Not way back I unequivocally declared Meris’ Mercury X (9/10, WIRED Recommends) one of the best reverb pedal you should purchase. The very day that evaluation went reside, Strymon, one of many pioneers of high-end boutique guitar pedals, introduced the BigSky MX, an replace to its legendary BigSky reverb.
To name the replace large could be an understatement. Whereas it nonetheless seems to be just like the BigSky in case you squint, and also you’ll discover many acquainted reverb algorithms on its entrance panel, the MX is an nearly ground-up reimagining of what the BigSky might be. And whereas I’m not about to say that Strymon has already usurped Meris, I can not say there’s a definitive “finest” reverb pedal. In case you’re available in the market for both, you are in for a deal with.
Into the Weeds
The BigSky MX is a selected breed of impact that may flip off gamers preferring their guitar pedals to only have a few knobs and one or two foot switches. The piles of presets, the display, and the in depth array of knobs might sound too complicated for some at first, however a part of the fantastic thing about the BigSky MX is how easy it’s to make use of.
{Photograph}: Terrence O’Brien
You’ll be able to scroll via presets utilizing both the Worth knob within the prime proper or through the use of the foot switches. And in case you simply wish to begin from scratch, there’s a knob within the prime left that selects from the 12 reverb engines. The row of seven knobs under that management all of your most necessary parameters: Decay, Pre-Delay, Tone, Mod, and Combine. Then two knobs labeled Param 1 and Param 2 are engine dependent. For instance, on Spring setting, param 1 controls the quantity of low finish within the reverb, whereas in Shimmer it controls the pitch of echo one.
Some parameters aren’t accessible straight from the font panel. As an example, if you wish to change the voicing of the Shimmer reverb from the hi-fi MX model to the traditional mannequin, you want to faucet the Worth knob to open the parameter menu. However the variety of hidden parameters normally isn’t overwhelming. Some engines solely have three or 4 parameters to manage in whole. And, in case you determine you’d quite have management of the 2 parameters presently hidden away within the menu, you possibly can swap them.
For the reason that variety of issues to deal with is streamlined, it ought to take solely an hour or so to determine the fundamentals of the BigSky MX. It could take just a few days or perhaps a few weeks to really grasp all of its subtleties, however even in case you’re averse to menu diving, it is best to really feel fairly comfy by the tip of day one.
What is going to take probably the most time is just familiarizing your self with all of the out there reverb choices at your disposal. Even in case you ignore the IR (impulse response) engine, which affords nearly countless selection by itself, there’s quite a bit to work with. There are 12 reverb engines that vary from easy, natural-sounding Room and Spring algorithms to the ethereal Cloud and glitchy Nonlinear choices.
Nice for All the time-On Efficiency
The place I feel the BigSky MX is at its finest is at its finest is on the smaller, extra refined finish of the reverb spectrum. That’s to not say it could actually’t do epic otherworldly weirdness, but it surely’s the much less flashy stuff the place it actually shines. The Room reverb is the type of light ambiance that you can merely depart on 100%. At decrease settings you may not even consciously discover the reverb, however you’d know if it was all of the sudden turned off.
The Spring, Corridor and Chamber reverb choices are a bit extra apparent and might attain absurd depths when cranked, however nonetheless they’re typically pure sounding and don’t scream “Hey, try this loopy reverb!”
