ability to adjust the LFO is really new and interesting, and the modulations you can achieve can be as crystal clear and enveloping as it is dark and eerie, and all this by simply turning a knob. Great!
Ultimately a pedal recommended to all those who love to give body and depth to their sound with quality ambient effects, who will certainly be pleasantly surprised by the enormous versatility of this pedal, capable of ranging with ease from the Progressive al Pop, maintaining a very high sound quality under all circumstances.
Ultimately a very versatile and multifaceted reverb, perfect for those who conceive the reverb as an integral part of their “gear” and like to experiment on the different modulations to sculpt their own sound without giving up their own personal touch.
USEFUL NEWS:
Producer: SourceAudio
Model: Soundblox 2 Dimension Reverb
Website: www.sourceaudio.net
Italian distributor:http://referencelaboratory.com
Price: € 199 including VAT
