We’ve always been intrigued and interested in pedals that have lots of knobs, dipswitches and In/Out jacks, so when today’s pedal came along, we were super stoked to test it out. The Spectravibe from Endangered Audio Research (makers of the now-famous AD4096 Analog Delay) is a tremolo and vibrato pedal, but it’s also much, much more than just that. With elements of compression, overdrive, distortion, auto wah and rotary speaker sounds, this beast provides YEARS of experimentation and sonic adventure, opening up new worlds of sound and tone to explore, contemplate and marvel at.
At the heart of the Spectravibe are the tremolo and vibrato circuits, first and foremost. In Trem mode, it acts like a tremolo and overdrive, using triangle and saw wave shapes to cover the most useful modulation needs. The Depth knob provides a wide range of sounds, from slight warble to full-on chaotic stutter, while the Bias control here adjusts the FET tube-like distortion to taste. The Gain parameter provides a range from clean boost to crunchy overdrive, while the Blend knob gives you an adjustable high-end air frequency booster. Expression pedal inputs for Depth and Speed give you hands-free control here as well.
In Vibe mode, you get a vibrato or Leslie simulator type of effect, featuring a unique, lush filter that has extended range for adding sparkle and bringing out the best tone in your setup possible. This mode lets you do sweet and shimmery to bubbly underwater sounds to even being used as an EQ while doing recording and mixing. Here, Depth sets the amount of frequency modulation, Bias changes the center frequency and Gain helps to overdrive the filter. The Blend control adds back in some unfiltered signal, which provides that classic rotary speaker sound, too.
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But wait, there’s more! Turn down the Depth and use the other controls for a versatile distortion-only box; turn the oscillator frequency into the audio range in Trem mode for a wicked ring modulator; get parked wah sounds by sweeping the Bias and using the Blend knob to highlight your desired frequency. With Spectravibe’s Automatic Gain Control (AGC) circuit, you can even use it as a tone-filled compressor, perfect for use on both instruments and in a pro-audio setting. The normal 9v adapter power internally boosts the voltage to 18v total, for plenty of headroom and lots of gain.
Not your ordinary pedal, by any means, this one is for the experimenters, noise makers and weird effects enthusiasts the world over. The set of dip switches in the back open up still more sonic possibilities, and the Modulation footswitch can be used to turn the modulation on or off, set to either momentary or latching, or as a control for the internal and external modulation if you’re using an outside CV plugged into the Modulation input. So much to explore, this one is a manual reader for sure, but we have tried to showcase just some of what it can do in the demo video below. Be sure to subscribe to our channel, and be sure to head over to visit the Endangered Audio Research website for more info on the Spectravibe and all the wild effects they have to offer!
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