Getting pedals that come through the shop without a distinct label as to what they are or what they can do is always intriguing, and our featured pedal for today baffled us until we had the chance to plug it in. The Instant Lo-Fi Junky from ZVEX Effects is a compressor, chorus, vibrato and more, an sound experimenter’s dream in a small, pedalboard-friendly enclosure, with controls that are basic, but create a wide palette of sounds. Compression? Chorus? Vibrato? This puppy’s got ’em all…
The original Lo-Fi Loop Junky is a 20-second analog phrase-sampling looper with low fidelity, distortion and vibrato tones. The Instant Lo-Fi Junky builds on that premise, giving you those tones instantly, and adding in more compression, vibrato and even chorus sounds. Volume sets the output, while Tone adjusts the brightness of the vibrato sounds (NOT the compression). Playing with the Comp/Lo-Fi knob will yield some interesting and fun sounds as well, with each side sounding fantastic on its own when pushed to the max.
Depth and Speed control the vibrato’s modulation effects, giving you a wide range of speeds and intensity for a slew of bold chorus-inspired overtones with little to no effort. A small toggle switch even lets you select the waveform you want for this modulation, choosing between Sine, Triangle and Square waves, with Square being the traditional Lo-Fi Loop Junky’s simulated setting. Combining these controls with the main set adds up to hours and hours of sonic exploration and experimentation, if you’re into that sort of thing, which we absolutely are!
Never one for normal effects pedals, ZVEX Effects puts out another wild enclosure for us all to enjoy in the Instant Lo-Fi Junky. Funky compression, rich vibrato and lush, swirling chorus make this pedal a real 3-in-1 masterpiece, and with their ever-popular small footprint, it’s sure to slide easily onto any pedalboard design or setup. Cheers to Zack and the entire ZVEX crew for this one – we’ve got some more of their gear we’re going to review and demo coming down the pipe, so check back soon, and watch the demo video below while you’re waiting!
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