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DigiTech Supernatural Ambient Reverb Pedal Review
[caption id="attachment_2680" align="alignright" width="300"]
Digitech Supernatural Ambient Reverb Guitar Effect Pedal @ $179.99[/caption]
The reverb effect is a quintessential sound of rock and roll history, responsible for several elegant soundscapes as well as that well known psychedelic flare, among others. Today we’re getting a closer look at DigiTech’s take on the ambient effect, the Supernatural Reverb. Packing seven authentic Lexicon algorithm presets that you can tweak and control, the Supernatural Ambient Reverb mixes both old-school tones and newer experimental sounds in one stylish reverb pedal.
The Features
The first thing that stood out as soon as I took the Supernatural out of the box was its stylish design. Sure, an elegant appearance isn’t going to make or break a pedal but it’s definitely a nice bonus having a stompbox that looks good on your pedalboard. The construction itself is also very solid, built for the stage. The knobs have a good amount of weight to them, giving them a nice premium feel when used.
Heading into the meat of the Supernatural, the seven included Lexicon reverb types – and their description according to DigiTech – are:
Plate - The classic studio reverb heard on countless hit records.
Plate mod - Plate reverb sweetened with chorus.
Shimmer - Ethereal reverb with cascading octave shifts.
Supernova - Deep space reverb with twisting flange and pitch-shifting.
Shine - Shimmer reverb with a thick lush chorus added.
Pherb - Rich Lexicon Hall reverb with a hint of phasing.
Spring - The unmistakable classic ‘surf ’ reverb.
Each of the available seven sounds can be controlled through the Supernatural’s Mix, Liveliness and Decay knobs. Mix is your standard wet/dry control, allowing you to dial how much of the effect you want on top of your guitar’s natural sound, be it subtle or spread thick. Liveliness on the other hand is essentially the pedal’s Tone setting while the Decay knob allows you to manipulate the length of the echoes.
The Supernatural also features an internal Tails/No Tails switch (located underneath the footswitch) that allows the reverb to either trail off naturally when the effect is turned off, or shut it off completely for true bypass. It also comes with sets of in and out jacks for true stereo sound and can be powered by a standard 9V battery or adapter.
The Sound
[caption id="attachment_2683" align="alignleft" width="186"]
The Supernatural features genuine stereo sound thanks to its dual 1/4" input and output jacks.[/caption]
Starting with the more recognizable Plate and Spring settings, they both get the job done fairly well. They’re solid in their sound but won’t blow you away. The Plate setting can be easily be used any time you want to add a traditional reverb sound to your tone while the Spring does a serviceable job at recreating a good amp’s own built-in spring reverb. Still though, that’s not what the Supernatural is truly about; it’s when you get to the more experimental sounds that the pedal really shines brightest.
Shimmer effects have been growing in popularity as of late so if you find yourself among that crowd, you’ll be glad to know that the Supernatural has one of the best I’ve heard and easily matches that of higher-end pedals. You’ll have no trouble creating truly ambient, ethereal sounds with notes that give off an eerie, slightly off-tune glow.
And in case Shimmer isn’t imaginative enough for your style, the Supernova setting takes it to another level, adding long decay reverb and mixing it with a noticeable amount of flange and pitch shifting, resulting in a tone that’s as eccentric as it sounds. The Shine setting is equally as unique but trades the slight flange for a huge helping of lush chorus and heavier reverb that gives it a good amount of overall shine (hence the name).
The last two settings, Pherb and Plate Mod, are just as esoteric as you’d expect. As opposed to the regular Plate reverb, the mod’s additional chorus effect gives it a smooth feel, especially when kept at lower levels. The Pherb meanwhile offers a unique twist on traditional hall reverb thanks to the additional phasing added in. Both can become overdone if used a bit too intensely. Fortunately, tweaking a few pf the control knobs can easily bring everything back in line.
Final Impression
While those who swear by pure, traditional analog reverb might want to look elsewhere, adventurous players searching for out of this world tones that love to experiment with all sorts of new sounds will find a lot to like from the Supernatural. With it's truly eerie reverbs, good variety of settings and features, the Supernatural Ambient Reverb will definitely take your sound to strange new places!
Looking for something a bit more down to earth? Check out our Reverb Pedals or the rest of our Guitar Effects and we'll make sure you'll get the best deal around!
Digitech Supernatural Ambient Reverb Guitar Effect Pedal @ $179.99[/caption]
The reverb effect is a quintessential sound of rock and roll history, responsible for several elegant soundscapes as well as that well known psychedelic flare, among others. Today we’re getting a closer look at DigiTech’s take on the ambient effect, the Supernatural Reverb. Packing seven authentic Lexicon algorithm presets that you can tweak and control, the Supernatural Ambient Reverb mixes both old-school tones and newer experimental sounds in one stylish reverb pedal.
The Features
The first thing that stood out as soon as I took the Supernatural out of the box was its stylish design. Sure, an elegant appearance isn’t going to make or break a pedal but it’s definitely a nice bonus having a stompbox that looks good on your pedalboard. The construction itself is also very solid, built for the stage. The knobs have a good amount of weight to them, giving them a nice premium feel when used.
Heading into the meat of the Supernatural, the seven included Lexicon reverb types – and their description according to DigiTech – are:
Plate - The classic studio reverb heard on countless hit records.
Plate mod - Plate reverb sweetened with chorus.
Shimmer - Ethereal reverb with cascading octave shifts.
Supernova - Deep space reverb with twisting flange and pitch-shifting.
Shine - Shimmer reverb with a thick lush chorus added.
Pherb - Rich Lexicon Hall reverb with a hint of phasing.
Spring - The unmistakable classic ‘surf ’ reverb.
Each of the available seven sounds can be controlled through the Supernatural’s Mix, Liveliness and Decay knobs. Mix is your standard wet/dry control, allowing you to dial how much of the effect you want on top of your guitar’s natural sound, be it subtle or spread thick. Liveliness on the other hand is essentially the pedal’s Tone setting while the Decay knob allows you to manipulate the length of the echoes.
The Supernatural also features an internal Tails/No Tails switch (located underneath the footswitch) that allows the reverb to either trail off naturally when the effect is turned off, or shut it off completely for true bypass. It also comes with sets of in and out jacks for true stereo sound and can be powered by a standard 9V battery or adapter.
The Sound
[caption id="attachment_2683" align="alignleft" width="186"]
The Supernatural features genuine stereo sound thanks to its dual 1/4" input and output jacks.[/caption]
Starting with the more recognizable Plate and Spring settings, they both get the job done fairly well. They’re solid in their sound but won’t blow you away. The Plate setting can be easily be used any time you want to add a traditional reverb sound to your tone while the Spring does a serviceable job at recreating a good amp’s own built-in spring reverb. Still though, that’s not what the Supernatural is truly about; it’s when you get to the more experimental sounds that the pedal really shines brightest.
Shimmer effects have been growing in popularity as of late so if you find yourself among that crowd, you’ll be glad to know that the Supernatural has one of the best I’ve heard and easily matches that of higher-end pedals. You’ll have no trouble creating truly ambient, ethereal sounds with notes that give off an eerie, slightly off-tune glow.
And in case Shimmer isn’t imaginative enough for your style, the Supernova setting takes it to another level, adding long decay reverb and mixing it with a noticeable amount of flange and pitch shifting, resulting in a tone that’s as eccentric as it sounds. The Shine setting is equally as unique but trades the slight flange for a huge helping of lush chorus and heavier reverb that gives it a good amount of overall shine (hence the name).
The last two settings, Pherb and Plate Mod, are just as esoteric as you’d expect. As opposed to the regular Plate reverb, the mod’s additional chorus effect gives it a smooth feel, especially when kept at lower levels. The Pherb meanwhile offers a unique twist on traditional hall reverb thanks to the additional phasing added in. Both can become overdone if used a bit too intensely. Fortunately, tweaking a few pf the control knobs can easily bring everything back in line.
Final Impression
While those who swear by pure, traditional analog reverb might want to look elsewhere, adventurous players searching for out of this world tones that love to experiment with all sorts of new sounds will find a lot to like from the Supernatural. With it's truly eerie reverbs, good variety of settings and features, the Supernatural Ambient Reverb will definitely take your sound to strange new places!
Looking for something a bit more down to earth? Check out our Reverb Pedals or the rest of our Guitar Effects and we'll make sure you'll get the best deal around!